By” STEVE HEMMELGARN (NewsAndSentinel.com) –

The euphoria from the Rose Bowl win over Oregon may soon be overshadowed by the fact that when Ohio State’s 2010 football recruiting class is announced Feb. 3, it may be the lowest ranked of any on Jim Tressel’s watch with the Buckeyes.

Right now, Rivals.com has OSU rated as just the 22nd-best recruiting group in the country with only two players on their top 100 list of potential college prospects.

However, the Buckeyes’ stock could climb if they beat out the other top suitors Texas and Florida for homestate Lakota West linebacker Jordan Hicks, the consensus best prep linebacker in the country and the second-ranked overall player available by ESPN.

But with that issue still up in the air, let’s see why, at this point, OSU is near the bottom of the top 25 team recruiting rankings. For one, the Buckeyes have landed no five-star, or top, recruits and just seven four-stars and nine three-stars. That’s a total of 16, compared to No. 1-rated Florida’s 24 star recruits, including both the most five-stars with four, and No. 2 Texas with 18 four-stars. Newly-crowned national champion Alabama. at No. 3, has picked up 23 recruits, but No. 4 Auburn and No. 5 Oklahoma surpassed them all in total recruits with 27 and 28 respectively.

Ohio State’s current recruiting ranking is also below Penn State at No. 10, Notre Dame at 12, WVU at No. 13 with one five-star in Latwan Anderson from Cleveland Glenville, Florida State at 14, Virginia Tech at 17, Miami (Fla.) at 19, and even Michigan at No. 20.

Topping the 17 Buckeye recruits Buy Cipro Online are the two Rivals top 100 players in offensive lineman Andrew Norwell (6-7, 275) from Cincinnati Anderson and running back Roderick Smith (6-3, 220) from Fort Wayne, Ind. – both four-star prospects.

Rivals’ scouting report on Norwell says he ”does a nice job of keeping his feet moving after contact and using his long arms as battering rams to keep defenders at bay. Norwell is also a very nasty player and likes nothing better than to drive his defenders into the ground.” But they expect Norwell to be redshirted to develop, but ”not have a major impact until his second or third season.”

Rivals thinks Smith – who runs a 4.5 in the 40, can bench-press 300 pounds and finished his high school career with 6,620 yards rushing – ”has very good vision and the speed to run away from linebackers once he breaks….

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OHIO STATE RECRUITS

*2009 recruit; attended Fork Union Military Academy this past fall

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