By: AP via stltoday.com --Minneapolis --  Rachel Banham scored 20 points and made three 3-pointers, helping Minnesota take down No. 9 Ohio State 76-68 on Sunday. Kiara Buford added 15 points and seven assists for the Golden Gophers (12-11, 4-5 Big Ten), who beat a ranked team for the first time in nearly three years. They did it by dominating the post, outscoring the Buckeyes 36-20 in the paint with Katie Loberg and Micaella Riche taking it to the young..... READ THE REST OF ... Read More

By: AP via ESPN.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Lenzelle Smith Jr. scored 17 points and had a career-high 12 rebounds as Ohio State (No. 3 ESPN/USA Today, No. 4 AP) flexed its muscle inside to beat Michigan (No. 22 ESPN/USA Today, No. 20 AP) 64-49 on Sunday, keeping the Buckeyes in a first-place tie in the Big Ten. Jared Sullinger added 13 points and William Buford and Deshaun Thomas both had 12 for Ohio State (19-3, 7-2), which ran ... Read More

Recruiting is a never ending process for most colleges and Ohio State is no different.  According to Bill Greene of scout.com, the Buckeyes will host several of the top 2013 prospects today. In addition to having high school senior Stefon Diggs on campus this weekend for an official visit, the Buckeyes will entertain several of the top in-state junior stars for the basketball game against the Michigan Wolverines. Among those in Columbus this weekend are: Jalin Marshall: Ohio's top prospect and an early five-star ... Read More

By: Chad Hobbs (Examiner.com) -- Michigan will be in town tomorrow for a little basketball game at Value City Arena. They will not be welcomed by the home town crowd. This matchup should be interesting, as Michigan enters the game as a relevant Big Ten title contender for the first time in a long time. In fact, the Wolverines enter the game in a tie for first place with the Buckeyes in the conference standings. One of Michigan's strengths ... Read More

By: AP via WashingtonPost.com -- COLUMBUS, Ohio — They started hanging out when they were 10 or 11, scooping the snow off of driveways and outdoor courts before grabbing a basketball and pretending they were playing in huge showdowns. “He was kind of short and he was like fat, kind of, but he could play,” Michigan’s Trey Burke remembers of the first time he saw Jared Sullinger. “He had good footwork and things like that. No one ... Read More

From: Philly.com -- 1. Bracket racket It's never too early to examine brackets predicting the NCAA tournament field and first-round matchups. As always, our two favorite mock brackets are done by Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com and Jerry Palm of CollegeRPI.com. In this week's bracket, the two men agree on two No. 1 seeds - Kentucky and Syracuse - but differ on the other two. Lunardi picks Ohio State and Kansas, while Palm goes with Baylor and Missouri. ... Read More

By Rod Beard (The Detroit News) -- Sunday will be a weird homecoming for Michigan freshman Trey Burke. The Wolverines travel to Columbus to face No. 4 Ohio State in a Big Ten showdown for first place in the conference and Burke, a Columbus native, gets his first shot at the Buckeyes. It's a tall order for No. 20 Michigan, which has lost five straight to Ohio State and has won just twice in the last 16 meetings. ... Read More

By Nick Baumgardner (Annarbor.com) -- As the old saying goes, to be the man, you have to ... Well, you likely know the rest. For the past two seasons, Ohio State has won at least a share of the Big Ten's regular season crown, and entered the Big Dance with a Big Ten Tournament championship trophy under its arm. Right now, anyway, Ohio State is 'the man.' And if the Michigan basketball team wants to be a serious contender this season, all roads ... Read More

By: Mark Snyder (freep.com) --The old adage about Michigan-Ohio State games is to throw the records out. In more than a few recent years, the Wolverines have encouraged that in all sports. But, entering Sunday's basketball game, U-M is on a roll. The football team is coming off a dramatic regular-season ending win over the Buckeyes, and the women's basketball team stunned No. 8 ranked OSU on Jan. 7. Now the men's basketball team gets its first shot at The School Down ... Read More

By: AP via WashingtonPost.com --COLUMBUS, Ohio — Jared Sullinger had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and No. 4 Ohio State took advantage of Penn State’s slow start to roll to a 78-54 victory on Wednesday night. The Buckeyes (18-3, 6-2 Big Ten) won their third in a row and fifth in six games while tuning up for Sunday’s big home showdown with No. 20 Michigan. The Wolverines, Ohio State and Michigan State came into the week tied for ... Read More