By: Joe Huddleston (MountVernonNews.com) -- MOUNT VERNON — With less than a month before the 2009 NFL Draft, two potential draft picks made their way to the 2009 Knox County Spring Home and Garden Show on Saturday afternoon for a meet and greet. Former Ohio State Buckeyes Todd Boeckman and James Laurinaitis were on hand to sign autographs and step away from the NFL spotlight. “I always like doing signings and getting to talk to the fans. You always hear stories of how ... Read More

By: Michael Smith (BizJournals.com) -- Ohio State University has awarded its marketing and media rights to IMG College for a guaranteed $110 million over 10 years, making it the richest annual rights fee ever given to a university. The $11 million the Buckeyes will earn annually outpaces the $10 million IMG pays the University of Florida and the $9.4 million it pays the University of Texas. Learfield Sports and ISP Sports jointly pay the University of Alabama about $9.4 million a year. In the ... Read More

By: Ted Miller (ESPN.com) -- BERKELEY, Calif. -- Things are going so well for second-ranked Stanford these days that even the Cardinal's least favorite place in the world feels like home. Playing an NCAA tournament regional semifinal Saturday against Ohio State inside the confines of Haas Pavilion, home of hated rival California, Stanford rolled 84-66 for its 19th consecutive victory, a streak that began after a loss to the Golden Bears inside this same building. Seventeen of those victories, by the way, came by ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- Indianapolis - Michigan State's eighth trip in the past 12 years to the Sweet 16 - second only to Duke in that stretch - was given a kick in the calf-length shorts by Ohio State. The Buckeyes' semifinal win over the Spartans in the Big Ten Tournament two weeks ago, Michigan State's first loss in six weeks, put a fine point on the worries men's basketball coach Tom Izzo had been harboring about his ... Read More

By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- NDIANAPOLIS -- Arms crossed, face blank, Jim Foster will direct, cajole, encourage and admonish his players and the officials during Ohio State's Sweet 16 game against Stanford Saturday night in Berkely, Calif., and you'll never know it. That nod? Peering over his glasses? The half-smirk? After 31 years as a coach, that's all Foster needs. "He'll just give you a look," OSU guard Shavelle Little said. "His silence is so powerful." So are the smiles. While leading a ... Read More

By: Bill Livingston (Cleveland Plain Dealer) -- CLEVELAND -- Hard as it is to endorse B.J. Mullens' defection at Ohio State, it is understandable. He comes from a background of urban pathology -- poverty, drugs, family instability. In his life off the basketball court, by escaping from that world, he is already a success. On the court, there is no doubt he would benefit from another season in Columbus. Offensively, Mullens showed little range against Siena in the NCAA Tournament. Siena's Ryan Rossiter, ... Read More

From: ESPN.com -- Jayne Appel and her Stanford teammates cruised into Haas Pavilion on Friday morning after a picturesque 45-minute drive across the Bay Bridge. The arena will be packed with Cardinal fans when Stanford takes on Ohio State in perhaps the NCAA regional semifinals' most intriguing matchup. But this is hardly home sweet home for Stanford -- and familiarity isn't necessarily a good thing for Appel and the second-seeded Cardinal (31-4). Stanford has lost enough big games in friendly confines over the ... Read More

By: JOHN DOYLE (Citizen.com) -- DOVER — The Boston University men's hockey team entered the postseason all but certain it would receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Although the Terriers dispatched three desperate opponents en route to the Hockey East tournament title, BU coach Jack Parker thinks that although his team's bid to the big dance was secure, playing against squads fighting for their playoff lives helped prepare the Terriers for what is now a lose-and-go-home situation. "Everybody has great expectations now," ... Read More

From: SportsNetwork.com -- Columbus, OH (Sports Network) - Ohio State freshman center B.J. Mullens announced on Thursday he will enter the 2009 NBA Draft. "I am saddened to lose B.J.," Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta said. "On one hand, I feel another year in school would have allowed him to develop into the player I know he can be and an additional season would have been beneficial to him both personally and monetarily in the long run. On the other hand, I ... Read More

By: Steve Tater (BleacherReport.com) -- It’s now been 1,952 days since the school up north beat The Ohio State Buckeyes in football. And any true blue Ohio State fan knows that is THE game on the Buckeyes schedule every year. Unlike his coaching predecessor, the thing that has ingratiated Jim Tressel to OSU fans since he took over the program is that he understands how much winning the Michigan game means to the Buckeye faithful. Winning records, national championships and bowl games ... Read More