By: MATT MARKEY (Toledo Blade) — COLUMBUS - Residents of Ohio do not need a passport or an entry permit to visit the state of Illinois. The Land of Lincoln supposedly encourages such travel.

But a couple of busloads of Buckeyes do not anticipate the red carpet treatment when they drive into the Urbana-Champaign area later this week. If you are affiliated with Ohio State football, they roll out the “Un-Welcome Wagon” just about everywhere you go.

“It gets nasty sometimes, but we’re used to it,” Ohio State senior defensive lineman Cameron Heyward said about the reception the Buckeyes receive when playing on the road in the Big Ten.

“Everybody wants to beat Ohio State. If this program hadn’t been so successful over the years, I don’t think it would be like this, but we’ve got that big target on us everywhere we go. Everybody wants to knock off the champion.”

The Buckeyes open the 2010 Big Ten season at Illinois on Saturday, pursuing a sixth straight Big Ten championship. If successful, that would match the conference record of a half dozen titles in a row, set by the Woody Hayes-coached Ohio State teams of 1972-77.

A 4-0 start has the Buckeyes at No. 2 in the nation, and senior offensive lineman Justin Boren said that record and that ranking just serve as more motivation for the upset-minded opposition.

“We know the record at the end of the season is the only one that matters, but when you’re undefeated or ranked, people get pretty excited about trying to knock you off,” Boren said. “That just intensifies things in the Big Ten. These games are going to be really physical, and really tough.”

The conference had four teams ranked in the Top 25 at the start of the season, but that has swelled to six a month into the schedule. Wisconsin, Iowa, Michigan, Penn State and Michigan State all join the Buckeyes in the most recent national rankings.

“The Big Ten will be smash mouth football this season, like it always is,” Heyward said. “We know we are going to be in a real battle every week, so we have to be prepared for that. Illinois always plays us tough, so we’ve got to get better this week and be ready for a war.”

The Illini (2-1) opened the season with a……

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