After a series of games in which they shut down their opponents, the Buckeyes were porous indeed against Purdue. The Boilermakers’ fine coach, Matt Painter, figured out a high ball screen approach that consistently got Purdue players opportunities for easy layups and dunks or open three-pointers, and his players executed.  D.J. Byrd and Kelsey Barlow, in particular, seemed unstoppable — but the Buckeyes also seemed to be confused and a step behind on defense.

Offensively, the Buckeyes played a good game, ran well-designed set plays, and crashed the boards to get second-chance points.  With Jared Sullinger and Aaron Craft on the bench with foul trouble, the Buckeyes rode senior William Buford, and he carried them to victory with 29 points.  Equally important, the Buckeyes performed under pressure in a close game, sank free throws when they needed to, and executed with less than two minutes to go — which was a good thing, because Purdue continued to drain three-pointers until the very end.

The college basketball season is a long one.  As it progresses, teams can improve or regress, or be distracted by looking around at how others are doing.  Lots of Ohio State fans and TV commentators have talked recently about how the Buckeyes stack up against other highly ranked teams. Last night’s game just shows that such talk is pointless.  Ohio State doesn’t have Kentucky or Syracuse on its schedule. Instead, it’s only going to be playing Big Ten teams for a while — and as last night’s great Purdue performance showed, the Big Ten teams present plenty of challenges.

I’m sure Coach Thad Matta will be talking to the Buckeyes about learning from last night’s close call, redoubling their efforts on defense, and focusing exclusively on their next Big Ten game and giving a better performance.  And a better performance will be needed, too, because the Michigan State Spartans, who are battling the Buckeyes for the Big Ten lead, are coming to town on Saturday.

This year’s Buckeye basketball team has to be the deepest and most athletic team Thad Matta has put on the court during his time at Ohio State.  One of the more spectacular athletes is Sam Thompson, who seems like he could jump out of the gym if he really put his mind to it.

Thompson, who is just a freshman, has had some astonishing dunks this year.  Here’s a personal favorite that occurred at Indiana.  Of course, the Hoosiers came back to win the game — but Thompson’s capabilities should make all Ohio State fans feel pretty good about next year.

Jared Sullinger was a beast on the inside; he scored 24 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and Wisconsin really had no answer for him.  Deshaun Thomas showed why he is one of the best forwards in the Big Ten, grabbing many rebounds and making some clutch buckets.  Aaron Craft played a standout defensive game against Badgers stud point guard Jordan Taylor, and made some key free throws to help ice the game, Lenzelle Smith, Jr., played a fine floor game, and William Buford — poor, much maligned William Buford, who just could not get a shot to go down — made a three-point dagger in crunch time.

This is the kind of game you expect to see in a balanced conference like the Big Ten, where road wins are like pearls of the highest price.  Wisconsin played its normal deliberate game and its in-your-face defense, but today, the Buckeyes were just a little bit better. Winning at the Kohl Center is a huge step forward for Ohio State, because winning in an intimidating atmosphere says a lot about your team’s mental toughness — and there are a lot of challenging games yet to be played.

I’m happy for Mr. Tressel (although I will always think of him as Coach Tressel) and I have no doubt that he will do a good job for one of Ohio’s largest universities.  The NCAA “tattoogate” scandal that led to his resignation as Ohio State’s coach involved some unfortunate lapses in judgment on his part, but it shouldn’t mask his accomplishments with the Buckeyes.  Tressel not only took a moribund football program and quickly turned it into a powerhouse, he also made tremendous progress in the academic performance of his student-athletes.

I still respect Tressel’s efforts and achievements, even if I regret his missteps at the end of his tenure at Ohio State.  I suspect I’m not alone in that regard, and that many Ohioans will be interested in meeting with Tressel and hearing his ideas for the future of the University of Akron.  He’s an intelligent, hard working individual who dedicates himself to his job, and I’m sure he will bring those attributes to his new position.

I know one person who is thrilled to have Tressel in Akron:  Buckeye Bebe, who always has been one of his biggest supporters.  Aunt Bebe will be very happy to share the air of the Rubber City with the man who led the Buckeyes for so many years.  Who knows?  Perhaps they can meet and talk about football — or even strategic engagement.

The Buckeyes have enjoyed great success under Coach Matta — but not at the Kohl Center.  There, they are 0-6, and many of the losses have been of the last-minute, heart-breaking variety.  Last year, Wisconsin was the first team to beat the Buckeyes, winning a bruising battle behind the heroic efforts of stud point guard Jordan Taylor.  It also was a game marred by controversy.  Ohio State’s Jared Sullinger said one of the Wisconsin fans who rushed the floor spit on him; the Wisconsin faithful denied the charge and called Sullinger a crybaby.  During Saturday’s game, expect Wisconsin fans to razz Sullinger unmercifully — and perhaps wear a raincoat or two.

Why does Ohio State have such a tough time at the Kohl Center?  Is it, as some Buckeye fans contend, that the refs are just horribly biased in favor of the Badgers when they play at home?  Or, as I believe, is it because Wisconsin has tough, well-coached teams and a loud and proud group of basketball fans that just make playing the game in that place a grueling challenge for the visiting team?

In either case, this year’s rematch should be a great game.  Wisconsin struggled to score points at the start of the Big Ten season, but has righted the ship and reeled off six wins in a row.  Taylor is still around — it seems like he has played forever — and he is the main cog in the Wisconsin machine.  But the Badgers also have a hard-nosed inside-outside player in Jared Berggren and a slew of other versatile players who can shoot the three and crash the boards.  Under the tutelage of their great coach Bo Ryan, Wisconsin also plays a deliberate offensive game that means every possession counts.

At the Kohl Center, you know every game is going to be tough.  The Buckeyes are hoping that they can finally come away with a win tomorrow.

For those of you not hip-deep in college football recruiting news, breathless updates, and rankings from recruiting “gurus,” tomorrow is the day when high school seniors sign letters that confirm where they will go to college.  College football fans love the day because they can forget about last year and focus on the new members of their favorite teams — usually knowing nothing about the kid except the “rating” they’ve gotten from “ratings services” and, perhaps, a video of carefully selected high school highlights that can be found on YouTube.  And then, after the signing is done, there will be disputes about which school recruited the best class.  During the off-season, college football fans thrive on that kind of mindless argument.

Coach Meyer has been out working hard, and by all accounts he has done a tremendous job of attracting high-profile players and convincing them that the Ohio State University is the best possible place for them to get an education and display their football talents.  Tomorrow we’ll know exactly who has agreed with him and decided they want to call Columbus home for the next four years.

I don’t pay too much attention to recruiting because history has shown that on-field performance frequently bears no relation to the pre-college opinions of the so-called experts.  Still, recruiting is a big part of the job for a college football coach and his staff.  If you want an elite program, you have to recruit elite players and coach them up to their maximum potential.  Coach Meyer is showing that he is quite skilled at the first part of that job description — which is a good sign for Buckeye fans.

Michigan has a good team this year.  Tim Hardaway is one of the Big Ten’s best offensive players.  Jordan Morgan plays a tough inside game.  Trey Burke has been a huge help at point guard and has brought some scoring punch.  Zack Novak is the three-point specialist who is the heart and soul of the Wolverines.

This is a game with lots of intriguing matchups.  Who is going to guard Hardaway, and who is going to guard Deshaun Thomas?  Can Aaron Craft stop Burke?  Can Morgan play even up with Jared Sullinger?  Which William Buford will show up?  And is a Wolverine going to be unconscious from outside, like Brandon Paul was when the Buckeyes played Illinois earlier this year?

I went to last year’s OSU against Michigan, and it was a tremendous atmosphere.  The student section, called the Nut House, was ear-splitting all game and obviously made it tough for Michigan to communicate during timeouts.  I thought the crowd helped to pull the Buckeyes through to a win — and I’m hoping that tomorrow afternoon we see more of the same.  I know the Nut House has some new head cutouts — including Urban Meyer — that we’ll see during the game.

C’mon, Nut House!  Time to get loud and proud!

It was a good victory for the Buckeyes, who have won their last three games resoundingly after a tough loss to Illinois.  Tonight, the Ohio State offense was clicking, and for the third game in a row the Buckeyes’ defense held an opponent to 20 points or less in the first half.  The Buckeyes pulled away early, led by 20 at halftime, and Penn State never made it close during the second half.  Jared Sullinger scored 20 points and was unstoppable inside, William Buford and Aaron Craft also hit double figures, Deshuan Thomas chipped in 9 and had some fine assists and rebounds, and the Ohio State bench got plenty of playing time as a total of 10 players scored.

The Buckeyes currently are tied for the Big Ten lead, but their challenges gets tougher starting now.  Six of their last 10 Big Ten games are against three ranked teams — no. 11 Michigan State, no. 22 Michigan, and no. 25 Wisconsin.  Those just happen to be the three teams vying with the Buckeyes for the Big Ten lead.  In that stretch Ohio State also plays Illinois, which knocked off the Buckeyes two weeks ago, as well as always tough Purdue.  This is the stretch of games that will determine whether the Buckeyes are contenders or pretenders.

The first big game is Sunday, when the Michigan Wolverines come to the Schott.  Playing the arch-rival Wolverines is motivation enough — but Michigan also just happens to be tied with the Buckeyes for the Big Ten lead.

That’s why last night’s win against Nebraska was so valuable.  Nebraska clearly is not one of the elite teams in the Big Ten, but this is a year when just about anybody can spring an upset at home.  You can’t take any game for granted — just ask Illinois, which lost at Penn State, or Michigan State, which fell at Northwestern, or Indiana, which got beat by . . . Nebraska.  The fact that the Buckeyes won comfortably at Nebraska means another bullet dodged and another step closer to being a legitimate contender for the Big Ten regular season title.

The Buckeyes remain very much a work in progress — and although progress is being made, there is still work to do.  Making your free throws and feeding the post aren’t crucial when you’re leading an over-matched opponent by 30, but there will come a point in a game against Michigan State, Purdue, or Wisconsin where being able to sink free throws with the game on the line will mean the difference between victory and defeat.  On the positive side, the Buckeyes have picked up the defensive intensity, and in the Big Ten the teams that play tough defense usually prevail.  Being able to maintain that withering defensive intensity will be crucial to the Buckeyes’ eventual success.  The Buckeyes also have been able to play a much deeper rotation this year, which may mean that the starters will be fresher for the challenging games to come.

As for the Big Ten generally, it’s a wide-open race with six teams within one game of the lead.  There’s still a lot of basketball to be played, and the teams that are still improving will be the teams that stay in contention as the season wears on.

This year appears to be the most balanced Big Ten in years.  Only five games in, every team has lost at least one game.  Northwestern’s huge upset win yesterday over unbeaten Michigan State proved, again, that no game can be taken for granted.  As of today, Michigan State and Illinois stand at 4-1, four teams, including the Buckeyes, have two losses, and three teams have three losses.

That’s why Ohio State’s game today against Indiana is seen as a must-win contest.  The Buckeyes lost to Indiana in a foul-plagued, turnover-heavy game at Assembly Hall, so they need to win today to even the season series.  Ohio State also lost at Illinois when Illinois’ Brandon Paul had one of those magical games where he simply could not miss.  If the Buckeyes want to stay within range of Illinois and Michigan State, they need to put today’s game in the win column.  We’ll be looking for our senior, William Buford, to lead the way.

As an Ohio State fan, I want the Buckeyes to win every game by 30 points.  As a sports fan, however, I’m enjoying an unpredictable Big Ten season where many talented teams get the chance to beat up on each other.

2011 was a year of embarrassments unparalleled in the history of OSU football.  From the abrupt “retirement” of Jim Tressel in the face of an NCAA investigation, to the forfeiting of games, to the suspension of players for rules violations, to poor play, galling losses, and a crappy on-the-field record, and finally to the announcement of serious sanctions that include a one-year bowl ban, the Buckeyes and Buckeye Nation had to absorb a series of body blows throughout the year.

Tomorrow the Buckeyes will play the final game of the 2011 season when they take on the Florida Gators in the Taxslayer.com Gator Bowl.  Normally I’d think about this game as an opportunity to get some payback for the whipping the Gators gave the Buckeyes in the national championship game a few years ago, or as an intriguing story line now that Urban Meyer is Ohio State’s head coach.  Not so this year.  I’ll watch the game, and I’ll hope that Braxton Miller can lead the Buckeyes to victory — but win or lose I’ll be happy to see the 2011 season end, never to be thought of again.  I’m guessing that I’m not the only one in Buckeye Nation who feels that way.

It should be a very interesting Big Ten season.  By far the most surprising team so far has been Indiana.  The Hoosiers, who were woeful the past few years, are undefeated and have a last-second win over mighty Kentucky under their belts.  Many people thought Indiana was a year away, but perhaps coach Tom Crean and the young Hoosiers have other ideas. We’ll get a good sense of the Hoosiers’ real strength soon enough — they open at Michigan State and then welcome the Buckeyes to Assembly Hall in what should be a barn burner.

I haven’t seen all of the Big Ten teams play yet, but the conference appears to be strong and deep.  Ohio State likely would be the favorite if Jared Sullinger were 100 percent, but he has been hobbled by injuries and his status throws the conference race up for grabs.  Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Purdue are always tough.  Minnesota has been a surprise — although they really haven’t played much of a schedule — Michigan has lots of talent, and Illinois and Northwestern have gotten off to good starts.  Northwestern, in particular, is a challenge to play because they run a back-cut offensive scheme that other teams don’t see very often.

Of course, that’s one of the great things about college basketball — coaches can play different schemes and use different looks that can catch opponents off-guard and allow for upsets.  This year’s Big Ten conference race should be competitive, and entertaining.  Let’s get it started!

The sanctions were more severe than was expected.  The NCAA deprived the football program of scholarships, put the Buckeyes on probation for five years, and — most important to Ohio State fans — imposed a one-year bowl ban to take effect in 2012.  The ban means that Ohio State won’t be able to play in next year’s Big Ten championship game even if, as fans fervently hope, the Buckeyes bounce back from this year’s disappointing season with a strong performance in 2012.  Ohio State has decided not to appeal the ruling, because the institution has decided — correctly, I think — that we need to put this whole sorry episode behind us.

I don’t think Ohio State fans should be arguing about whether the NCAA sanctions were consistent with past sanctions and whether the media has it in for the Buckeyes.  That kind of pathetic excuse-making and eel-wriggling is beneath our flagship state university.  Instead, Ohio State alums and supporters should feel angry and embarrassed that our fine institution has had its reputation sullied by the thoughtless actions of a few players in the football program, and we should insist that the University do whatever it takes to make sure that it never happens again.

However, I can’t be too discouraged by the Buckeyes’ play today.  Clearly, the Buckeyes’ offense was out of sync without Sullinger in the game, and they are still adjusting to his absence in the middle.  Nevertheless, and although Ohio State just could not buy a bucket in the first half, they hung in the game and consistently answered the Kansas surges with a surge of their own.  Deshaun Thomas, and in the second half William Buford and Aaron Craft, made some big buckets to keep the Buckeyes within range — but Ohio State just could not get over the hump.  Credit Kansas’ defense, and also their making some clutch buckets to stop Ohio State runs.

I liked the fact that the Buckeyes did not quit and kept hustling, and I also like the fact that the Buckeyes’ two highly touted freshmen, Amir Williams and Shannon Scott, played important minutes in a hostile arena.  For all of the Ohio State players, this was a game that will toughen them up and get them ready for the Big Ten season.  They aren’t going to play in many venues as loud and tough as Allen Fieldhouse.

I do, however, have one other thought after today’s game:  Jared, get well soon!

Today that will change.  This afternoon the Buckeyes will travel to Kansas to play the perennial power Jayhawks at Allen Fieldhouse.  And what a place for your to get your first taste of the road!  Allen Fieldhouse is one of the most venerated venues in college basketball, with its packed in fans and their weirdly chilling “Rock-Chalk-Jayhawk” chant.  The Buckeyes can expect face-painted, bare-chested KU students to yell their brains out every time Aaron Craft brings the ball upcourt.

This will be an interesting game for the Buckeyes for other reasons.  The big question to be answered is whether Jared Sullinger will play and, if so, whether he will be hobbled.  The Buckeyes offense is designed to exploit Sullinger’s many talents, and when he didn’t play last game the offense sputtered.  If Sullinger doesn’t play — and I wouldn’t expect Coach Thad Matta to take any chances, at the outset of a long season — the other Buckeyes will have to step up.

Kansas has a very good team.  They are ranked in the top 15 nationally, and their 6-2 record is deceiving because the losses have come against Kentucky and Duke.  The Jayhawks have lots of size and depth and are led by stud 6-9 forward Thomas Robinson and guard Tyshawn Taylor.  If the Buckeyes hope to win this game, they will have to play solid defense, force some turnovers, and — if Sullinger can’t play or is limited — get a big game from Evan Ravenel.

The tip is at 3:15 this afternoon.  We’ll know a lot more about the grit and determination this Buckeye team possesses by 5:30 tonight.