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The Buckeyes head to the dreaded Kohl Center to take on the No. 20 ranked Wisconsin Badgers (18-5, 7-3). It has been over a decade since Ohio State has escaped Madison with a win, a place where Thad Matta has never won.

The Buckeyes currently sit alone atop the B1G standing at 7-2, and a win this afternoon would be monumental. After today, the Buckeyes have a very tough eight game stretch which includes Purdue, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Michigan State twice. Time to buckle in for the ride!

The game tips at 2 PM ET on ESPN, but the LiveBlog will get going at 1:30. We will be joining the other guys from the Buckeye Blogger Network - Men of the Scarlet and Gray, Our Honor Defend,The Buckeye Battle Cry, Buckeye House Call, the Buckeye Blog, and Fox Sports Ohio.

LiveBlog after the break!
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Keep an eye on DeVeon Smith.
Michael Chung (10:02 am)

National Signing Day has come and gone leaving Ohio State with a top 5 recruiting class.  Soon, all the talk of the 2012 recruits will end and a new conversation will begin.  25 players signed their LOI and there maybe room for one more, but Urban Meyer is already hot on the trail for 2013.  The next class could be even better. 

The Buckeyes already have early commitments from two of the top prospects in Ohio: Cameron Burrows and Jalin Marshall.  This could be the start of a loaded class.  When ESPN asked Meyer how 2013 recruiting was going, Meyer responded, “Oh, we're killing it. We're all over it.” 

It is likely that the class will be around 20 give or take a few. With Marshall and Burrows already in the 2013 fold, who will follow their lead and fill out the 2013 class?  I will try to have an early prediction here. Schools in Ohio will only list the name, out-of-state prospects will list the name of their school, city and state.

1. LB Ben Gedeon, Hudson, 6-2, 220 - One of three prospects to receive an offer on Junior day and could be the third commit of the 2013 class.  Though OSU recruited five linebackers in 2012, Meyer will want more depth.

2. LB Courtney Love, Youngstown Mooney, 6-1, 222 - Love already has an offer with Gedeon and will likely be part of the 2013 class unless he feels there is too much depth at LB.

3. RB DeVeon Smith, Warren Howland, 6-0, 215 - Jordan Hall will be gone and an extra back would be nice.  Has an offer from OSU and will likely be part of the 2013 class.

4. ATH Caleb Day, Hilliard Darby, 6-1, 185 - Though he could play offense, Day will likely be asked to play DB, either corner or safety.  Has an OSU offer but is also considering Notre Dame and Florida as well as Cincinnati.

5. WR Shelton Gibson, Cleveland Heights, 5-11, 175 - Seems to be favoring Auburn but has an OSU offer.  If current receivers Spencer, Smith and Fields develop and OSU lands Stefon Diggs or Davonte Neal, look for Gibson to go elsewhere unless Urban really needs him or can convince him to play DB.
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Drew Thurman (2:55 pm)

War is not a civilized endeavor.

Dust off your history books and look back at the American Revolution. I can promise if you do you'll find a section entitled "Guerrilla Warfare." One of the great stories of the war was that the American militia men used hit-and-run tactics (aka Guerrilla Warfare) against the British forces, hiding behind trees, fences and rocks in dark clothing to gain an advantage. The British on the other hand were "gentleman" and viewed war as such. They wore red coats and marched in straight lines, and followed a civilized style of warfare. In fact, they viewed the guerrilla warfare tactics as ruthless.

One of the largest thorns in the British's side was Francis Marion, who would gain the name the "Swamp Fox." He mastered the art of the surprise hit-and-run tactic, and the British hated and feared him. In fact, they still do. When The Patriot came out in 2000 honoring his character (and exaggerating it too), the London Evening Standard made their disdain for the film well known. They described Marion as "a thoroughly unpleasant dude, who was, basically a terrorist." I'm sorry, but I'm chuckling as I type that quote out.

Flash ahead to 2012. In the battle on recruiting in the B1G, it appears the other powers in the conference also want a gentleman's war. Whether overtly stated or not, several coaches made it abundantly clear that they expect other coaches to not talk to or steal their recruits, to fight nice, and to be ethical. The latter is rather ambiguous, but more on that in a minute. Apparently Meyer, like the Swamp Fox, isn't playing by those rules and is winning the war, so much like the British they have resolved to complaining. 

Michigan State assistant Pat Narduzzi was the first to speak up, or should I say cry. Early in the week, he complained about Urban Meyer not being nice to Dantiono like Jim Tressel because Meyer flipped Se'Von Pittman.

"The only thing I said is guys like Jim Tressel and Mark Dantonio never would've done that to each other," Narduzzi said. "When I have best friends out there that someday if I were the head coach, I won't take their guys. That's just part of how it goes."
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Ken Kohl (11:01 am)

Believe it or not, there are other things going on at The Ohio State University besides football and basketball. In our new feature, Campus Spotlight, we will periodically catch you up with what is happening with those sports and activities. 

On these blogs the topics are likely about football and men's basketball. I'd like to cover another topic. The other nationally ranked team at OSU is at the Ohio State University Medical Center. Specifically, those at the the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

This is the first of two parts covering "The James". We had a few questions about The James and they were more than answered by Eileen Scahill, Media Relations Manager, Ohio State University Medical Center. Please join me for Part 1.

Can you please start out with an overview of The James' mission? That might lead to the following questions...

Our Vision - Creating a cancer-free world. One person, one discovery at a time.

Our Mission - To eradicate cancer from individuals’ lives by creating knowledge and integrating groundbreaking research with excellence in education and patient-centered care

Overview - The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute (OSUCCC–James) is one of the nation's premier cancer centers for the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer. It is the Midwest's first and Ohio's only fully dedicated cancer hospital and research institute.The OSUCCC–James is one of only 40 centers in the United States designated by the National Cancer Institute a Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition, we are a founding member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), an alliance of 21 of the world's leading cancer centers.In 2009, The Ohio State University Board of Trustees approved a $1 billion expansion of the cancer hospital and Medical Center facilities, including a new 276-bed (not including ICU) cancer hospital and critical care building. This increased capacity to help keep pace with the projected 21 percent growth in admissions during the next decade.

The new James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute's state-of-the-art facilities will allow the Medical Center to serve 310,000 patients annually.
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Washington picked the right "O"
Dave and Drew Thurman (4:04 pm)

The holiday known as National Signing Day was an absolute whirlwind for Buckeye Nation, and most of us are still recovering from yesterday. With signings, commitments and drama, most of us are still wrapping our minds around this very solid 2012 class. To give some perspective, we have joined with a group of Buckeye Blogs to take a closer look at how this class will play out in the future and the impact they could have. You can check out opinions on the same questions from The Buckeye Battle Cry, The Buckeye Blog, Buckeye House Call, Men of the Scarlet and Gray, and Our Honor Defend.

Anyway, here are our thoughts:

Who are you most excited to see in scarlet and gray?

Dave: Adolphus Washington.  Even though Noah Spence was more highly rated I think Washington is going to be special.  More than that he was the top-ranked Ohio prospect according to many experts and hails from Cincinnati, which has been an area where Ohio State has found little success in recent years.  I was overjoyed to get this pass rush specialist.  Even with the return of Nathan Williams, I look for a couple of the freshmen ends to play, and help beef up the anemic Buckeye pass rush.

Drew: The easy answer here is one of the defensive lineman or running backs, who have tons of hype coming in. I'm going have to go with Jamal Marcus though. Urban Meyer praised the kid more than about any other prospect yesterday, and considering his track record with evaluating talent, I'm sold. His film is incredibly impressive, and his athleticism is through the roof. With the depth at linebacker currently, especially at outside linebacker, I'm looking forward to seeing what he can provide. I am little biased because of my ongoing enjoyment of solid linebacker play, and with this year's horrendous unit (sans Ryan Shazier), I'm ready to see Linebacker U re-emerge.
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Drew Thurman (9:40 pm)

Signing Day has been a relatively boring affair over the last decade for Buckeye fans. Outside of perusing a few pictures of Buckeye commitments signing their NLOI, guys that had already been committed for months, it typically has been pretty anti-climatic. Well, Buckeye fans were treated to quite a break from the norm as the Buckeyes were in the center of a lot of drama today. Let's take a look at the storylines from an eventful day...

Storyline #1 - Marcus and Dodson Choose OSU
Despite finding out WR Joel Caleb and S Bam Bradley had picked other schools early in the morning, Buckeye fans had no time to be disappointed as LB Jamal Marcus selected the Buckeyes around 10:30 a.m. Marcus was down to East Carolina and Ohio State, and most believed he would stay close to home and pick ECU to please his mom. Instead, Buckeye Nation got a surprise from one of the most underrated prospects in the country.

Marcus is in fact rated as a three star prospect my multiple recruiting services, though his offer list suggests a much better player than that rating. At 6-2 230 pounds he already his great size and runs a 4.6 forty, and his film shows that speed in a very impressive fashion. Speaking of that film, Meyer referenced it multiple times today in his press conference, calling it "ridiculous." He mentioned Marcus in the same breath as the top tier talent in this class, and encouraged everyone to go YouTube his highlights. Considering Meyer is one of the best evaluators of talent in the country, his hyperbole should be taken seriously. He will definitely help fill a position of big need at outside linebacker, and joins Josh Perry, Luke Roberts, David Perkins and Camren Williams at linebacker in this class.
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Where will Kyle Dodson end up? (Photo PD)
Drew Thurman (5:54 pm)

We are less than 24 hours away from National Signing Day, and there is still some drama to play out for the Buckeyes. While the 2012 class is very loaded, the staff is still looking at a handful of prospects to fill needs. Ideally, they would close things out by grabbing one more offensive tackle and wide receiver/playmaker. Any other commitments on top of those two positions would just be icing on the cake.

Currently the '12 class has 23 total commitments, as Roger Lewis will not sign with Ohio State tomorrow due to academic issues. The Buckeyes sit right on the 82 scholarship line, and further attrition will have to happen with several more players expected to jump on board when the dust settles.

So who will those players be? Well let's take a look at who's left and where I expect them to announce. My last set of predictions were spot on, and I guess we'll see if I keep batting a high percentage in the prediction game.

OL Kyle Dodson -  The Cleveland Heights offensive tackle is scheduled to announce his decision tomorrow. He was originally committed to Wisconsin, but began wavering in that commitment back in November and has been looking around. Things are down to Wisconsin, Ohio State, Michigan State, and USC.

There has been lots of rumblings that the Trojans might come out of nowhere and steal Dodson at the last second, much like they did with Aundrey Walker from Glenville High School last year. Still, it's hard to bet against the Buckeyes. Dodson was on campus this last weekend for an official visit, which has to be a good sign several days before his announcement. I also envision him wanting to stay closer to home in the end. Prediction: Ohio State
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Score another big one for Meyer!
Dave Thurman (7:26 pm)

Jalin Marshall, rated the top Ohio prospect in the class of 2013, verballed to Ohio State today, becoming the second member of what promises to be a special group of athletes.  Marshall hails from Middletown (Ohio) High School, which has given the Buckeyes such legends as Jerry Lucas in hoops, and Cris Carter in football.  Although Jalin intended to wait until tomorrow and verbal on his father's birthday word leaked out of his eventual destination so he went ahead and made it offical this afternoon.

The 6'1", 190 pound quarterback is ranked by 247 Sports as the number 5 overall prospect in the class of '13, and the top rated athlete.  Although some expect him to eventually move to receiver or even become a defensive back, he will begin his OSU career as a quarterback, his postion of preference.  As a junior, Marshall rushed for 1,972 yards and 20 touchdowns, and he also passed for 781 yards and six more scores. He is reported to have run a 4.42 40 yard dash, and one look at his video shows his blazing speed.  When I look at him I see visions of Tedd Ginn Jr. and wonder if he won't eventually return kicks and punts in Columbus.  Wherever he plays, Marshall is a special athlete who brings speed and a competitive spirit to the gridiron. 

Combined with last week's verbal from corner Cameron Burrows, Ohio State has already scored the top two rated players in state for next year's class.  And Urban and company are only getting started.

Welcome aboard Jalin.  We can't wait to see you in scarlet and gray. 

Check out his highlights after the jump.
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Reeves picked Ohio State over Michigan.
_Drew Thurman (9:39  pm)

Tonight the Buckeyes grabbed their 24th commitment in the 2012 class as cornerback Armani Reeves picked the Buckeyes. He joins his high school teammate and friend, Camren Williams, who committed to Ohio State just over a week ago.

Reeves, like Williams (and Joey O'Connor and Tommy Schutt), was originally committed to Penn State before narrowing things down to Ohio State and Michigan recently. After taking visits to both schools over the last couple of weekends and hosting both coaching staffs, Reeves was reportedly very torn on where to go. In the end, Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes emerged victorious.

The commitment of Reeves fills a huge and unexpected need. With DerJuan Gambrell and Dominic Clarke being dismissed from the team, the depth chart is very thin at corner. There was not another true cornerback in this class, so Reeves could be fighting for some playing time right away. This is also a big commitment for the staff because of Reeves' potential. He is ranked as a four star prospects across the board by all the major recruiting services, and is considered one of the top cornerbacks in the country. It's nice the staff could navigate him away from two rival schools.

Highlights after the break.
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