Here we go with the Feb. 9 edition of the Daily Battle Cry:

Two Home Night Games?

In January, Ohio State made the announcement that it was moving its 2010 season opener against Marshall up two days from Sat., Sept. 4, to Thurs., Sept. 2. Accordingly, it was announced that the Buckeyes and Thundering Herd would be playing the 10^th night game in Ohio Stadium history.

But that move left open the possibility that Ohio State could host not one but two home night games in 2010. That has never happened in a single season since the Buckeyes hosted Pittsburgh in their first home night game in 1985.

That possibility exists because Ohio State hosts Miami (Fla.) on Sat., Sept. 11, at the Horseshoe. It is the schools’ first meeting since the Buckeyes upset the ‘Canes in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl to win the national championship. Ohio State is already projected as a top-five team for 2010 with Miami considered by some as the ACC favorite and a possible top-10 pick.

ABC/ESPN should have a better idea of its fall slate of night games within the next month or two. However, there could be some hurdles to clear before OSU-Miami is posted as an 8 p.m. start.

For starters, both ABC and CBS have other programming obligations that weekend. As it had this past year for the OSU-USC game, ABC will have coverage of a NASCAR race on the evening of Sept. 11. CBS also has coverage of the U.S. Open tennis tournament, featuring the men’s semifinals and women’s finals in what is typically all-day coverage – even into prime time.

It remains to be seen whether CBS will have a space in its schedule for the Penn State-Alabama game that day. If CBS clears a spot in its tennis schedule to take that game, that would open the door for ESPN to try and schedule the OSU-Miami game as an 8 p.m. start.

But if CBS is unable to take PSU-Alabama, it could mean that ESPN slots that game as its primary night game. The OSU-Miami game could then fall to ESPN2 at an off time (say, 6 or 7 p.m.) or could be put on ABC as either a noon national game or part of a regional package at 3:30 p.m. (with back haul on ESPN outside the regional coverage).

One more consideration that day is Michigan-Notre Dame will be on NBC at 3:30 p.m. ABC/ESPN may want a prized game like OSU-Miami at another time to avoid that window.

OSU athletic director Gene Smith admitted that the Buckeyes could end up playing two home night games nine days apart.

“I have no clue what (the networks) are doing,” Smith said. “I’m sure they are going to come at me about (another) night game. I haven’t talked to Jim (Tressel) or my staff to see how we may want to respond. We have the right to say no.

“It is a possibility, but I don’t know. I’m an old football guy. Sitting around all day is not the best thing. But I know our fans like night games. That one, we’ll have to face when it comes. But I think it will come.”

Contrary to public opinion, the Marshall game was not moved to a Thursday prime time spot in an effort to make more money for the university. Smith said it was done, in large part, to give the football team two extra days of preparation/recovery for the pivotal Miami game.

“In the nonconference, we can move a game,” Smith said. “We can’t move a conference game. As long as the opponent agrees, which Marshall did, we have that right. The first thing I did was check internally to see if we were OK. Then, I called the AD at Marshall and he checked with his president and they were OK.

“Most people don’t believe me, but I never cared about TV. I never thought about it in terms of ESPN or the Big Ten Network. I informed the Big Ten office – I wasn’t asking their permission.

“It was purely a football decision. I understand a lot of people think it’s different, but it was done purely for football.”

In terms of television, it looks like the OSU-Marshall game could be on ESPN2 or Big Ten Network. ESPN already has a doubleheader locked in with Southern Miss at South Carolina and USC at Hawaii, featuring Lane Kiffin’s debut as the USC coach.

If ESPN programmers decide they want the game for ESPN2 that night, they could select it. If not, the Big Ten Network could take it. Last year, BTN televised the Eastern Kentucky-Indiana game on Sept. 3, two days before the rest of the conference opened up. IU will host Towson on Sept. 2 this year, which will be interesting to see if BTN tries to televise that game and OSU-Marshall at the same time.

“In the pecking order, this game will fall just like the normal selection process,” Smith said. “(ABC/ESPN) will have the first right of refusal and then the Big Ten Network. I didn’t know this, but there are like seven games that night. Miami had moved their game (against Florida A&M) to Thursday. Some of them were moved for TV.

“I don’t know where we’re going to end up. I don’t want to say I don’t care. But that really wasn’t part of our deliberations.”

OSU coach Jim Tressel said he was on board with the decision to move the Marshall game to Thursday.

“It’s something a little bit different,” Tressel said. “It’s kind of like why I liked going to Cleveland Browns Stadium last year. It was a little bit different. It was a new experience. It’s another thing you have to deal with not in the norm, which should help you.

“I kind of like being the first team that’s going to play this year. I’d like them to watch us from Sept. 2 all the way until the last day you’re allowed to play this year. That’s the goal. I don’t see any downsides to it. There’s nothing wrong with change.”

Tressel agreed with Smith that this was strictly an Ohio State football decision.

“I don’t know that any of the networks said, ‘We need you to do this,’  ” Tressel said. “We normally do what we can to help our TV partners. I think it was just Gene and I were in discussions. Somebody in our league (Indiana)  opened ahead of the curve last year. We did it a few times at Youngstown State and we liked it.”

Don’t look now, but the Buckeyes could actually be ticketed for three night games in 2010. They could have these two potential home night games as well their game at Wisconsin on Oct. 16. Again, nothing official on any of these dates beyond the Marshall move. Stay tuned.

Paying The Price

Smith was also on the firing line last week as he announced that OSU intends to raise ticket prices for men’s basketball by $1 and for football by $7 for next year. That brings most tickets for basketball to $23 and $28. Football tickets will move to an even $70.

This announcement came on the heels of news that OSU men’s basketball is projected to lose as much as $350,000 this year because of poor attendance and other factors.

“It’s a process that started in Decemeber,” Smith said. “We were talking about our budget. This wasn’t a one-year issue. We’re looking several years out. We made some policy decisions. We have done a lot of expenditure reductions.”

One area where athletics will feel a big hit is in tuition costs. The university has lifted a tuition cap, meaning that those scholarship costs for each athlete will rise.

“That cap is coming off,” Smith said. “There are 5 to 6 percent increases on our scholarship costs. Our revenues are slightly down, but our expenditures we can’t control are going up.”

Ohio State has long championed the fact it sponsors 36 varsity sports. Smith said reducing that number to balance the books is not an option.

“We made a policy decision a long time prior to this issue,” Smith said. “It was made when President Gee first came here. He and I agreed we would maintain our broad-based program of 36 sports. Many of our sports programs are operating at what we call fully funded. But they have made some reductions in expenditures on travel and who they play in order to help us save.

“It was never a thought in these latest discussions to eliminate sports. We’re not doing that. It’s that simple. We allow too many great opportunities.”

When asked if the $7 ticket raise could be too steep, Smith said, “Not for football.”

“In 2004, ticket prices were raised by $10. If you look at the national data and where we are, we are nowhere close to the Texases, Oklahomas and USCs of the world. We’re not even in their neighborhood. Actually, when we go on the road, we are the premium game. Our fans are paying $70 or $80 a game to watch us on the road.”

In terms of basketball, Ohio State has averaged 13,411 fans for its 15 games this season in 19,100-seat Value City Arena. OSU ranks sixth in the Big Ten in attendance. That average is 4,100 below the average set by the 2006-07 Final Four team and marks a steep 2,500-fan drop from just a year ago.

Smith was asked if raising basketball ticket prices could actually be detrimental.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “If you look at our prices compared to everybody else, in basketball we’re not at the top of the scale. A lot of the empty seats are sold. Our issue is not just selling the single-game tickets up top. It is also about getting the people who bought tickets to come. That impacts our per-capitas and concessions.”

Smith makes a very good point here: There are many games where OSU fans have tickets but aren’t coming. That was illustrated in the nonconference season when OSU averaged just 12,138 fans. The only attractive game in the nonconference was against Florida State.

The Buckeyes have played nine of their 15 home games against teams ranked 200 or lower in the RPI rankings. That group includes: That's Alcorn State (0-23 overall, 343 RPI ... ouch), James Madison (10-13, 245), Lipscomb (12-11, 200), St. Francis Pa. (7-16, 310), Eastern Michigan (10-11, 217), Presbyterian (3-21, 323 ... ouch), Delaware State (8-12, 232), Indiana (9-13, 220) and Penn State (8-15, 227).

Some of the game times have been detrimental as well. OSU has played weeknight home games as early as 6:30 and as late as 9:30 p.m. for television purposes. If it’s too early, it’s hard for fans to get home from work and get to the game. If it’s too late, parents can’t bring their school-age children to the games.

Moreover, people complain about the “environment” at the Schott. That, honestly, is the least of my concerns. I just think there was little forethought to making it a convenient place to visit.

Unlike St. John Arena, there is precious little public parking within a short walk of the arena. The Schott is bordered on three sides by roads, meaning much of the parking is several hundred yards away. In fact, many fans spend as much as $10 to park near Ackerman Road and ride a bus to the game. After the game, they stand in lines outside in the cold to ride back to their car.

I asked Andy Geiger back in 1999 if it would have made sense to build a garage adjacent to the arena to handle game traffic. He said it would have been a blight on the landscape. (Of course, that doesn’t take into account an underground parking garage, but I digress.)

Plus, bringing a family to the Schott for a game and to eat dinner can be an expensive prospect. As an example, a thin personal pizza that would not fill up my 8-year-old is $7. A pizza, popcorn and pop for each member of a family of four would run you well in excess of $50. Add in money to park and you can see how a family with four tickets may opt to save the $60 and watch OSU beat St. Francis by 63 points in the comfort of their living room.

When you’re charging prices like this in a tough economy and making people jump through these kind of hoops to get to games, it’s clear you better have something that people want to see. I think Smith is starting to understand that.

“Thad (Matta) and I have talked about it and we’ve talked about scheduling and what we’re going to in the nonconference as we go forward and we try to get back to where we were in the beginning,” Smith said.

“But the troubling thing for me is the Big Ten. We are doing so well and we possibly have a chance to win the championship. I don’t know the answer to that. I’m hoping as our team continues to play this year we can make up what our loss projection is. It is troubling. It really is.

“I’m as dumbfounded as anybody. I have the same concern with our women’s basketball team that a history of success. I don’t know if it is the fact that there is so much more television available with basketball. We have to do in the nonconference season a better job of scheduling.”

With so many left-over tickets, OSU has offered available upper deck seats for $10 on game days.

“We created a $10 day-of-game ticket,” Smith said. “It is a great ticket. We have been selling those decently.”

And while some point to the lack of atmosphere at the games, Smith is not going for that argument.

“The building is big,” he said. “Of the arenas you compare us to, none of them are 19,000 seats. When I first came here in 2005 and we played (No. 1) Illinois, that place was rocking. We have seen a number of games where the place rocks. I am not one where I buy into the atmosphere thing.”

Matta can’t understand why fans haven’t bought in this year.

“It’s may be a little bit odd,” Matta said. “We’re something like 90-something and 9 in this building. I know this: We are trying to do the best we can to put the best product we can on the floor. Hopefully, it will pick up for us.”

Matta cited a recent survey that noted that Ohio State has played more top-25 teams (32 of them, to be exact) in the last three years.

"I think the schedule is such a delicate balance," Matta said. "I don’t know if there is a right way or a wrong way to do it. The last few years, we have been under the gun with who was going to be on our team. Anytime you are a young basketball team, you have to make sure you put your guys in a position where they can get some wins and get some confidence going.

“Things have been made of our schedules. If you look at other teams' schedules, it's really not any difference in what we’re doing here. But getting teams that our fans have some recognition is important. We’re still working on that.

“A lot of people don’t realize it or appreciate it that we have played a tremendous schedule here.”

Matta talked about how he was directed by fans to play Ohio opponents. Yes, Ohio State has played a few of them here and there, but none of those games would move the needle.

To be clear, Ohio State has hosted Bowling Green and Youngstown State once each. The Buckeyes under Matta have hosted Cleveland State twice and played one game against CSU in Cleveland. The Buckeyes also faced Cincinnati in Indianapolis and played Xavier in the NCAA Tournament.

I think to use Ohio teams to their benefit the Buckeyes should be scheduling the closer MAC teams – most notably Ohio, Akron and Miami. It would also mean something to have Cincinnati, Dayton and Xavier – Heaven forbid – from time to time.

My suggestion is if they play eight home nonconference games in a typical year, they need to play at least two high major opponents, three attractive mid-major opponents and three guaranteed victories (one to start the year, one for exam week and one after Christmas).

Since OSU hosted Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this year, it is likely OSU could go on the road next year. With the team OSU figures to have next year, the Buckeyes could be ticketed for a visit to North Carolina or Duke next year. Stay tuned on that.

Wrapping Up Recruiting, For Now

We say for now because the ongoing saga with Minnesota offensive lineman Seantrel Henderson is, well, still ongoing. (Click here for Bill Kurelic’s latest report on that situation.)

On one hand, you look at the Henderson situation and scratch your head. For the longest time, Henderson and his father Sean said they wanted stability. Of his final choices – OSU, Miami, Florida, USC and Minnesota – Ohio State would have to be considered the most stable program.

Instead, Henderson flew to New York to participate in Tom Lemming’s live TV show and he verbaled to USC – where the coach did not have a relationship with the player six weeks ago, has been on the job about 20 minutes and is on what seems like his fourth or fifth job in five years. That is kind of curious.

To the Hendersons’ credit, though, they stopped short of signing a national letter-of-intent for the Trojans. Later this month, USC will appear before the NCAA’s infractions committee to answer charges on the Reggie Bush episode and other allegations.

The Hendersons, for now, say they want to see how those hearings go before they sign with USC. The fact of the matter is the infractions committee probably will not make a finding or issue any sanctions against the school until well after the April 1 end of the current signing period.

So the Hendersons could face another decision in March as to whether they want to sign with USC without a finding, stay committed to USC without signing, sign elsewhere (hey, they said OSU was No. 2 and the OSU staff has remained in touch) or just hold off altogether and simply enroll at his school of choice in mid-June.

Honestly, I am not all that optimistic that Ohio State still has any chance of landing Henderson. My experience in these NCAA cases is that USC probably will get a slap on the wrist if it gets any kind of sanctions at all.

Two years ago, OSU fans waited for a month after signing day until quarterback Terrelle Pryor decided to sign with Ohio State. Tressel was asked if this could become more of a trend for players to wait and sign past signing day.

“I think it’s going in both directions,” he said. “You are seeing more people deciding earlier. And I think you see it go the other directions for a variety of reasons. Terrelle Pryor’s decision went long. It had nothing to do with going to New York. It had to do with helping his team win a state championship and also to appease his family by taking some visits.

“We’re highly exposed in college football and recruiting is part of that.”

Henderson’s verbal to USC was one piece of the bad news the Buckeyes experienced on signing day. Linemen Matt James and Morgan Moses signed with Notre Dame and Virginia, respectively. The Buckeyes ended up with 18 signees. Tressel was asked if the Buckeyes fulfilled their needs.

“If we could have had everything these (assistants) wanted, we would have had to sign 30 guys,” Tressel said. “We had 20 vacancies we could have filled. We had pidgeon-holed two offensive linemen. Coach (Jim) Bollman would have liked three or four.”

I would give OSU a C for this recruiting effort. They did above average at the skill positions. They got two outstanding tailbacks in Carlos Hyde and Roderick Smith. They got three complementary wide receivers in split end Tyrone Williams, flanker James Louis and slot Corey Brown. They got two nice linebackers and four stellar defensive backs as well.

But, aside from a nice haul at defensive end, the trenches were neglected. Andrew Norwell is the only OL signee and Jonathan Hankins is the only signee at defensive tackle. (After seeing Darryl Baldwin, though, he could be a DT down the line.)

The class came up short in all of the national rankings, ending up with an average ranking of 20^th. That is not the top-five finish that the Buckeyes enjoyed the last two years. But Tressel said he and his coaches like the players they got.

“If this recruiting class can end up like those recruiting classes, that’s what it’s all about,” Tressel said. “How do they mesh as new players? Do they contribute in a certain way as a young player? Then can they develop into being a core part of the team and then move on to become leaders?

“I’m excited about this group. I hope they turn out like these other groups have.”

Southwest Ohio was an area that did not represent well for the Buckeyes this year. The Buckeyes did get Norwell out of Cincinnati Anderson, but they missed out on James from St. Xavier, QB Andrew Hendrix from Moeller (Notre Dame), LB Jordan Hicks from Lakota West (Texas), TE Alex Welch from Elder (Notre Dame) and QB/RB Spencer Ware from Princeton (LSU).

“Whenever you decide to go after good guys, there is going to be competition involved,” Tressel said. “At the end of the day, the thing you don’t want to have happen is have somebody pick you and feel as if they made a mistake.

“Was it an aberration or an anomaly? I don’t know. It doesn’t change anything. Every part of Ohio is critical for us. That’s going to be the core of our football team.”

Tressel said he and his staff do not intend to let those recruiting losses hold them back on the field this fall or in recruiting battles in 2011.

“It might sting for a moment,” the coach said. “But what’s most important is what you do tomorrow. Our guys will press on. We’re fortunate, I guess, that we’ve had more successes than failures.”

Down The Stretch They Come

After Ohio State took its win over Iowa on Sunday, Big Ten Network commentator Tim Doyle told his audience that he thinks the Buckeyes are “the best team in the Big Ten right now.”

OSU has won seven straight conference games to get to 8-3 in the league, one game behind Big Ten-leading Michigan State. The Buckeyes are tied with Wisconsin and Illinois for second. Purdue sits a half-game back at 7-3.

The race will take more of a turn tonight as Illinois visits Wisconsin (7 p.m., BTN) and Michigan State hosts Purdue (9 p.m., ESPN).

This is where the rubber hits the road for the Buckeyes. They play four of their next five games on the road, beginning with this week’s games at Indiana (Wednesday, 6:30 p.m., BTN) and at Illinois (Sunday, 1 p.m., CBS). If OSU intends to be a true player in this Big Ten race, the Buckeyes need to pick up some huge wins away from home.

The challenges could be stiff, though. The young Hoosiers gave Purdue a scare at Assembly Hall last week, while Illinois just knocked off Michigan State at its Assembly Hall this past Saturday.

Ohio State is a less-than-stellar 2-5 on the road this season with wins only at Purdue and Iowa. (It should be noted, though, that OSU lost road games at Butler, Wisconsin and Michigan without star guard Evan Turner. The other losses were at Minnesota and West Virginia.)

Add in the winter storms smacking the Midwest and this road trip to Indiana – a team OSU blasted 79-54 on Jan. 6 at VCA – just became more treacherous.

“This is the hand we’re dealt,” Matta said earlier today. “We’re playing in Bloomington, Ind., tomorrow. It’s snowing outside right now. When are we leaving? We’re not sure. When are we getting there? We’re not sure. But at 6:30 tomorrow night, you have to have yourself ready to play. Indiana is a team that is playing great basketball at home.”

Junior wing David Lighty said this team reminds him of the 2007 Final Four team. That squad overcame a ton of obstacles and won 22 straight games on its march to the national title game.

“I go back to my freshman year against Tennessee in the tournament,” Lighty said. “We were down like 20 against them. We went into the locker room and nobody was like, ‘Oh, man what are we going to do?’ No one was down and no one was frantic.

“This team was the same way. That’s what being tough is, especially on the road. It’s you against everybody there and everybody on the team. It’s on you to execute the game plan and to be unflappable, like Coach says.”

Publication Updates, Chats, Media Appearances

* The February 2010 issue of Bucknuts The Magazine recapping the season and looking toward 2010 was released online on recently. Click here for this issue.

The next online edition will be released on or about March 1. It will be our Recruiting Wrap-Up and Spring Preview.

* We are working on a series of articles looking toward the 2010 season. Click here for a complete look at OSU in 2010. Click here for a feature on tight end Jake Stoneburner. Click here for a feature on wide receiver DeVier Posey. Click here for our feature on cornerback Devon Torrence.

Click here for our look at OSU’s 2010 schedule. I have at least two more special player features due out in the next week or so. Stay tuned.

* On Monday, we released the latest edition of the Bucknuts Radio Hour. This edition recaps national signing day with interviews with Bill Conley and our own Bill Kurelic. Also, we have audio clips with OSU assistants Darrell Hazell and Nick Siciliano. Click here for this edition of the radio hour.

The Bucknuts Radio Hour will be in the garage for retooling for the next several weeks. When we have the new format ready, we will announce it in the weeks to come.

* Bill Conley hosted a Chat on Monday. Click here for the archive. Bill Kurelic will host a Chat at noon on Friday.

Ah, The Memories

* With the big Miami (Fla.)-Ohio State game on the docket in September, you may want to read up on the historic last meeting between the schools.

There is a small quantity of my book on the 2003 Fiesta Bowl book, "The Greatest Game Ever Played," available for purchase.

To get a copy of the book, send a check or money order for $21 ($18 for the book, $3 for shipping) to:

Steve Helwagen
P.O. Box 34
Pataskala, OH 43062
Allow 2 weeks for shipping.

* We also have some left over Bucknuts golf shirts from our recent golf outing. We have a few shirts left in the extra large and double extra large sizes. They are $28 each ($25 for the shirt, $3 for shipping). Send orders to the same address above.

Send check or money order to Bucknuts Ventures, PO Box 34, Pataskala, OH 43062.