Basketball Bucks Beef Up Schedule

If Ohio State falls shy of expectations in the upcoming 2011-12 basketball season, it won't be for a lack of testing themselves. There also won't be a shortage of land mines to sidestep.

Tuesday the Big Ten announced its parings for the 2011 Big Ten-ACC Challenge. As long anticipated, the Buckeyes were given a home game hosting Duke for the first time in the 13-year history of the event. It will be just the second time the two teams have played one another in the challenge.

The marquee game of this year's clash between the two conferences--now 12 teams apiece with Nebraska joining the fray--is icing on an already sweet schedule for Ohio State. In the non-conference portion of Ohio State's schedule, the Buckeyes will host UAB, Florida and Duke while traveling to South Carolina and Kansas for a pair of stiff road tests. 

While Ohio State will likely begin the season ranked No. 3 in the country behind North Carolina and Kentucky, Duke will also be ranked in the top-10, perhaps as high as No. 5, despite losing Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler. The Blue Devils bring in arguably the nation's best high school player Austin Rivers--son of Boston Celtics head coach Doc (Rivers).

With the Blue Devils and Gators both visiting Columbus in the first six weeks of the season (the Florida date has not yet been set, though it's believed to be part of ESPN's college basketball marathon early in November), OSU fans can't say they won't have opportunities to see quality competition. In fact, with likely three top-20 teams on the schedule, all of high prominence, Ohio State will certainly be prepared for an otherwise weak Big Ten. 

With Michigan point guard Darius Morris gone unexpectedly to the NBA, the Wolverines lose a bit of luster from a squad that was expected to be Ohio State's biggest challenger. Instead, it's likely their in-state foe Michigan State that will be, on paper, the team Ohio State has to beat. 

This past week, the Spartans picked up graduate transfer Brandon Wood from Valparaiso. Wood, a 6-2 senior guard, averaged 16.7 points per game last year for the Crusaders and will help to replace a spot vacated by the departed by Korie Lucious who was kicked off the team late last season. Wood took advantage of a recent rule change by the NCAA, transferring without having to sit out a year because he was exploring a graduate program that was not offered by Valparaiso University. 

With Wood in the fold, the Spartans will count heavily on he and senior Draymond Green for consistent scoring having lost Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers to graduation. Despite their losses, the return of Delvon Roe, sophomores Keith Appling and Adreian Payne, and additions of McDonald's All-American Branden Dawson and Brandon Kearney, the cupboard is not bare for Tom Izzo's squad. 

Wisconsin is the other presumed challenger, although Michigan, Purdue and even Big Ten rookie Nebraska could be in the mix. Minnesota is also especially an intriguing pick after surprisingly returning the entire front line of NBA prospects Rodney Williams, Trevor Mbakwe and Ralph Sampson III. The Golden Gophers lose point guard Al Nolen and shooting guard Blake Hoffarber from last season's disappointing finish, but with one of the league's best frontcourts, Minnesota could finish in the upper half of the league standings.

Though the Buckeyes are the trendy pick to win a fourth Big Ten title in six years, understandably the sights are set a little bigger this season. Playing Duke, Kansas and Florida is a terrific litmus test.

Duke, being headlined by Rivers, the Plumlee brothers, Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins will be ranked between four and eight to begin the season and there's a considerable distance between they and the next closest ACC competitor. 

For Ohio State, playing Duke is something of a rarity. The two teams have played just five times over their schools' history, with Duke winning three. The two teams last met in the challenge Dec. 3, 2002 in Greensboro, N.C. The Blue Devils won 91-76 despite a herculean 35 points from OSU guard Brent Darby. The last time -- and only -- Ohio State hosted Duke was Dec. 30, 1964 where the Buckeyes dropped a 94-89 double-overtime heartbreaker at St. John Arena. The two teams also played in the 1963-64 season, 1966-67 and 1978-79. 

Meanwhile, Kansas has not appeared on Ohio State's schedule a great deal either. 

The Jayhawks will be extremely young this season after losing freshman Josh Selby and juniors Marcus and Markeiff Morris to the NBA draft. Kansas also will have to replace senior guards Brady Morningstar and Tyrel Reed. Still, despite their youth, the Allen Fieldhouse is typically unkind to visitors and Ohio State is unlikely to be an exception.

The two teams last met Dec. 23, 2000 in Columbus as part of a home-and-home series. Kansas won 69-68 and also defeated the Buckeyes in Lawrence 80-67 the year before. In the series, Ohio State is 3-4 having also lost to Kansas in the 1997 Rainbow Classic but most recently winning against the Jayhawks in Hawaii in 1986. 

The Buckeyes are now 7-4 against the Gators with a pair of wins coming in 2007-08 and this past season, only minimally erasing the pair of losses suffered in the 2007 season at the hands of the National Champion Florida club. This season will already make the fifth meeting between the two schools in five seasons. 

Also confirmed for this season's schedule, which is likely to be released in full later this summer, are home dates against UAB, Lamar, Jackson State, Wright State and North Florida along with the trip to South Carolina. The latter three home dates are part of a five-team invitational with the Gators that counts as an exempt tournament. Exempt tournaments allow teams to play multiple games but have just one count toward the limit of 27 regular season contests. There are still four games unaccounted for knowing there are 18 conference games and up to 31 total contests.

The game against Duke is likely going to be a 9 PM tip on ESPN. The Florida game, if part of the marathon, will be either 6 or 8 PM on ESPN. The game against Kansas, Saturday, Dec. 10, is slated to be televised nationally on CBS.

As they say in show-business: break a leg.