The Game Eleven Preview: Indiana Hoosiers vs. Ohio State Buckeyes

Who, When, Where: The Hoosiers travel to Columbus, Ohio to take on the Buckeyes of Ohio State. The game kicks off at noon Saturday on BTN, with Kevin Kugler and Glen Mason in the booth and Lisa Byington on the sidelines. This will be the 88th meeting between the Hoosiers and Buckeyes, and Ohio State leads the series 70-12-5. IU has not beaten Ohio State since 1988, and has not won in Columbus since 1987.

Tevin Watch: While most of the country was focused on Melvin Gordon setting the NCAA rushing record, Tevin ran for a career high 307 yards against Rutgers. He is now 7th on IU's all time rushing list with 2,861 yards, 168 yards behind #6 Vaughn Dunbar. His season rushing total of 1,678 is just 127 yards off the IU single season rushing record, held by Dunbar. Tevin has also been named to the Doak Walker watchlist and is one of 20 semifinalists for the Maxwell Award.

Ohio State Notes, courtesy of OTE "writer" GoForThree: This has been quite the season for the Buckeyes thus far. That's likely a surprise to no one at this point. Then again, few could have expected the Buckeyes to become the team they seem to be after the loss of Braxton Miller. Anyone who has even sniffed B1G football this year has heard a career's worth of discussion on J.T. Barrett and the rapid development of his outstanding talent. Truth be told, he's a product of an Urban Meyer recruiting system that will make players like him less the exception and more rule. Or so our affinity for projecting past successes into the future with abandon leads us to hope. Nonetheless, the young man from Texas seems to be the real deal at the moment. Provided he and his teammates continue to get it done on the field, he'll get the chance to prove his mettle in Indianapolis.

The loss of Nate Sudfeld has been awful for Indiana and I feel bad for them. That offense seemed to be something truly special, and they likely would've put the hurt on several conference teams had he remained healthy. It's tough to see a program stumble after starting to really gain momentum. The challenge that remains for the Buckeyes will be to stop Tevin Coleman, especially inside. If I were coaching Indiana I'd run him inside all night. It worked for MSU and it worked for Minnesota, and neither team has Coleman's particular cocktail of skills in the backfield.

Buckeye Miscellany: An OSU built electric car set the world record for fastest speed by an electric vehicle in 2004. The Ohio Union was the first student union built by an American public university, and the original was built in 1909. The official Ohio State student section is led by the Block O organization, and has other branches for each sport. (IU's student section is not nearly this unified, which is why that piece of info baffles me.)

Notable Ohio State Alumni: R.L. Stine (Author, Goosebumps); George Steinbrenner (former Yankees owner); Patricia Heaton (Actress); Jim Jinkins (animator and creator of Doug); Lil Jon (rapper, music producer); Jeffery Dahmer (serial killer); Mike Sexton (poker pro); Jesse Owens (Olympian, Berlin 1936); Clark Kellogg (former Indiana Pacer, TV analyst); Bob Knight (former IU basketball coach); Mike Doss (former Indianapolis Colt), Leslie Wexner (founder of Limited Brands),

Predictions:

GF3: I think the Buckeyes win somewhat handily, but I think a nearly 36-point line is too steep. That's a massive spread, which the Buckeyes historically seem to miss (as most teams do). I see OSU winning 48-17, with the second Hoosier TD coming late.

C4B: Pain. Lots and lots of pain. Ohio State wins 51-17.

Next week: #GetBuckets #HATEHATEHATEHATEHATE