Looks like no wager this week…

Well, the string is broken. You may remember that the Friday before the Michigan State game I came up with the idea of the post-swap wager. Ghosts of Wayne Fontes was the first taker of the wager. After that week we had wagers with No Name on My Jersey for the Penn State game, and Brats n Beer for the Wisconsin game. This week the challenge went out to Illinitalk, but they have declined the wager. No matter who wins on Saturday there will be no friendly banter on the opposing site this week.

Maybe that is for the best. Let’s face it, as soon as the final whistle is blown on Saturday, whether win or lose, it will be Michigan week. And I can’t imagine wasting time on the Illinois game after Sunday anyway. Go Buckeyes!

West Coast TidBits

Here’s Pat’s take on the Cavs’ West coast trip.

So far on their West coast trip the Wine and Gold are 1-2. In their lone win they rode the back of non other than LeBron James against the Golden State Warriors. He has played great out west this week, but as Rick has asked, “Where has the help been?”

The game that continues to get under my skin is the game against the Utah Jazz. Find out why after the jump.

What they are saying about Ohio State vs Illinois

Your weekly round-up of national media and their opinions/predictions for the game this Saturday.

Scout’s Inc. gives the match-up edge to the Buckeyes in all phases of the game except RB. Rashard Mendenhall has over 1300 yards for the season, averaging nearly 7 yards a carry. Seriously, if the guy averages 7 yards how do you ever lose a game? Here’s the final analysis-

Ohio State can’t afford to overlook Illinois with Michigan on the horizon but the chances of that happening are unlikely. After all, the season has been riddled by upsets and there are enough leaders on both sides of the ball to prevent the inexperienced players on the team from getting too caught up in the BCS hype. With that in mind, expect a run defense anchored by ILB Laurinaitis to lead the Buckeyes to another important Big Ten win. Laurinaitis and Co. will slow the potent and dynamic Fighting Illini ground game enough to force QBs Williams and/or McGee to make more plays with their arms than they would most weeks. And Illinois just doesn’t have enough weapons or the consistency at quarterback to consistently convert when this happens. In addition, the chances of Ohio State generating turnovers greatly increase the more the Fighting Illini put the ball in the air.  Buckeyes 31, Illini 10

Much more after the jump.