My life, and it’s syncopation around sports, breaks down into two halves.  The first half is spent mostly committed to Cleveland sports.  The other half is spent with the Buckeyes, of Ohio State.   Ever since the day I first began rooting for sports, the two halves of my life were destined to intersect.  It’s a constant mental struggle.  We’re talking like, Tom Hanks in Cast Away type-of-struggle.  Jim Carey in The Truman Show type-of-struggle.  You’re about to read an account of it.  I welcome...

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The Big Ten is down to its last two weeks of action, and the contenders for the conference title game have been whittled down to three. Wisconsin will represent the Leaders Division in Indianapolis on December 1st, a spot they clinched with Saturday’s win at Indiana. The Legends participant may not be determined until the final week of the season, but either Nebraska or Michigan will be playing the Badgers for the championship.

The Cornhuskers hold the tiebreaker over Michigan, and they appear to have the easier path to Indy, with remaining games against Minnesota in Lincoln and at Iowa. Michigan hosts Iowa this weekend and then travels to Columbus on the 24th.  Here’s a rundown of last Saturday’s games:

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Ohio State may have been on a bye last weekend- but there was no shortage of fireworks to relieve the boredom of Buckeye fans deprived of watching their favorite team. The number-one team in the land went down last Saturday, opening the door to the type of BCS Championship Game we haven’t seen in a long time. Teams around the country alternately moved one step closer to bowl bids and conference championships, while others moved a step back. We’ll look at the stunner in Tuscaloosa, the SEC’s chokehold on the BCS Championship and the chances of that chokehold relaxing this season, the season’s overachieving programs (Kent State will be mentioned, of course) and the state of the division and conference races in a Buckeye-free TWTW.

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The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes were scheduled to start their season last Friday against Marquette as part of college basketball’s Carrier Classic, but condensation on the court forced the head coaches of both teams to cancel the game.

So instead of starting the season on a boat, the Buckeyes kicked off their 2012 campaign in Columbus with an 82-60 victory over the Albany Great Danes.

Ohio State was sluggish to start the game, missing its first five shots from the field while playing lazy defense. Albany kept pace with the No. 4 team in the country early and even led the Buckeyes 23-22 with less than five minutes to go in the first half.

After Sam Rowley’s layup gave the Great Danes that one-point lead, Ohio State head coach Thad Matta had seen enough -- enough of his teams lackadaisical play alongside a poor attitude on the court. Matta called a timeout and erupted on his team.

“It was a scramble situation,” Matta said after the game. “Those things are going to present themselves, but what I didn’t like was one of our guys putting his palms in the air and saying something to a teammate.”

The Buckeyes responded.

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