The Dubgate Wants that Turtle

Good morning, fans of the best combination of football and men's basketball teams in the country.

Today is going to be a busy day, but don't fret. We, your poison nut-wielding sherpas, have a plan to guide you through Urban Meyer and his team's quest to tie a school record for consecutive wins as well as the clash between No. 10 Ohio State and No. 17 Marquette on the hardwood, which tips an hour after kickoff in Champaign.

Meyer's team enters today's game with Illinois as 33.5-point favorites and are on quite the roll. The Buckeyes are coming off of a bye and Meyer's teams have won 14-straight games following "off" weeks, which includes season openers, byes and bowl games. A win today would be 22-in-a-row for the Buckeyes, tying the school mark set from 1967-69.

The offense, whether piloted by Braxton Miller, or Kenny Guiton, has been electric. The unit is on pace for single season school records for yards and points, as well as rushing yards per attempt.

Via

Leading the Big Ten with a gaudy 48.2 points per game, the unit is on pace for 578 points at the end of the regular season, which would crush the old mark of 504 points scored during the fabled 1998 season (the gold standard for many of us born after Woody).

It's a long shot, but if the Buckeyes can hang 70 on the Illini, they'll tie the scoring record in their 10th game.

The yardage record, though not as much of a given, is still within reach. Averaging 503.9 yards per game, the Buckeyes are on pace for 6,370 yards, which would break the record of 6,222 set in 1995 when Eddie George, Terry Glenn, Bobby Hoying and Rickey Dudley were wrecking defenses on the regular.

Finally, and perhaps most impressive, is the record for rushing yards per attempt. The 1974 team, led by a certain afro'd Heisman Trophy winner, averaged 5.7 yards per carry. This team is rushing for 6.5 yards per attempt, led by Carlos Hyde and his insane 7.3 yards per touch.

Life as a Buckeye fan is indeed good right now.

But back to the matter at hand. Today marks the 100th meeting between Ohio State and Illinois, dating to the first time the teams met way back in 1902. Ohio State owns a 65–30–4 edge in the series, with an asterisk, because 2010 never happened, remember?

The teams play for the Illibuck Trophy, which is wooden, of course, but was once a living, breathing reptile when first passed between teams in 1925. Illibuck is the second oldest tropy exchanged in the Big Ten, behind the Little Brown Jug that Michigan and Minnesota slap fight over each year.

Illinois is coached by Tim Beckman, a native of Berea, who served as Meyer's defensive coordinator at Bowling Green under Meyer in 2001 and 2002. This will mark the fifth meeting between Meyer and a former assistant. He's yet to lose one of those games.

The Illini will be rocking pretty cool alt helmets to honor the 10 former Illini that have died in combat. We want nothing but a loss for Illinois today, but damn if we don't respect the choice in headgear.

MARQUETTE REDUX. A year after trying to play a game on an aircraft carrier, Marquette and Ohio State will finally meet on the hardwood in Milwaukee. The Buckeyes lead the series 5-4, but the Golden Eagles have won three of the last four in the series.

This is a good team and will be a true test of what we can expect out of the Buckeyes this season. 

We'll have an open thread on the front page, along with the football live blog. With the football game airing at the same time, you'll have to be quick with the remote, but we know you're all about overcoming that #struggle.

USC'S GOT CHEDDAR. It should come as no surprise that the private school that recently announced the Beats by Dre Academy (I could have the name wrong, I'll have to check) may be ready to cut a huge check for its next football coach.

ESPN's Travis Haney with the details ($):

How serious are the Trojans? One industry source told me this week that USC is willing to extend an offer of up to $6 million a year to get its man. Yes, that’s more than Nick Saban makes (for now).

“This hire means that much to them,” the source said. “There’s only one USC. I talk to a lot of people who have worked there and they say it’s the best place they’ve ever coached.”

USC fans would like that coach to be Nick Saban, of course, but failing that, Texas A&M's Kevin Sumlin will do. Aggies are all like, but look at this cost of living calculator we found.

EARLY GAMES YOU WON'T WATCH. The early games are ... how do I put this ... garbage. But, that's okay, because you'll be dialed into the Ohio State game, which kicks at noon.

There is one point of interest, however: FOX Sports finally has a streaming option.