Why is this news?: Ohio State defensive trio ranked second in Big Ten, potential breakout Buckeyes?

"After a standout freshman campaign, Bosa could lead the conference in sacks, while Curtis Grant will be looked upon to be the new leader of this linebacking unit, and the same with Doran Grant in the secondary."

- Sean Merriman, BTN.com

As the Big Ten Media Days arrive closer each day, the team over at the Big Ten website has been busy with plenty of great reads. This one in particular ranks the best defensive trios (one lineman, one linebacker, and one defensive back) in the Big Ten. Ohio State's trio of Joey Bosa, Curtis Grant, and Doran Grant check in at second behind Michigan State's Shilique Calhoun, Taiwan Jones, and Kurtis Drummond.

It shouldn't come as a shock to any Big Ten teams that Michigan State is headlining the list, after all, last season the Spartans boasted one of the top defenses in the country. The Buckeyes were lackluster at best against the pass, but strong overall against the run. Penn State rounds out the top three with Deion Barnes, Mike Hull, and Jordan Lucas.

I'm looking forward to see what Joey Bosa does with a year under his belt (a year that he already dominated as a freshman). Curtis Grant has plenty to prove to Ohio State fans and national media alike, while Doran Grant looks to help improve the secondary from last season.

"Ezekiel Elliott is in line for the starting role, but Bri'onte Dunn has the opportunity to solidify himself as the No. 2 option. He can do that by offering a different running style than Elliott - the tough, hard-nosed style that Hyde used to gash defenses over the last two years."

- David Regimbal, Bleacher Report

David Regimbal has an interesting topic over at B/R, taking a look at some potential breakout players that Ohio State could have this upcoming season. Regimbal lists Jalin Marshall, Erick Smith, and Bri'onte Dunn. To start off, I totally agree with his first selection in Marshall. Since Marshall committed to Ohio State a couple of years back, I've been a big fan of his potential as a wide receiver/hybrid-type of player. Along with Dontre Wilson, Marshall has a great shot at igniting in this offense after suffering some injuries that held him off the field.

I've been fairly high on Dunn as well and have been slightly surprised we haven't seen more of him than we already have. A couple reports of being in coach Meyer's doghouse will do that to your playing time, I suppose. I still expect Dunn to have a fairly productive year, especially since the need to replace Hyde is a large hole to fill with a combination of Ezekiel Elliott and Rod Smith.

Erick Smith was an interesting choice here. He definitely has the potential to be great, but I might have gone with Vonn Bell. After starting his first game as a true freshman in the Orange Bowl, Bell was a bright spot on a pretty awful Buckeye secondary. Although he suffered an MCL injury in the spring, Bell should still be able to make a comeback and compete for that starting safety spot.

"But when I came here, our goal was to build a top 10 college basketball program in the country, and that was the daily message to the staff - we're going to build a top 10 college basketball program at Ohio State. And I think we've done that."

- Ohio State head coach Thad Matta, via Doug Lesmerises, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Doug Lesmerises conducted an excellent interview with Ohio State basketball coach Thad Matta (better yet, it's only part one!) in which Matta talks about his dreams of coaching and what his goals were coming up. It's an interesting perspective to see from the coach we all watch near the bench usually chewing his gum until his face turns beet red.

I really enjoyed that Matta, despite not having a championship yet, feels like he's set a standard at Ohio State. Need I remind fans of the days when Matta first took over. He turned those teams around pretty quick and as he puts it, how they've "generated a constant" rather than a buzz about the program in terms of national brand.

'Ohio State's first priority is to set up a handful of nutrition or 'fueling' stations at various facilities that will be stocked with healthy snacks such as nutrition bars, sandwiches and fruit."

- Bill Rabinowitz, The Columbus Dispatch

Food has been a controversial topic when it comes to the NCAA getting involved with student-athletes as they balance football or other sports, classes, and possibly part-time jobs. All of that can make a person forget to be eating healthy and simply, just eating at all. After Connecticut's star point guard Shabazz Napier revealed he would sometimes go to bed hungry because of the limitations placed on team's nutritionists and how much or what they could give athletes to eat, the NCAA has backtracked and lifted those restrictions.

Now, the hope is that athletes (including at Ohio State) will be getting all of their nourishment needs met properly with a healthy, balanced meal. The Buckeyes staff will also work to set up the aforementioned fueling stations around the buildings with nutrition bars, sandwiches, and fruit. I think this is a great idea, and can't really harm the athletes, unless they somehow abuse the system.

STICK TO SPORTS

• Jon Stewart has launched a $10 billion Kickstarter to buy CNN. Yes, really.
• Columbus SOUP continues to fund small local non-profit organizations with a big gift to State of the Arts Productions.
• A coupon dealing free Donatos pizza that went viral turns out to be invalid. At least the company honored the mistake.
• For dealing with all the heavy influx of traffic, LeBron James apologized to his neighbors with cupcakes.
• The Ohio State fair has kicked off.