Ohio State recruiting: Talking Jordan Battle and Ohio high school playoffs

Another day, another big topic in Buckeye recruiting to talk about. The recruiting world never sleeps, especially not in Columbus, and sometimes the talk of the day will be positive. Other times, it’ll be negative, and well, today is one of those days.

For those who haven’t seen, the latest hubbub is about Ohio State cornerback commit Jordan Battle, for what feels like the 80th time in the last two months, although the concerns of Buckeye fans about the Florida product are certainly merited. Battle is a soft commit to Ohio State to put it lightly, and at this point, it feels like there’s about a 20 percent chance he lands in Columbus.

The recent news, surrounding his scheduled visit to Ohio State this weekend, is especially concerning. That news, of course, is that he may not be making that visit, due to a time issue with his flight, Ohio State’s game start time, and the fact that he has a high school game the night before. While he could still make the visit, I don’t expect it, and at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are no more visits to OSU for Battle.

That’s obviously an issue, because I think a meeting with Urban Meyer to clear things up would go a long way for this recruitment, but ultimately, I don’t expect that to happen. Battle is visiting Alabama next week, and probably Florida or LSU shortly after that. If those visits happen, and Battle doesn’t visit Ohio State (or host Meyer on an in-home visit) any time soon, this one could be out of reach for the Buckeyes.

Playoff time in Ohio

While Buckeye fans have the College Football Playoff rankings from last night in mind this week, there is another playoff to talk about in Ohio right now, as the Ohio High School football playoffs are set to kick off this weekend—and they’re loaded with Buckeye commits and targets.

From Division 1 all the way to Division 7, the next few Friday nights in Ohio will be loaded with great football, and we’ve got you covered on the teams and games you should be on the watch for.

Mentor vs. Strongsville, 11/2: Mentor, led by Buckeye commit Noah Potter, is the top team in the state, and at this point, the favorite to win the Division 1 title in a couple weeks. The Cardinals are fully healthy for the first time in weeks, and I think they’ll be one of the most exciting teams to watch in the entire state this postseason. Get out to see them if you have the chance.

St. Ignatius vs. Lakewood St. Edward, 11/2: St. Ignatius features Boston College linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, who could very well end up at Ohio State if they really push for his commitment. I don’t think this will be super close, and see St. Ignatius as just about the only team that can stop Mentor in Region 1, but who knows, maybe St. Edward can keep it close.

Hilliard Bradley vs. Pickerington Central, 11/2: After a pretty disappointing 8-2 campaign, Pick Central and Demeatric Crenshaw look to return to form against an awesome Hilliard Bradley team. I have Pick Central repeating as champions this year, but I think Hilliard Bradley will give them a great game this Friday.