Ohio State and head coach Urban Meyer could end up in the same new Big Ten division as rival Michigan. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said Monday that there is a “strong likelihood” the Buckeyes will be in the same division as Michigan when the conference realigns its divisions.

Smith told the Big Ten Network it was likely the two rivals could end up in the same division when Rutgers and Maryland join the conference, according to CBS Sports.

For Ohio State and Michigan, being in the same division would raise the stakes of their annual, late-season matchup. It would also take away the possibility of back-to-back showdowns in the regular-season finale and the league championship game.

The most likely current split of the future Big Ten divisions would come in an east-west divide, as the addition of Rutgers and Maryland add an East Coast flair to the league.

Ohio State caused a big to-do on Monday when athletic department officials informed the assembled media that they would not be allowed to use Twitter during coach Urban Meyer’s press conferences.

Needless to say, this policy was not met with much enthusiasm. (Jason Lloyd of the Akron Beacon Journal has a well-thought-out take.)

To no one’s surprise, a day later the Buckeyes had a change of heart (insert Urban Meyer joke here) and rescinded the policy, according to this tweet from the student newspaper, The Lantern:

Ohio State athletics spokesman confirms the Twitter-delay policy at Buckeyes football press conferences has been lifted.—
Lantern Sports (@LanternSports) August 28, 2012

LeBron James received a scholarship to Notre Dame as a high school sophomore. (Steve Dykes/Getty Images)

Ohio State football head coach Urban Meyer revealed on Thursday that he offered the Miami Heat’s LeBron James a scholarship to Notre Dame in 2000 when he was a wide-receivers coach for the Fighting Irish.

At the time, James was a high school sophomore for St. Vincent-St. Mary in Ohio, a school also known as the Fighting Irish.

According to Melissa Rohlin of The Los Angeles Times, James told Meyer he’d consider the offer. When James’ football coach caught wind of the news, Meyer was laughed at for offering James a scholarship to play for Notre Dame’s football team:

“I didn’t know what he was laughing at,” Meyers said, “so we went down and sat in a room and he said, ‘Do you know who that is?’ and I said, ‘No’ and he said, ‘LeBron James’ and I said, ‘Who’s LeBron James?’ and he said, ‘He’ll be the next Michael Jordan’ and I go, ‘Come on.’”

In addition to being named the 2003 Naismith Prep Player of the Year as a senior, an award that goes to the top player in the nation for high school basketball, James was also an All-State wide receiver at St. Vincent-St. Mary. Between his sophomore and junior seasons, he recorded 102 passes for 2,065 and 23 touchdowns.

Meyer said that despite an already-accomplished NBA career, James would’ve been a first-round draft pick in the NFL and would’ve been in the Hall of Fame:

“A first-round draft pick, a Hall of Famer,” Meyer said. “Obviously he’s a winner.”

Ohio State suspended wide receiver Jake Stoneburner and left tackle Jack Mewhort indefinitely after the two players were arrested Saturday. (Eric Francis/Getty Images)

Ohio State senior starters Jake Stoneburner and Jack Mewhort have been suspended indefinitely after their arrest Saturday, according to a report in The Blade of Toledo, Ohio.

The players were arrested Saturday — along with a third person unaffiliated with the football program — on a charge of obstructing official business.

The players’ lawyer, Columbus attorney Mark Collins, told The Blade that they will not be allowed to participate in any team activities or be allowed on the football facilities.

The Blade reports that the two players and the third person were spotted “urinating outside a restaurant near Stoneburner’s house, located just off the course at Muirfield Village Golf Club.”

Collins told the paper that he hopes the players can work something out with the police department before their arraignment on June 11.

“Hopefully we can sit down with the Shawnee Hills police department and the prosecutors and come up with a resolution that everyone can be satisfied with,” Collins said.

The Buckeyes are entering their first year under new head coach Urban Meyer. Mewhort is expected to be the team’s starting left tackle. Stoneburner, a wide receiver, tied for the team lead in catches last season and led the team in touchdown receptions with seven.

The Ohio State Buckeyes self-reported 46 secondary NCAA violations less than a week ago, but the athletic department has up to a dozen more violations pending, according to a report by The Lantern‘s Pat Brennan. 

“We’ve got 12 pending,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith is quoted as saying. “It may turn out to be secondary. It may not.”

A school spokesman later told the paper that there were less than 12 pending cases. Smith also clarified that the school is not facing any major violations, according to tweets by CBS’s Bruce Feldman and Brett McMurphy.

AD Gene Smith in a statement: "Contrary to reports attributed to me, Ohio St is not facing any major NCAA violations."

—
Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) May 24, 2012

Ohio State AD Gene Smith says school isn't facing major NCAA violations just "several secondary violations being processed"

—
Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyCBS) May 24, 2012

Ohio State’s football team is banned from going to a bowl this season as punishment related to the alleged sale of memorabilia for tattoos, among other allegations against the programs. Long-time coach Jim Tressel resigned in the aftermath of reports about the behavior.

The 46 self-reported secondary violations from last week involved 21 sports and covered a period dating back to May 30, 2011. They included one instance where new football coach Urban Meyer said “good luck” to recruit while attending his game. It is a violation to speak with a recruit during a competition.

“It’s nothing that troubles me,” Smith told The Associated Press about the 46 violations. “It’s normal operating business. It’s nothing that troubles me. I’ve seen all the cases. We know all the cases. You look at them, and they’re inadvertent mistakes.”

Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema has accused Ohio State coach Urban Meyer of committing illegal recruiting practices, according to the Sporting News.

Bielema accused Meyer and his staff of using former Ohio State NFL players to call high school recruits.  In particular, the Wisconsin coach accused Meyer of ‘bumping’ into offensive lineman high school standout Kyle Dodson, who was committed to the Badgers and then flipped and signed with the Buckeyes. “Bumping” is a practice which occurs when coaches accidently come into contact with players  during recruiting dead periods.

Both the phone calls from NFL players and bumping are NCAA violations.  When asked by the Sporting News of the accusations, Meyers denied any wrongdoing.  Ohio State has also not self-reported any of these type of violations.

Bielema will get to face Meyers when the teams play in Madison, Wisconsin on Nov.17.

Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer, who coached Tim Tebow at Florida, thinks the New York Jets should let Tebow play, according to NBC Sports.

“Let him play, just let him play,” Meyer said when asked about his former star quarterback.

Meyer added that the spread offense that Tebow executed in college would  “absolutely” work in the NFL.

Meyer then told ESPN that the Broncos were too conservative with the way they used Tebow.  However, when the Broncos’ offense were at their best, such as in the playoff game against Pittsburgh, the legendary head coach felt that Tebow was finally given the freedom to play his own way.

In 2007, Tim Tebow became coach Meyer’s first Heisman Trophy winner.  The following year, Meyer and Tebow led the Gators to a 13-1 record and  BCS National Championship over the Oklahoma Sooners.

Ohio State head coach, Urban Meyer, responded to some of his Big Ten colleagues criticism regarding his recruiting methods at an Ohio high school coaching clinic, according to CBS Sports.

“You’re pissed because we went after a committed guy? Guess what, we got nine guys who better go do it again. Do it a little harder next time.” He has also said that he contacts players who are committed and if they are interested in his program then he still pursues them because verbal commitments are not binding,” Meyer said, according to CBS.

His comments came after accusations from both Wisconsin Head Coach Brent Bielma and Michigan State Head Coach Mark Dantonio about how Meyers recruiting methods are unethical. This situation was sparked by the unexpected signing of Kyle Dodson, who had previously committed to Wisconsin, to the Buckeyes.

Meyer was officially hired as the head coach for the Buckeyes following the end of last season, after a tremendous stint with he University of Florida. He won two BCS and SEC championships with the Florida Gators in 2006 and 2008. He also won two MWC championships with the University of Utah. Among these titles he has also be recognized and won numerous coaching awards. His most outstanding achievements have been being named by Sporting News and Sports Illustrated as Coach of the Decade in 2009.

One of Urban Meyer’s first moves as the new head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes was to ban his players from using Twitter, according to USA Today.

Several Ohio State players tweeted about the ban:

Twitter=Done. Me=back for senior year, leading this team, and shocking the world!! #gobucks #12-0

—
Jake Stoneburner (@STONEYeleven) January 03, 2012

New staff new rules. No more twitter, not a big deal and probably for the better. Love our fans, love this place. Go Bucks #2012

—
Reid Fragel (@Fragel88) January 03, 2012

Meyer was named as the head coach for Ohio State early last month, however he did not officially take over the reins of the team until this morning. The Buckeyes lost to Meyer’s former team, the Florida Gators, yesterday in the Gator Bowl.

Earlier reports by ESPN that former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer had agreed to a deal to become Ohio State’s next head coach were premature, Meyer’s agent Trace Armstrong told CBS Sports.

“I can’t,” Armstrong told CBSSports.com “There’s no hangup. I’ve got to leave it at that out of respect to Urban and the school. This is not my style to be out there in public like this. It’s to be discreet. Those folks [ESPN] have made a decision. I’m so disappointed that ESPN would go forward with something like this.”

ESPN currently employs Meyer as a college football analyst and had previously been quick to squash the many rumors that emerged last week about the former Florida head coach, including one as late as Wednesday which asserted that Meyer had agreed to a seven-year, $40 million contract with the Buckeyes. That morning ESPN quickly posted a statement from Meyer that came through Armstrong, indicating that no offer had been made.

While Armstrong would not deny to CBS that a deal was being worked on between his client and Ohio State, he again affirmed that nothing had been completed yet.

“In the spirit, we’ve tried to keep them in the loop, they’ve jumped the gun a couple of times. It’s most unfortunate,”  Armstrong said. 

Former University of Florida head football coach Urban Meyer has agreed to become the next head coach of Ohio State, according to an ESPN report. The 47-year-old had previously served as an analyst for ESPN’s college football coverage after stepping down from his position with Florida in 2010 as a result of health concerns.

Last week several reports emerged that Meyer, an Ohio native, would soon announce his decision to accept the Buckeyes head coaching job. Most recently Orlando television station WKMB 6 reported that Meyer had agreed in principle to a seven-year, $40 million deal that would allow him to bring several members of his former Florida staff with him to Columbus. On Wednesday, Meyer denied those reports.

“I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place,” Meyer told ESPN at the time. “I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further.”

In six years as the head coach of Florida, Meyer posted a 65-15 record while claiming two National Championships. He has a 103-23 record as a head coach overall, and is 7-1 all-time in bowl games.

Despite an emerging story Wednesday morning that former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer had reached a seven-year deal to become the next head coach of Ohio State University, the 47-year-old issued a statement to ESPN insisting that he has not reached any agreement with the school.

“I have not been offered any job nor is there a deal in place,” Meyer said. “I plan on spending Thanksgiving with my family and will not comment on this any further.”

A source had told Orlando television station WKMG 6 that former Gators head coach agreed in principle to a seven-year, $40 million deal to become the next head coach of Ohio State University.

According to the report from WKMG, Meyer would bring to Columbus several of his assistant coaches from the University of Florida. Current Gators linebackers coach D.J. Durkin would become Ohio State’s defensive coordinator, and Mickey Marotti, the current strength coach at Florida, would become the Buckeye’s director of football operations.

Earlier this week, Meyer denied any reports of a potential deal with Ohio State but told The Gainesville Sun that if the Buckeyes offered him their coaching job that he’d “have a decision to make.”

“I’m in a good place right now mentally and physically. So if something happens with Ohio State, I’ll have a decision to make. But there has been no interview. There has been no offer to make a decision about,” Meyer told the paper.

In six years as the head coach of Florida, Meyer posted a 65-15 record while claiming two National Championships. He has a 103-23 record as a head coach overall, and is 7-1 all-time in bowl games.

Former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer, who has been rumored to most major college football coaching openings since stepping down as coach of the Gators in 2010, said that if the Buckeyes offer him their coaching job that he’ll “have a decision to make,” according to The Gainesville Sun. 

“I’m in a good place right now mentally and physically. So if something happens with Ohio State, I’ll have a decision to make. But there has been no interview. There has been no offer to make a decision about,” Meyer told the paper.

It was widely reported this weekend that Meyer had been lined up by Ohio State to be their next head football coach after Jim Tressel was forced to resign at the end of last season. Meyer has since denied those reports, however, he would not rule out being open to a return, especially to a program with the stature of Ohio State.

In six years as the head coach of Florida, Meyer posted a 65-15 record while claiming two National Championships. He has a 102-23 record as a head coach overall, and is 7-1 all-time in bowl games.

A popular sports blog is citing sources close to the Ohio State University football program that suggest former Florida Gators’ coach Urban Meyer will become the next head coach of the Buckeyes.

SportsByBrooks is reporting that Meyer has agreed to a deal in principle, though nothing has been finalized. Additionally, a website dedicated to Ohio State, Eleven Warriors, has cited sources indicating that Meyer will accept the position once the NCAA delivers their verdict on sanctions against the program.

One report states that Meyer will keep current head coach Luke Fickell on staff, and try to add some big names, including long-time ESPN analyst and former Buckeye quarterback Kirk Herbstreit.

ESPN broadcaster Urban Meyer stepped down from his position as head coach at the University of Florida in 2010. Since then he has been attached to nearly every high-profile coaching job that has become available.  Each time, Meyer has insisted that he’s happy in his new role.  According to a report from Pete Thamel of the New York Times, though, Meyer’s dalliance with the head coaching position at Arizona went beyond idle media speculation.

Thamel writes:

Urban Meyer met with Arizona’s athletic director, Greg Byrne, in Miami early last week to discuss the Wildcats’ job, according to a person with knowledge of the meeting, but ultimately decided he was not interested. The person said that Meyer, who has expressed his desire to return to coaching, was intrigued but informed Byrne in a telephone call Monday night that he was not going to pursue the job.

This report is in stark contrast to Meyer’s reaction when he was linked to the position recently created by the ouster of Joe Paterno at Penn State last week. At that time Meyer released a statement reading, “I am very happy with my role at ESPN.  I have no plans to return to coaching at this time.”

Meyer coached Florida to victories in BCS National Championship games in 2006 and 2008.

Tim Kish is currently the interim head coach at Arizona.