INDIANAPOLIS – When Curt Cignetti talks about Ohio State, there is a tinge of admiration in his voice. Often, especially against the lower rungs of the Big Ten, he has to strain and stretch somewhat to come up with reasons for IU to have a healthy fear of its opponent.

Not so with the Buckeyes.

“They’re a great football team," Cignetti said of Indiana's opponent in tonight's Big Ten Championship. "Ryan Day is a great coach, he’ll be one of the legends of the game someday. They’re dominant really everywhere.

"They play fast, physical, nasty with an edge."

Of Ohio State receiver Jeremiah Smith, the sophomore who has been ticketed for the top five of the NFL draft since he was a junior in high school, Cignetti said:

“He’s probably the most dominant player in college football ... if it's

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