It was a gray day late yesterday afternoon on the Ohio State campus -- from the overcast sky to the walls of Ohio Stadium, where the Buckeyes play football.
There was certainly no visual or audible buzz for Big Ten leading Ohio State's match-up with the Penn State men's basketball team -- losers of 11 straight entering the game.
"I got some last minute calls ... but it's Penn State," a scalper said outside the Value City Center, the largest basketball arena in the Big Ten and home of Ohio State, the No. 1-ranked team in the coaches' poll and No. 2 team according to the media.
Some Ohio State students, for sure, were already looking forward to this weekend's game against Wisconsin, which until Tuesday night -- when the Spartans upset the Badgers -- was to be a battle of one-loss teams in the conference.
"Sunday's the real one," one Ohio State student said from the floor of the arena, a half hour before the 8 p.m. tip-off, with OSU's student section not anywhere close to being full.
From a group of students that has one of the nation's elite college basketball teams to support, a little more pregame atmosphere was expected, no matter the weather outside -- dreary or blue skies -- and no matter the opponent inside -- Penn State or the Harlem Globetrotters.
Not until midway through the second half as Penn State kept an upset within possibility, did Ohio State's home arena burst with excitement from the nearly filled, 19,200-capacity arena.
Like the fans of any team overcoming a deficit, there was now reason to cheer.
Until then, though, most fans were subdued. Strange for supporters of a team that hasn't lost a home game this year.
Now, the first half tone wasn't exactly all the Ohio State students' fault. The university's athletic department doesn't make it easy for students to creative cohesive cheers.
Student basketball fans at the 15, 261-seat Bryce Jordan Center are lucky compared to those from their border rival.
The student section at the Schottenstein Center is divided into three parts. The majority consists of the areas behind both baskets, very similar to those of the Jordan Center.
There are also a few upper deck sections reserved. But most of the freshmen and sophomores who are assigned there, sell their tickets for profit once they realize what their vantage point will be for the season, a few Ohio State upperclassmen said.
Unlike Penn State students, Ohio State's don't have the luxury filling up the courtside seats of their arena.
Ohio State students are left staring at each other from opposite ends of the floor behind each basket. The result, last night, was often awkward silence during timeouts and unified cheers only when the Ohio State's band led the way.
So if something other than Penn State's 12th-consecutive loss can come out of last night's game, it might be this: One of the best teams in the country doesn't even have their students sitting together and, at least, the Jordan Center has that.
