Notes from the Big Ten Championship Game in Indy

INDIANAPOLIS -- It's snowing here on the eve of the Big Ten Championship Game, but it'll be perfectly comfortable inside Lucas Oil Stadium, when No. 2 Ohio State faces No. 11 Michigan State.

Indianapolis is about a three-hour drive from Columbus, and it's a little more than four hours from East Lansing. I bumped into a bunch of fans for each school as I was checking into my hotel, so it should be interesting to see what the crowd is like inside the 67,455-seat stadium.

"We're anticipating 50/50, but I'm hoping a stronger Buckeye crowd will show up, like I'm sure [the Spartans] do," Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. "Can't control that. But I think it's going to be a great environment. Really, really excited for it.

HALL WON'T START

Meyer said senior offensive guard Marcus Hall won't start Saturday after getting ejected from last week's Michigan game and then throwing a tantrum before giving fans the double-bird salute on his way into the tunnel.

"Very, very disappointed in his actions," Meyer said. "He paid the penalty for the fight, which is he missed three quarters in a rivalry game. It's not Marcus. But just really disappointed in his actions after the fight."

Hall is 6-5, 315 pounds, and his replacement -- redshirt freshman Pat Elfein -- is 6-3, 295.

PRACTICING FULL-TILT

It's unusual for teams to go full-contact in practice, especially at this stage of the season, but that's what Michigan State did to get ready for Ohio State.

"I think you're trying to put yourself in as many game-like situations – safe, not getting injured, so you can simulate as close to what you're going to see on Saturday," Spartans coach Mark Dantonio said. "I think we pushed the envelope there a little bit to try to do that.