Arizona and head coach Sean Miller beat out Bill Self and Kansas for the ESPN No. 6 recruit today as 7-foot New Hampshire center Kaleb Tarczewski chose the Wildcats over the Jayhawks.

“The real surprise in this to me is that Kansas invested so much time in Kaleb,” said ESPN Analyst Dave Telep. “For Arizona to get him, to beat out Kansas for a guy like this, it’s a huge commitment.”

Between Tarczewski, and power forwards Grant Jerrett and Brandon Ashley, the Wildcats now have an “embarrassingly talented frontcourt,” according to Telep.

Ashley, a 6-foot-8, 215 athletic forward from Findlay Prep, is the No. 4 ESPN-rated recruit, while Jerrett, a 6-foot-10, 220-pound banger, comes in at No. 9.

“I think all three of those guys have a real good chance to be professional basketball players,” Telep said. “They’re all very different. It’s an imposing collection of guys. I think it’s interesting how they just re-tooled the backcourt and retooled the frontcourt for the following years.”

Telep said that Tarczewski, a more traditional post player who visited Tucson during Arizona’s Red-Blue Game, will mesh well with the more athletic and versatile Ashley.

“He’s a guy who’s capable of owning his area,” Telep said. “He’s going to play off the athleticism of Brandon Ashley really well. He’s a more upright guy. He’s a true back to the basket player.”

What impressed Telep most about Tarczewski, of St. Marks School in Massachusetts, committing to Arizona is the Wildcats’ ability to now recruit on a national level — something that didn’t even exist during UA’s days as an annual Final Four contender.

“The real interesting part in this to me is how Arizona can go both coasts,” Telep said. “They’re bi-coastal right now. I don’t ever know if they’ve ever been like that before. Even when they were playing for championships and final fours I don’t know if their reach was as big as it is right now. They are back to being a national recruiting power.”

With Jerrett, Ashley and shooting guard Gabe York, the Wildcats already had the No. 1 2012 recruiting class according to ESPN. Now with Tarczewski, Arizona’s class is undoubtedly the best in the country. Assuming 2011 guards Nick Johnson and Josiah Turner stay in Tucson until next season, Miller will have unlimited options and an extremely balanced roster moving forward.

For the third time this season, the Texas A&M football team failed to capitalize on a double-digit halftime lead as they lost to Missouri in overtime, 38-31.

In similar fashion to last week, the Aggie offense failed to get much going from the game’s beginning, punting on each of their first two drives. After a solid defensive effort squelched Missouri’s initial offensive effort, the Tigers methodically marched down the field and drew first blood, going up 7-0 in the middle of the first quarter.

The Aggies responded, however, driving down the field themselves to tie the game 7-7 on a touchdown pass from senior quarterback Ryan Tannehill to sophomore tight end Michael Lamothe. The drive set up a prolific second quarter in which A&M outscored Mizzou 21-3.

A 12-yard touchdown scamper by senior running back Cyrus Gray, a six-yard touchdown pass to junior receiver Ryan Swope and a three-yard touchdown run by Tannehill lifted the Aggies to yet another double-digit halftime lead negated by inexplicable second half ineptitude.

“We had opportunities to win the football game but we didn’t take advantage of those opportunities,” A&M head coach Mike Sherman said. “I thought the kids played hard. They are emotionally distraught, they put a lot into getting ready for this ballgame. This is tough on them and on the coaches as well.”

The vaunted A&M offense failed to produce in the second half, scoring only a field goal late in the fourth quarter. One of the Aggies’ three turnovers on the day came on first down of a fourth quarter drive in Missouri territory.

Missouri roared back in the fourth quarter after a defensive standstill in the third. An eight-yard touchdown rush by shifty quarterback James Franklin and an 11-yard touchdown run by the electric running back Henry Josey gave the Tigers a 31-28 lead.

A late game field goal by A&M kicker Randy Bullock and a miss by Missouri’s Trey Barrow kept the score tied at the end of regulation, sending it to overtime.

With the game tied at 31-31, the Aggies elected to defend but gave up a quick touchdown pass on a third down fade to MU receiver Marcus Lucas.

A&M failed to convert on third and two on a rush by Swope and again on fourth and five as Tannehill’s pass was batted down at the line of scrimmage. Swope said the A&M’s inability to finish games after leading at the half is frustrating.

“In the first half we had a lot of momentum going into the locker room. It’s just one of those things. You go in at the half, look things over and you have to come back out and execute and keep the tempo going,” Swope said. “I feel we lacked that coming out in the third quarter. We have to play four quarters of football. They did a good job. They had a fast defense and they are physical. We have to execute and come out with more fire.”

Despite offensive lulls, the Aggies outgained the Tigers in total offense 500-482. Junior running back Christine Michael sliced through the Tiger defense gaining 104 yards on 21 carries while Gray added another 65.

Swope, the team’s leading reciever, caught 8 passes for 66 yards with junior Uzoma Nwachukwu right behind with 49 yards on 6 catches.

Missouri running back Henry Josey weaved through the Aggie defense for 162 yards on 20 carries, averaging 8.1 yards per carry. Quarterback James Franklin also hit the century mark with 120 yards rushing against the top rush defense in Big 12 Conference.

A&M linebacker Jonathan Stewart directed the defense and played with a passion that ignited yells from the Twelfth Man. Stewart’s fanatical effort led to 13 tackles, five solo, to lead the defense.

The team has no time to sulk as it prepares for No. 11 Oklahoma squad in Norman. Though the Aggies’ conference title hopes are all but shattered, Michael said the team is looking forward to a daunting two-week road schedule.

“We have to know this game is over with. The Missouri game is now behind us. We are moving forward to playing Oklahoma,” Michael said. “Those guys deserved it, Missouri played hard. They deserve it plain and simple.”

With five seconds to play in the fourth quarter, Illinois was setting up a 42-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 — and Beaver Stadium’s student section had two significant gaps in it.

But no one left.

Instead, the students flooded behind the goal posts in an effort to psyche out Illinois kicker Derek Dimke and help keep now-No. 16 Penn State the lone unbeaten team in conference play.

Dimke missed his first field goal of the season, clanking it off the right upright as time expired. The miss secured the Nittany Lions’ (8-1, 5-0 Big Ten) 10-7 win and Joe Paterno’s 409th — putting him one ahead of Eddie Robinson for the most Division I wins all-time.

“It’s just been belief. Believing in ourselves,” tackle Quinn Barham said. “We know what we’re capable of. When things go bad, we can’t get down on ourselves. Our goal is to be the Big Ten champions, and we’re going to do whatever we can to reach that goal.”

The Lions struggled mightily on offense for about 55 minutes — they didn’t complete a pass in the second or third quarters.

Quarterback Matt McGloin finished 9-for-24 and threw for 98 yards. Rob Bolden went 0-for-4 and boos rained down on him from the estimated 62,000 fans. But when it counted in the final minutes, McGloin was the one that came through.

“It’s crunch time,” tackle Chima Okoli said. “We knew that this drive was our season, and our season was this drive. Everybody kinda buckled down.”

McGloin led a 10 play, 80-yard drive that running back Silas Redd capped with a 3-yard touchdown. The sophomore finished with 137 yards on 30 carries to eclipse the 1,000 yards for the season.

On the Lions’ lone touchdown drive of the afternoon, McGloin completed four passes, two to the banged up Derek Moye, and got a pass interference call on 4th-and-6 from the 32-yard-line in which he took a shot at Moye in single coverage four yards deep into the end zone.

“I guess it’s just what this team has inside them. Needing to make a play and needing to get the job done to get another win,” McGloin said. “The offense really played bad all day…we really didn’t get going early on but in situations like that we’re going to rise and we’re going to get it done.”

But Redd’s plunge into the end zone left just more than a minute on the clock. Once again, it was up to the defense to come through when the clocking ticked down to zeroes.

It became Illinois quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase’s turn to try and flip the script and avoid having the Illini fall to 2-3 in the Big Ten.

The sophomore marched his offense down to the Penn State 25-yard line with completions of six, 16 and 20 yards and runs of seven and nine before Dimke’s missed field goal.

Scheelhaase finished 9-of-16 for 63 yards through the air and ran for 89 yards on 14 carries on the ground. He connected with Spencer Harris from 10 yards out for Illinois’ only points — the Lions defense held its opponent to 10 or less points for the sixth time this season.

It’s been the Penn State defense that has carried the load all year, and Gerald Hodges has been a big part of that mold.

The junior had a career high 19 tackles, a sack and a forced fumble Saturday.

“He’s a phenomenal athlete. He just continues to bring it every week,” defensive tackle Devon Still said. “I just hope he continues to maintain his level of play through the rest of the Big Ten.”

The wins haven’t been pretty, and the players will be the first to admit that.

But regardless, the Lions control their own destiny to hold roses in their mouths after their final game of the season at Wisconsin.

“I haven’t felt this type of vibe since I’ve been here. They’re comparing it to [2008],” defensive tackle Jordan Hill said. “Just being 5-0 and going into the bye week is huge.”

Very rarely in Israel’s history could its political actions be described as truly, absolutely, and blindly self-destructive. When one prisoner is exchanged for more than a thousand prisoners, of almost infinite greater political and economic value, any objective bystander with two brain cells and a synapse should recognize such a society. But even worse than prior Israeli blunders, somehow this exchange occurred under the watch, and even the broad support, of Israeli civil society.

One thousand and twenty seven. The number is almost so large that it loses its meaning, but it was the number of Palestinian prisoners exchanged for Gilad Shalit. Hamas selected 479 of the prisoners and Israel selected the remainder. Of Hamas’s 479, 315 were serving life sentences and most were serving sentences longer than 20 years. One can assume that the remainder selected by Israel committed lesser crimes and are not expected to threaten Israel.

Four hundred and seventy nine. Still, the number is too large to grasp its full scope. The mass majority of the 479 either planned or participated directly in attacks against Israel or indirectly through leadership in a violent organization. To be exact, 569 Israelis were killed by those being released and many more were injured. Of course, as is the case anywhere, dozens of the 479 were probably victims of circumstances beyond their control. The point remains that Israel released many hundreds who have intended and continue to intend the deaths of Israelis.

Even those who bemoan the likely loss of future lives—almost always within a justification for the prisoner exchange—still do not comprehend the full cost of the 1027. The operations of gathering intelligence, capturing, interrogating, and keeping in prison of a high-profile prisoner carry very high economic and political costs, not to mention the deaths and injuries of soldiers and intelligence operators. No doubt the repetition of these operations is already underway for many of the 479.

One. That is a number anybody can grasp and, more importantly, it is a number that anyone can humanize. In Israel, posters of Gilad Shalit decorated city streets, his picture hung from taxi mirrors, and his image stalked television programs. In a state with mandatory military service, every soldier is a symbol for a loved one. Gilad Shalit’s family impressively energized Israeli society to their cause. They protested outside Netanyahu’s house and when they made pilgrimage to Jerusalem, over 200,000 joined them. Of course, the hysteria of Israel’s civil society could not have served Hamas’s interests more if it was orchestrating the Gilad Shalit events itself.

Every state needs its symbols and every civil society needs its heroes. Gilad Shalit united a deeply diverse and politically fragmented state. However, the danger with symbols mirrors the danger of a civil society strong enough to bully political leadership—they are not rational. Seventy-nine percent of Israelis supported the prisoner exchange. Functioning democracy requires not only checks and balances between branches of the government, but also between civil society and political leadership. Netanyahu and his administration failed to protect Israel’s people and interests. Netanyahu is as responsible for this debacle as much as an irrational and emotional civil society.

Moreover, the precedent set by the prisoner exchange has created at least two moral hazards. First of all, now that the going rate between Israeli and Palestinian prisoners is established at 1000:1, Hamas and other anti-Israeli groups are incentivized to capture more Israeli soldiers or civilians. According to an AP report, thousands in Gaza chanted, “The people want a new Gilad Shalit” and some of Hamas’s leadership have already hinted at fresh plans. The second moral hazard is the risk that Israeli families of victims will exploit the gullibility of Israel’s civil society to rescue their loved ones to detriment of countless others.

Even worse than the shocking shortsightedness of Israeli civil society were domestic and international analysts’ gullible somersaults to dig their heads deeper in the ground with more desperate and contrived justifications for the exchange. Haaretz laughably lauded Israel’s “stubbornness and steadfastness,” saving their highest plaudits for Netanyahu for “know[ing] how to draw lines in the sand.” The typically conservative Jerusalem Post shrugged off the steep cost and moral hazards because “right now an IDF soldier’s life is being saved.”

Some, including Gilad Shalit, hope that the prisoner exchange will precipitate future talks, possibly with Egypt in a mediating role once again. Unless those future talks are also about prisoner exchanges, those talks are very difficult to imagine. Hamas and others who wish Israel to disappear have now had their violence rewarded and they will only view Israel as a weaker target, rather than as a future peace partner. The exchange may have set many precedents, but peace negotiations are not among them.

Israel does not make small decisions. It is one of the world’s few states whose existence is not accepted by many of its neighbors. Israel’s flourishing civil society is the foundation of its strength. It is also a potential Achilles Heel. Proponents of Israel should hope the country rediscovers its backbone and foresight.

There was no denying that Ohio State football’s season was riding on the outcome of Saturday’s game against No. 12-ranked Wisconsin, and the Buckeyes simply would not be denied.

After leading for most of the second half, the Buckeyes fell behind the Badgers, 29-26, on a 49-yard touchdown pass from Wisconsin senior quarterback Russell Wilson to sophomore receiver Jared Abbrederis with 1:18 remaining in regulation.

The crowd, which has ready to celebrate OSU’s second win against a ranked team in as many games, went silent.

With 20 seconds remaining in the game, though, freshman quarterback Braxton Miller found classmate and receiver Devin Smith for a shocking, game-winning score. The Buckeyes won the game, 33-29, and fans stormed the field and celebrated as the team improved to 5-3 on the season and 2-2 in the Big Ten.

“We knew all year that (Miller) can throw the ball,” first-year OSU head coach Luke Fickell said. “He had confidence and it was amazing to see that from a young guy like that.”

OSU senior center Michael Brewster agreed.

“It’s unbelievable,” Brewster said. “This is a group of guys that are never going to stop fighting. It’s about time we caught a break because these guys have fought like hell for weeks.”

Miller finished the game with 99 rushing yards, two rushing touchdowns and was also 7-of-12 passing for 89 yards.

The Badgers opened the scoring, silencing the Ohio Stadium crowd with a 23-yard touchdown reception from Wilson to junior running back Montee Ball at the 3:10 mark of the first quarter. Ball’s catch-and-run score capped an eight-play, 69-yard drive that put Wisconsin up, 7-0.

The Badgers couldn’t sustain the offensive pressure as OSU limited Wisconsin to just 89 yards on the ground in the game.

“Our big focus on defense was stop the run,” Fickell said. “I think we did a heck of a job.”

The Buckeyes tallied seven first downs to the Badgers’ six in the opening half, but had only 104 total yards and three points to show for it.

Sophomore kicker Drew Basil clanked a 39-yard field goal attempt off the left upright, but in for a score with 2:55 remaining in the half to cut OSU’s deficit to 7-3.

Daniel “Boom” Herron ignited the OSU offense on the opening possession of the second half, rushing twice for 75 yards to set up a first-and-goal for the Buckeyes on the Wisconsin 2-yard line.

After three unsuccessful attempts by Herron to punch the ball in for a score, Fickell called a fake hand-off to Herron on fourth-and-1.

An audible groan went up from fans in the ‘Shoe as Herron was swarmed by the Badgers’ defense, but Miller, the actual ball carrier, strolled into the end zone to put OSU up, 10-7.

Herron finished the contest with 160 yards on 33 carries.

Then OSU’s special teams made its mark on the contest.

On Wisconsin’s next possession, senior punter Brad Nortman’s punt was blocked by freshman linebacker Ryan Shazier and recovered by freshman Curtis Grant on the Badgers’ 1-yard line.

“A blocked punt is a huge, huge thing,” Fickell said. “The special teams played very well in every other aspect.”

Three plays later, junior running back Jordan Hall’s 2-yard run extended OSU’s advantage, 17-7.

Hall finished the game with just 10 yards, though the Buckeyes tallied 268 yards on the ground by game’s end.

The momentum gained from Hall’s touchdown was short lived, however.

An adventurous night for Hall as OSU’s punt returner, who fumbled a punt in the first half, became costly when his second fumble as returner was recovered by Wisconsin on OSU’s 27-yard line.

The Badgers’ made quick work of the short field as Ball scored on a 1-yard run six plays later to cut the deficit to 17-14.

Despite the score, 105,511 scarlet-clad fans were up for a tight contest. They cheered and waved rally towels as OSU responded to Wisconsin’s second touchdown of the game with a 22-yard, fourth-quarter field goal that extended the Buckeyes’ lead, 20-14.

The night’s attendance was the seventh-largest in ‘Shoe history, and no cheer from Buckeye Nation was louder than after a fourth-down stop by the OSU defense with 8:04 remaining in the game.

Or at least it was the loudest cheer until a 44-yard touchdown run by Miller at the 4:39 mark in the fourth quarter to give OSU a 26-14 lead.

The ensuing two-point conversation attempt was denied by Wisconsin.

The Badgers responded immediately as Wilson completed a 17-yard touchdown pass to Abbrederis to make the score, 26-21.

The night seemed to hold so much promise at times for OSU, but Wilson and Abbrederis appeared to put an end to any hopes of an upset when they connected again just minutes later.

Wilson linked with an unmarked Abbrederis on a 49-yard touchdown to put the Badgers up, 27-26. Wilson then completed another pass, this time to Ball, to score a two-point conversation and advance the lead to 29-26.

“It (the Abbrederis touchdown) was a blown coverage,” Fickell said.

OSU’s offense stepped out on the field with 1:18 remaining for its last attempt to score and force overtime or take the lead.

On first-and-10 from Wisconsin’s 40-yard line, Miller rolled to the right of the pocket and appeared to be sideline bound on a scramble.

“There was a little break down and the edge was clear,” Brewster said of Miller’s run out of the pocket.

Instead of rushing, Miller threw to the end zone and found Smith, who rolled on his back but controlled the ball and put the Buckeyes up for good.

“It’s amazing,” Brewster said. “(Miller) is a calm kid. He’s just been playing with his instincts. I’m just really proud of him.”

Wisconsin had one drive left to respond, though.

Fickell said the defense needed to regroup as the Badgers nearly mounted a successful comeback attempt in the final seconds of the game.

“We had to make sure that we were staying focused,” Fickell said. “The game’s never over. We saw it last week in their game against Michigan State. We stuck with what we did.”

OSU held Wisconsin (6-2, 2-2) off in the remaining 20 seconds — junior defensive tackle John Simon clipped Wilson’s arm as he went to throw and the pass fell incomplete to end the game.

“I don’t know when the last time that I felt that happy,” Fickell said. “I’m so happy for these guys (the team).”

The Buckeyes, which have now upset then-ranked Illinois and Wisconsin in its last two games, will host Indiana next Saturday at noon as Big Ten play continues.