Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer speaks to media during press conference for the Big Ten Championship game. The Buckeyes will face Michigan State Saturday. (Marvin Fong / The Plain Dealer)

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Ohio State coach Urban Meyer met with the media Friday afternoon to preview the No. 2 Buckeyes' Big Ten Championship Game matchup with No. 10 Michigan State.

• Meyer said that his experience coaching in SEC title games has helped Ohio State prepare for the game from a logistical standpoint. The Buckeyes, of course, are making their first appearance in a conference title game, but Meyer and a few members of his staff have been here before.

• Ohio State senior guard Marcus Hall won't start the game due to his actions after being ejected from the Michigan game. Meyer said that Hall paid the consequences for being involved in the fight through the ejection, but he'll serve a little penalty for flipping off the Michigan Stadium crowd with both hands as he exited the field.

"I am very, very disappointed in his actions," Meyer said. "That's not Marcus."

• Starting in place of Hall will be Pat Elflein. Meyer called him "a tough nut," and said Elflein, a redshirt freshman, probably could have contributed last year but was injured. Elflein is Ohio State's No. 6 offensive lineman, and should have a "really nice career at Ohio State."

• Curtis Grant hasn't played in five weeks because of a high ankle sprain, but he's expected to go for the Buckeyes tomorrow night.

• Meyer said wide receiver Philly Brown has a slight stress fracture in his leg, which is why he has been limited, "but it is healing." Brown will be available for the game.

• Meyer said that the three-game suspension he levied on Carlos Hyde has paid dividends in his attitude the last three months. "Hopefully it will (have an impact on him) for the rest of his life," Meyer said. Hyde was humbled by almost having the thing he loves the most taken away from him.

Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio take photos together during the news conference to preview Saturday's Big Ten Championship Game.

• Meyer likes conference championship games "when we win them." But quickly reminds everyone that it is a major challenge the Buckeyes must overcome in order to reach their major national title goals.

• Meyer said Michigan State has a top-three defense he's ever faced, even dating back to his years in the SEC.

• Meyer said preparing for Mark Dantonio's Michigan State teams reminded him of having to prepare his Florida team in 2006 for Jim Tressel's undefeated Buckeyes. Of course, Dantonio is a former defensive coordinator under Tressel and has modeled how he built Michigan State's program on what he learned while with the Buckeyes in the early 2000s.

• Meyer said when Ohio State has watched games from last year that seeing the offense was "painful." Meyer cited Braxton Miller's growth as the reason the Buckeyes have been much better this year on offense.

• Meyer is expecting a 50-50 crowd, fan-wise. "I know it will be a great atmosphere," he said.