CHICAGO -- When the car taking new Ohio State coach Urban Meyer to Big Ten media days pulled up to the front of a downtown Chicago hotel Thursday, Meyer turned to his driver with a frantic look.

"You can't stop here!" Meyer said. "What are you doing?"

"Coach, it's going to be OK," the driver assured him.

Meyer, who spent six seasons coaching at Florida until retiring after the 2010 season, expected to face the same throng of fans he encountered at SEC media days in the past.

Reid Compton/US PresswireUrban Meyer is focusing on the future at Ohio State, since he can't do anything about the past.

Instead, few people even noticed Meyer when he got out of his car.

"At the other place, you couldn't take two steps," Meyer said.

Here's another big adjustment for Meyer at Ohio State: The Buckeyes can't play in a bowl game this season because of NCAA sanctions levied against them for violations committed by former coach Jim Tressel.

Meyer, 48, a former ESPN analyst who was hired to replace Tressel in November, wasn't aware a postseason ban would be a part of Ohio State's sanctions. He said the NCAA punishment, which also included the loss of three scholarships for three years, hit him like a "2-by-4" in December.

"I'm not going to worry about what I can't control, so we're going to worry about tomorrow, not yesterday," Meyer said. "There were mistakes made. You handle it and move on and go forward because players need to follow the leadership of the coach."

Meyer said motivation hasn't been a problem for the Buckeyes so far. He said his team responded well during spring practice and has done well during its offseason conditioning program. Ohio State opens preseason camp next week and plays its opener against Miami (Ohio) on Sept. 1.

Meyer, who had a 65-15 record at Florida and guided the Gators to BCS national championships in 2006 and '08, expects to accomplish nothing less at Ohio State. He wants to win big this season, too, even though the Buckeyes are ineligible for the postseason.

"Not in my lifetime, but there used to be a time when you could go build a program," Meyer said. "It's not that way anymore. You don't have four years to build a program. You have to win."

Along with finding out how much quarterback Braxton Miller's passing mechanics have improved and trying to identify more offensive playmakers, Meyer wants to learn how much his new team will fight during preseason camp.

"It's probably my biggest concern without us having a so-called called target at the end of the season," Meyer said. "If we hit a speed bump, how are we going to react? I'm still trying to measure this team. Everything we've done from Day 1 has involved competition to see what kind of competitors they are. If they'll compete, I'm not worried about it."

Buckeyes defensive end John Simon said he doesn't think motivation will be a problem for OSU.

"You can't be sure until the games start, but we have a really motivated team," Simon said. "When you come to a big-time program, you come here to compete. We're going to compete every Saturday."

Fullback Zach Boren said the Buckeyes haven't let the postseason ban consume them as they've worked to get ready for the season.

"I didn't even realize we weren't going to a bowl game until I got here and started getting asked questions about it again," Boren said. "We haven't even talked about it again after it came down in December. We all have a goal this season and know what we want to do."

The Buckeyes, of course, would like nothing more than to go into their Nov. 24 finale against rival Michigan unbeaten.

"I think it will really hit us after the Michigan game," Boren said. "It won't be disappointing that we won't get to play in a bowl game. It will be disappointing that we won't get to play in a game together again because we'll have grown so close by then."

Meyer isn't even sure how he'll handle the postseason ban.

"I'm struggling with that," Meyer said. "I have some incredible leaders on the team. We've started a leadership committee, and I meet with them very often. At the appropriate time, I'm going to start having those conversations with them. But right now I just don't think that's appropriate. It's going too well, the offseason is going too well, the energy is too high. That's the first bridge to cross [and another] one is the actual motivation of a team when there's so-called nothing at the end of the season."

CHICAGO -- It's time for a reality check of sorts.

Team X has won 22 games the past two seasons. It comes off of a division championship and a bowl win against a team from the nation's best conference. It returns eight starters from the nation's No. 6 defense -- including two potential first-round picks in the 2013 NFL draft -- not to mention one of college football's top defensive coordinators.

Team X has averaged 9.25 wins during the past four seasons and boasts a conference record of 24-8 during that span. The program has a head coach locked up with a possible lifetime contract, tremendous continuity on the staff, the most stable administrative support in decades and facilities upgrades.

Is Team X for real? The overwhelming evidence suggests it is.

AP Photo/M. Spencer GreenMark Dantonio has turned Michigan State into an emerging power.

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