College hockey in Ohio has for a decade tilted toward Oxford as Miami coach Enrico Blasi built a national powerhouse, added a huge home-ice advantage in the form of a cozy new arena and made NCAA Tournament appearances an annual rite.

This season, there has occurred a notable shift. Here in Columbus, where Value City Arena is too big, the practice facility dates to the Kennedy administration and college hockey is an afterthought, Ohio State is on pace to win the (mythical) state championship — not to mention the Central Collegiate Hockey Association regular-season title.

At present, the Buckeyes are ranked second in the nation.

“We’re just riding the wave with men’s basketball and women’s basketball,” coach Mark Osiecki said. “Really, it’s fun to be around. The coaches (Thad Matta and Jim Foster, among others) have done a great job intertwining. There’s a real good vibe going.”

Ohio State (14-4-1) is riding a 12-1-1 streak into a weekend series at Bowling Green. And so an eventful month continues. Next weekend, the Buckeyes play Michigan twice: The first game, on Friday, is in Value City Arena; the second, on Sunday, Jan. 15, is the Frozen Diamond Faceoff at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

Osiecki has a sense of the magic that emanates from Outdoor Games with Long Names. He was an assistant coach at Wisconsin when the Badgers played the Buckeyes at Lambeau Field in 2006, and when the Badgers played Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium in 2010. He also has picked the mind of his friend and fellow Wisconsin alum Tony Granato, the Pittsburgh Penguins assistant who had a bench seat for the 2011 NHL Winter Classic at Heinz Field.

“Tony said one of the most memorable experiences the Penguins had was the family skate the day before the game, and we’re going to do the same kind of thing,” Osiecki said. “We’ve sent invitations out to players’ parents and siblings and all the families on our staff. We’re all really looking forward to the whole weekend. It’s going to be awesome. I can’t think of another word, just awesome.”

Awesome, as in goalie Cal Heeter’s winning percentage (.833), goals-against average (2.11) and save percentage (.927). And you thought that Columbus was devoid of goaltending, and defense, victories and awesome.

Osiecki is in his second year after taking over for John Markell, who built a formidable program that ultimately lost its momentum. Osiecki last fall brought in a class of 12 freshmen and one junior transfer and mixed it with his first class of recruits and the remaining veterans, including Heeter, a senior. They have made a precipitous turn north from mediocrity.

During the bus ride to Bowling Green yesterday, Osiecki cited three reasons for the surge: Heeter, the bulwark in back who has imbued the skaters with confidence; the influx of new recruits, who have cranked up the enthusiasm; and the senior captains, Sean Duddy and Cory Schneider, who, Osiecki said, “speak the language of the program” in class, on campus, in the weight room and on the ice.

“We are trying to control the things we can — our effort, work habits and compete level,” Osiecki said. “We are also trying to project ourselves well. We want to say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ and treat people we come into contact with well.”

There is a lot of coach-speak in this, but it is genuine — and, apparently, effective. Look at their record. Ask the ushers and elevator operators about their comportment. This is a well-banded group of polite young men who kick butt on weekends.

“We don’t have a lot of goals outside the day-by-day variety, but in the big picture, it is clear,” Osiecki said. “We want to win the CCHA, we want to make the NCAA Tournament and we want our players to graduate from Ohio State. It’s as simple as that.

“Selfishly, I would say that the NCAA Tournament is something we have to get into, and on a consistent basis. We have to get the taste, and then it becomes habit.”

Please, and thank you.

Michael Arace is a sports reporter for The Dispatch.

marace@dispatch.com