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LGHL Join the Land-Grant Women’s Basketball Tournament Challenge

Join the Land-Grant Women’s Basketball Tournament Challenge
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament - Seattle Regional

Photo by Tyler Schank/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

The Buckeyes are in the NCAA Tournament, so its time to compete alongside the Scarlet and Gray, kinda

It’s the best time of the year: March Madness!

To add to the madness, Land-Grant Holy Land invites you to join its annual bracket challenge on the women’s basketball side of things.

Ohio State women’s basketball is in the field of 68 teams looking to win the coveted NCAA National Championship. For the Buckeyes, it hasn’t reached the pinnacle of college basketball since 1993, when it lost to basketball legend Sheryl Swoopes and Texas A&M.

Last season, the Scarlet and Gray were close, advancing all the way to the Elite Eight. It included a comeback in the First Round, a game-winning shot by guard Jacy Sheldon in the Second Round, and a win on national television over the UConn Huskies.

This time around, Ohio State welcomes the Maine Black Bears to Columbus, along with a potential second-round matchup against either the Duke Blue Devils or Richmond Spiders.

It’s not only the Buckeyes who are competing because YOU can as well! Follow the steps below to join the LGHL women’s bracket challenge. You’ll get to win all the bragging rights, the fresh dopamine hit in the form of internet praise, and the feeling of a job well done.

It’s absolutely free to play. Follow the rules below to join the best women’s basketball tournament challenge on not only Land-Grant Holy Land but maybe all of SBNation.

Bracket Steps​

  1. Join the Land-Grant Women’s Basketball Land Bracket Challenge.
  2. Make your selections before the March 22, 2023, at 11:30 AM cutoff date and time.
  3. Select one of your entries to join the group, no multiple entries, please.
  4. If we find out you used multiple accounts to have multiple entries, first: Why? Second, you won’t win the grand prize.
  5. Read up on the rules over at ESPN, because this challenge will adhere to all of them.

Share, Share, Share​


Make sure to tell all your family, friends, and frienemies to sign up for the Land-Grant Women’s Basketball Land Tournament Challenge. It costs nothing to you. Challenge someone who doesn’t watch women’s basketball. Take that same friend out to a sports bar and demand they put all the games from the ESPN family of networks on their televisions. Flip a table if you need to (figuratively. I’m not paying bond).

Good luck to all who enter!

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LGHL Ohio State’s 2024 hoops commits remain firm with now full-time head coach Jake Diebler

Ohio State’s 2024 hoops commits remain firm with now full-time head coach Jake Diebler
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

NCAA Basketball: Ohio State at Rutgers

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

The Buckeyes’ 2024 commits are buying in to their new future leader.

Ohio State men’s basketball found its new head coach over the weekend, and it didn’t have to look very far to find him. The Buckeyes’ new athletic director Ross Bjork made the decision on Sunday to remove the interim tag from Jake Diebler, naming the former assistant the program’s next full-time head coach after an impressive 6-2 run to close out what looked like a lost season and create some optimism for the future.

Needless to say, the current players on the roster were very excited about the news...


The moment we made it official with Head Coach @JakeDiebler ️

Hear @RossBjorkAD and @JakeDiebler address the team this afternoon to announce the news.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/9J7iraFEWQ

— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) March 17, 2024​
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However, while the opinions of those already in the building are certainly of the utmost importance, so too are those of Ohio State’s commitments in the current recruiting cycle. The Buckeyes lay claim to two signees in the 2024 class in guard Juni Mobley and forward Colin White, and obviously their decisions whether or not to stay the course and eventually play their college ball in Columbus would be weighed heavily on who their head coach will be.

Luckily for Ohio State, both Mobley and White have confirmed to Adam Jardy of the Columbus Dispatch that the duo will be sticking with their commitments to the program and playing for coach Diebler next season.

According to Jardy, Mobley and his family met with Diebler at Ohio State on Sunday and reaffirmed the commitment to play for the Buckeyes in 2024. The higher-rated player of the two, the 6-foot Columbus native, who now plays his high school hoops at Mt. Pleasant (Utah) Wasatch Academy, comes in as the No. 6 point guard and No. 41 player nationally in the cycle. Mobley was originally recruited by Chris Holtmann as well as Diebler, and remained steady in his pledge even after Holtmann’s firing in February.

White made it a perfect two-for-two when he also reaffirmed his commitment on Sunday. The 6-foot-5 Ottawa, Ohio native ranks as the No. 25 small forward and No. 124 player overall in the 2024 class. Coach Diebler made it a point to reach out to White and confirm his vision for him with the program, and that seems to have made a really positive impact on White in his decision to become a Buckeye.

“I’m super happy for coach Diebler,” White told 247Sports. “He really deserves this. He’s a big time coach and I’m going to ride with him. He’s a great guy, great dude and a great coach. He’s building something really special at Ohio State.”

As did anyone else that has watched the post-Holtmann Buckeyes, White saw an impressive change at Ohio State, and is excited to join a newly invigorated group with a head coach that seems to have a sincere connection with his players.

“What he did was big time,” White said. “He really lit a fire under those guys. Coach Holtmann was a great coach and I don’t know how much they changed or how different the game planned but the players really loved to play for coach Diebler and he banded them together. Since he came in they started to play really well and it spoke volumes.”

Ohio State is unlikely to add another member to its 2024 class before signing day in April. The Buckeyes will be losing Jamison Battle and Dale Bonner to graduation at the end of the season, and add the two incoming freshmen, barring any transfers out of the program.

Quick Hits​

  • Ohio State will be receiving a visit from three-star offensive tackle Parker Harden on March 30. The No. 70 OT in the 2025 class and a top-50 player in Ohio for the cycle, Harden stands at 6-foot-5, 295 pounds and hails out of Pickerington Central. He does not yet hold an offer from the Buckeyes.
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  • 2026 wide receiver Kayden Dixon-Wyatt will also be at Ohio State on March 30. Listed at 6-foot-2, the California native plays his high school football at Mater Dei, the same program as current 2026 Ohio State commit Chris Henry Jr. as well as 2025 running back target Jordon Davison. Dixon-Wyatt is not yet rated on 247Sports, but has over two dozen offers including the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas as well as a four-star rating (No. 76 overall) on Rivals. The Buckeyes have not yet offered.

I will be at THEE Ohio State University on March 30th! #GoBucks @brianhartline @ryandaytime pic.twitter.com/et7ZMiciYO

— Kayden Dixon-Wyatt (@kayyydeenn) March 16, 2024​
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  • Another 2026 prospect with plans to visit Columbus this spring, offensive tackle Adam Guthrie will be making the trip to Ohio State on Thursday. A 6-foot-7 in-state talent, Guthrie holds over 20 offers early in the process, including Kentucky, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas A&M and others. The Nittany Lions are currently the favorite for the not-yet-rated offensive lineman, per the On3 prediction machine, but the Buckeyes could change that calculus once an official offer comes.

2026 Miami Trace OL Adam Guthrie (@AdamGuthrie21) will be visiting Ohio State on Thursday, The Silver Bulletin was told.

The 6’7 Guthrie holds 23 D-1 offers and is one of Ohio’s top 2026 prospects. pic.twitter.com/NIEIuk7FM5

— The Silver Bulletin (@tSilverBulletin) March 17, 2024​
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Google Ohio State to hire Jake Diebler: Buckeyes expected to reach agreement with interim coach after he went 6-2 - CBS Sports

Ohio State to hire Jake Diebler: Buckeyes expected to reach agreement with interim coach after he went 6-2 - CBS Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

  1. Ohio State to hire Jake Diebler: Buckeyes expected to reach agreement with interim coach after he went 6-2 CBS Sports
  2. Report: Jake Diebler, Dusty May emerge as frontrunners for Ohio State head coach opening On3.com
  3. Report: Ohio State to elevate Jake Diebler to head coach Deadspin

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LGHL Ohio State men’s basketball to host Cornell in opening round of NIT

Ohio State men’s basketball to host Cornell in opening round of NIT
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch

Clare Grant/The Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buckeyes will get a taste of post-season basketball for the first time under head coach Jake Diebler.

Although they fell just short of making the NCAA Tournament, the Ohio State men’s basketball team (20-13, 9-11) will still get to participate in post-season play. On Sunday night, the NIT selection committee announced that the Buckeyes — who finished the season 6-2 in their last eight but fell to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal — would be a 2 seed in the NIT, and will face Cornell at the Schottenstein Center. The exact date and time has yet to be announced, but it will be either Tuesday or Wednesday. Higher-seeded teams host the NIT, so Ohio State will get the opportunity to host their NIT games until they run into a team seeded higher than them.

Neither the NCAA Tournament nor the NIT both seemed possible in mid-February when Ohio State fired former head coach Chris Holtmann, but after Jake Diebler brought the Buckeyes to the brink of the big dance, the NIT suddenly seemed like a no-brainer. After the loss to Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament, Diebler was asked about the possibility of playing in the NIT and said, “These guys are a joy to coach, and I think if we do play, there’s a championship to be won, and I know the competitive spirit of this group. So I would anticipate if that’s the case that we’ll be ready to go.”

There were questions about whether or not the transfer portal opening up on Monday would impact Ohio State playing in the NIT, as well as if the ongoing coaching situation would make players hesitant to play. However, with Diebler being officially announced as Ohio State’s head coach on Sunday, both of those concerns appear to be resolved.

Now that Diebler has had the interim tag removed, the expectation is that most of the roster will stay put, and that the Buckeyes will be ready to play in the NIT whenever their name is called. If there’s a trophy to be won, Ohio State wants to win it.

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LGHL No. 2 Ohio State women’s basketball to host No. 15 Maine Black Bears in NCAA Tournament

No. 2 Ohio State women’s basketball to host No. 15 Maine Black Bears in NCAA Tournament
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

Ohio State v Maryland


March Madness begins with Columbus hosting the first two rounds of tournament play.

It’s been 10 days since Ohio State women’s basketball lost to the Maryland Terrapins in the Big Ten Tournament. Now, after a long wait, the No. 2 seeded Buckeyes know who it’ll face in its next game, welcoming the No. 15 Maine Black Bears to the Schottenstein Center. It’s the first of potentially two home games to start the annual tournament.

Unlike the men’s tournament, the women’s edition of March Madness features all 16 top-four seeds hosting the first two rounds of games. The 2024 edition is the second season in a row where the Buckeyes host games.

Last season, Ohio State defeated the James Madison University Dukes and North Carolina Tar Heels, before traveling to Seattle, Washington. In the Sweet Sixteen, head coach Kevin McGuff’s side defeated the UConn Huskies. Then, in the Elite Eight, the Buckeyes fell short of its first Final Four appearance in 30 years, falling to the Virginia Tech Hokies.

The Buckeyes enter the tournament on a two-game losing streak. Falling to the Terps 82-61 was the first time an Ohio State team coached by McGuff entered the conference tournament in the quarterfinals and lost.

In Iowa City, Iowa, six days earlier, superstar guard Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes frustrated every attempted Buckeyes comeback. Clark ended her Iowa regular season career with a 10-point win over Ohio State.

Now, the Scarlet and Gray have ample motivation going into the tournament, as if playing for a National Championship wasn’t enough. Although the road won’t be too easy.

After sitting in the NCAA Tournament committee’s final top-four release on Feb. 26, the two defeats dropped the Buckeyes down to a No. 2 seed in March Madness. Should seeding hold true, and Ohio State makes it to the Elite Eight, it’ll have a matchup against the USC Trojans.

However, there’s a lot that has to happen before the Scarlet and Gray can worry about an Elite Eight matchup. Should the Buckeyes win its First Round game, it plays the winner of the Duke Blue Devils vs. the Richmond Spiders, playing in the other First Round game held in Columbus. Setting up a potential Celeste Taylor game against her former ACC team.

A win in both games for the Buckeyes gives Ohio State a trip to either Portland, Oregon. Win in the Elite Eight, and it’s a home venue for the Scarlet and Gray, kind of. This year’s edition of the Final Four takes place in Cleveland, Ohio, at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.

Last season, three conference teams made it to the Elite Eight, the Buckeyes, Hawkeyes, and Terrapins. The Hawkeyes advanced all the way to the National Championship game, losing to the LSU Tigers.

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LGHL Majority of Ohio State fans support Diebler as the new men’s basketball head coach

Majority of Ohio State fans support Diebler as the new men’s basketball head coach
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

NCAA Basketball: Big Ten Conference Tournament Quarterfinal-Ohio State vs Illinois

Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

Buckeye Nation is also anxious to see what their new quarterback looks like in action.

Before, during, and after the Ohio State football season, we here at Land-Grant Holy Land like to ask and answer questions about the team, college football, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.

Well, this one is a little unusual, because last week when we sent out the survey asking Buckeye fans a couple of questions, we didn’t expect that one of them would be answered by the time the results came in. However, it now appears that we know who the next head coach of the Ohio State men’s basketball team will be, Reports over the weekend indicate that incoming athletic director Ross Bjork has decided to keep the selection in-house and to remove the interim tag from Jake Diebler’s title.

Our basketball expert Connor Lemons ran through what that means for the program this morning, but it is certainly quite the turnaround since Diebler took the reins just over one month ago. Take a look at the results below to see how Buckeye Nation was feeling about this possibility in the middle of last week.


The other question that we put into the field was about which Ohio State football newcomer you are most excited to watch. Take a look at the full results of both questions below and if you have any additional thoughts, please feel free to include them in the comments below.

Check out DraftKings Sportsbook, the official sportsbook partner of SB Nation.

Question 1: Which new Ohio State football player are you most excited to watch?​



In the original survey article, I made the point that I was most excited to see the guys who still had at least some air of mystery or something to prove. I don’t think that applies to Caleb Downs, Jeremiah Smith, or Quinshon Judkins for various reasons. So, for me, I am most excited — or perhaps intrigued — to see what the likes of Will Howard, Seth McLaughlin, and Will Kacmarek look like in the scarlet and gray.

The first three guys mentioned, I feel like I have a pretty firm grasp on who they are and what they can do, and while I am certainly excited to watch them play in the fall, this is still spring, so my excitement is focused on learning what guys can do and how they can develop between now and September.

So, I think I am in line with the razor-thin plurality that went with the Kansas State transfer quarterback atop this list.

Question 2: Who do you think should be Ohio State men’s basketball coach in 2024-25?​



While Dusty May and the LeBron connections would have been fun, it looks like an overwhelming majority of Buckeye fans who responded to this poll are in favor of Bjork’s first hire.


Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.

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LGHL You’re Nuts: Who in Ohio State sports are you giving an Oscar to?

You’re Nuts: Who in Ohio State sports are you giving an Oscar to?
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here

Michigan State v Ohio State

Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images

Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.

On Sunday night, the 96th Academy Awards, or The Oscars as it is commonly referred to, were held in Los Angeles. With the award show being the most talked about pop culture event over the past week, we figured it would be fun to apply some of the awards to Ohio State sports over the last year. While it might be easy to try and use movies to describe some of what we saw from Buckeye sports, that’s not quite what we are going for. We know that losing to Michigan, followed by the performance of the football team in the Cotton Bowl against Missouri made it feel like the world might be ending, much like Oppenheimer made things seem.

Instead, we are talking about the actual award. Best Picture could refer to a favorite game you watched from any of Ohio State’s teams over the last year. Best Actor or Actress translates to an outstanding Buckeye athlete, or Best Supporting Actor or Actress would give proper due to an unsung player or assistant coach. You could even have a little fun with the awards. Best Animated Feature could refer to an Ohio State player or coach losing their cool, or maybe there was a Buckeye uniform that should be given Best Costume Design.

Today’s question: Who in Ohio State sports are you giving an Oscar to?​

We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.​

Brett’s answer: Best Production Design | Ryan Day​


After clamoring for Ryan Day to give up play calling for a couple of years, it looks like the head coach of Ohio State football finally realized it was necessary to let somebody else handle the sticks on offense. It sounded like this might be happening last offseason when there was talk Brian Hartline would be calling plays for the Buckeyes, but it was obvious Day wasn’t ready to give up his control of the offense. Instead, we saw way too many bubble screens and terrible decisions in short-yardage situations from Ohio State in 2023.

Remember after the 2013 season when Urban Meyer made some changes on the defensive side of the football following losses to Michigan State and Clemson to end the season? This has some of that feel, except on offense. Day brought in former Penn State head coach Bill O’Brien as offensive coordinator in January. There was no way Ohio State was going to bring in O’Brien if Day wasn’t going to let him put his stamp on the Buckeye offense. Oddly enough, we never got to see the actual product on the field since O’Brien would take the Boston College head coaching job after former Ohio State assistant Jeff Hafley left for an assistant coaching position with the Green Bay Packers. Makes you wonder if Day made a call to Hafley since he knew how the dominoes would fall if Hafley left Boston College!

After O’Brien was named the new Boston College head coach, Day moved quickly to fill the offensive coordinator position. No offense to O’Brien, but Day actually upgraded at the position, not only bringing in his mentor, but a sitting head coach at a Power 5 school, Chip Kelly. The former head coach wasn’t interested in continuing as the “CEO” of a college football program, while it was necessary that Day moved more into that role. Obviously, there is going to be a lot of comfort with Kelly calling the play for the Buckeyes this fall.

As if bringing in Kelly wasn’t a big enough home run, before the former UCLA coach was in the fold Day already was very active in the transfer portal, with the biggest acquisition on offense is running back Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss. Judkins will team with the returning TreVeyon Henderson to form the most dynamic running back combo in the country, which will play right into the hands of Kelly. Handing the ball off to those two running backs will be Kansas State transfer quarterback Will Howard, who is an upgrade over Kyle McCord.

While I know I might be crowning the 2024 Ohio State before they even take the field, there’s no questioning that Day has made the right moves, especially on offense, that should have the Big Ten and the rest of the college football world on edge.

Matt’s answer: Best Film Editing | Jake Diebler​


The job of a film editor is to take the raw footage that a director has shot, cut it up, reassemble it into its best version, and deliver a final product that is better than the individual parts. That is exactly what Jake Diebler did over the final month of the Ohio State men’s basketball team’s season.

While his predecessor Chris Holtmann had put together some interesting pieces, what we witnessed before the Valentine’s Day coaching change was less than spectacular. However, with Diebler at the helm, he was able to take what was already there, move some pieces around, and turn it into something compelling. The interim coach — for now — turned up the intensity on defense, inserted more structure and movement on offense, incorporated more young players into the rotation, and seemed to get a better handle on the in-game coaching that often flummoxed Holtmann.

While the team ultimately is unlikely to get the equivalent of a Best Picture nomination — a berth into the NCAA Tournament — it is clear that Diebler has done remarkable work in taking the incomplete pieces turned over to him by Holtmann and putting together a far more compelling and entertaining product.

Now, with Diebler likely to be in completely in charge moving forward, we just have to hope that he will be able to create a masterpiece from start to finish in 2024-25.

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Google Tony Alford’s Michigan exit hurts because he was the last coach fans expected to betray the Buckeyes — Jimmy - cleveland.com

Tony Alford’s Michigan exit hurts because he was the last coach fans expected to betray the Buckeyes — Jimmy - cleveland.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

Tony Alford’s Michigan exit hurts because he was the last coach fans expected to betray the Buckeyes — Jimmy cleveland.com

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Google Michigan State vs. Ohio State in Big Ten semifinal at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing on Saturday, March 16, 2024. - Detroit News

Michigan State vs. Ohio State in Big Ten semifinal at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing on Saturday, March 16, 2024. - Detroit News
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".

Michigan State vs. Ohio State in Big Ten semifinal at Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing on Saturday, March 16, 2024. Detroit News

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