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LGHL You’re Nuts: Which Marvel character would you add to the Ohio State men’s basketball team?

You’re Nuts: Which Marvel character would you add to the Ohio State men’s basketball team?
Connor Lemons
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Disney XD’s “Avengers Assemble” - Season Two

Disney XD via Getty Images

It’s only week six of the college basketball offseason and we’re already going stir-crazy.

There’s one available scholarship remaining for the 2024-25 Ohio State men’s basketball team, and it’s been that way for several weeks now. The Buckeyes are trying to add another post player to the roster, but it seems like it’s been difficult to find someone who is willing to commit to a lesser role.

With Aaron Bradshaw as the presumptive starter at center and Austin Parks entering his sophomore season, whoever takes that final scholarship knows that they’re stepping in to a reserve role. So far, Ohio State has not found a match.

Last week Connor and Justin debated if the current roster has enough outside shooting. The Buckeyes will need to replace over 80% of its three-point makes from last season, and each of the four transfer additions they’ve added this off-season shot below 35% from three last year. Despite that, 54% of readers sided with Justin and said that yes, the team will have enough shooting. The other 46% sided with Connor, who said no.

After 153 weeks:

Connor- 75
Justin- 58
Other- 16

(There have been four ties)


What if we hypothetically gave that final spot to a Marvel character or villain? The co-hosts of Bucketheads and weekly basketball debate participants are short on basketball content at the moment, but not on creativity and certainly not on affection for the MCU.

This week’s question: Which Marvel character would you add to the Ohio State men’s basketball team?


Connor: Thanos


The Mad Titan nearly wiped out half the population in the entire universe, so I think that qualifies him to play center against Fran McCaffery’s Hawkeyes in February. On top of that, Thanos stands nearly eight feet tall. That makes Zach Edey look like a little fella, and puts Thanos at the very top of the “tallest Marvel characters” list next to Hulk and jumbo-sized ant man.

Other than his being freakishly tall, intimidating, and beefy, I’m going with Thanos because 2019 ACC Player of the Year and two-time NBA All Star Zion Williamson has an unhealthy obsession with the MCU’s biggest heel. Williamson rocks an infinity gauntlet chain on the court that was made to look like his favorite Marvel villain’s gauntlet.

In 2019, Williamson spoke to SLAM magazine about Avengers: Endgame and was asked who his favorite hero from the film was. His response?

“Avenger?! You know I’m already rocking with Thanos over here (snaps finger). I’m going to be honest. Thanos was supposed to win and I’m going to tell you why. When you think of Captain America, you think red, white, and blue and that Shield. Tell me why Captain America did Thor’s technique and pulled the hammer. What is that? Thanos was about to kill Thor, and Captain America is able to hold Thor’s hammer that nobody else can hold? Are we really doing that? Thanos took on 6 people…Maybe 6, 7, 5… without the Infinity Stones. And he still almost won. Thanos was supposed to win. They just had to give y’all a happy ending.”

Aside from the fact that Zion is just openly dumping on the ending of the movie, he’s not totally wrong. Armed with all six infinity stones, Thanos could have snapped away half the universe and also made any necessary changes to the timeline to stop the Avengers from being able to go back and retrieve them again to undo his work. But that would’ve stopped the plot and basically ended the whole MCU, when there’s so much more money to be made.

But to get back to the main prompt here — eight-foot tall purple monster, weighing over 700 pounds. The basketball game is over, there’s not even a point of showing up against the Mad Titan.


Justin: Hawkeye


This is me being slightly hypocritical because I have argued that the shooting on the 2024-25 team is underrated, and I still believe that. But when you can add someone who literally never misses, that feels impossible to pass up.

There are a lot of different characters you could pick for this, but at the end of the day, basketball is about putting the ball in the hoop, and Hawkeye is perfect when it comes to accuracy. The only question I would have is whether his accuracy translates to things that aren’t arrows. I would assume yes, since he is a master marksman.

I don’t think this one needs too much explaining, honestly. Do you want the greatest shooter in college basketball history? This is the guy. Talk about opening up the floor.

And no, I am not worried about his size, since he can shoot from anywhere.



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LGHL I-80 Football Show: Ranking the 10 Games we can’t wait to watch in 2024

I-80 Football Show: Ranking the 10 Games we can’t wait to watch in 2024
JordanW330
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


COLLEGE FOOTBALL: APR 13 Ohio State Spring Game

Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The 2024 season is around the corner, so we discuss the ten games we’re most excited for this season.

Welcome to a new episode of Land-Grant Podcast Network’s I-80 Football Show. On this show, we travel down I-80 to talk all things Big Ten Football. After every week of action, we will catch you up on all the conference’s games and look ahead at the matchups, storylines, and players you should be paying attention to for the next week. My name is Jordan Williams, and I am joined by my co-host Dante Morgan.


It has been a heavy news week for college football as the sport continues to change in front of our eyes. In a landmark decision, the NCAA and the Power Five conferences have agreed to a settlement that will change the face of college athletics and let student athletes be paid.

Speaking of athletes getting paid, EA Sports has finally released information about EA College Football 25, including its release date of July 19. The game will also have the option to be bundled with Madden.

TNT Sports, which is on its way to losing the media rights to the NBA, has agreed to sublicense College Football Playoff games from ESPN for the next five seasons. In non-football news, the WNBA has announced Toronto as the city for its 14th expansion team. The hope is for there to still be 16 teams before the 2026 season.

The 2024 season is getting close, and while it’s not quite preview season, it is a perfect time to look ahead at which games we’re looking forward to this year. In this episode, we rank the 10 games that have us the most excited including Ohio State vs. Oregon and Michigan vs. USC. Whether we think it’ll be good games or we want a team we hate to lose, this list of games already has our attention in May.

Which games are on your radar this early?



Follow the show on YouTube: @JordanW330

Follow the podcast on Instagram: @I80FootballShow

Connect with us on Twitter: Jordan: @JordanW330 and Dante: @DanteM10216

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LGHL If I Was in Charge: The NCAA Tournament would never expand

If I Was in Charge: The NCAA Tournament would never expand
justingolba
via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Syndication: USA TODAY

Patrick Breen / USA TODAY NETWORK

Stop. Messing. With. Perfection. You will only ruin it.

From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about what we would do if we were in charge of our favorite position group, team, conference, or sport. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all of our ”If I Was in Charge” articles here.



Perfection is a tough bar to clear. Whether it is in relationships, work, family, or responsibility, most people strive to reach something they may never achieve. However, there is one thing that is perfect in the world:

The NCAA Basketball Tournament and March Madness.

Whether it is the men’s or women’s NCAA Tournament, everyone looks forward to the opening two rounds of basketball, filling out their brackets and waiting to see what memorable moment will make it onto One Shining Moment after the national championship game.

And now, there are talks — and unfortunately, very real talks — to expand the tournament from 68 teams to 80 or 96 or an even higher number. So, to keep with the theme this week here at Land-Grant Holy Land, if I was in charge of the NCAA, I would never expand the NCAA Tournament.

I accepted when the tournament went from 64 to 68 teams because that is a small number, and they didn’t add to the actual tournament but instead added the first four, which has ended up being a nice appetizer to the entrée that is the 64-team tournament. But now, I am putting my foot down.

68 is a fine number and four regions of 16 teams is perfect. The No. 1 playing the No. 16 has caused recent drama, and I don’t want that to go away. There is no actual point in expanding the tournament. No one has ever thought, “If only there were more teams, it would be better and more fair.”

And all they would do is add more teams from Power Five conferences that are average or even below average. The one-bid leagues would stay one-bid leagues, and teams from the Big Ten, ACC, and SEC that are 7-13 in the conference and 16-16 overall would continue to get into the tournament without earning it.

Other collegiate administrators share the same concerns.

“It worries me every day of my life,” VCU athletic director Ed McLaughlin told ESPN back in March. “Not only because we’re so focused on men’s basketball and women’s basketball and how important the sport is for our institution.

McLaughlin added, “But it’s the single greatest sporting event in our country. More people get involved in March Madness as casual sports fans, really, than anything else.”

Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin also told ESPN in March, “It’s too much of a public trust for us to blow the thing up. You can do a new model [for college sports] down the road while maintaining an inclusive national basketball tournament.”

I live by the motto, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The NCAA Tournament clearly is not broken. It will draw in viewers and eyeballs every single season, no matter the number of teams. Let’s keep it a clean 64 teams (68 before the first four) and continue to love what is the best three-week span of the year.

Keep the tournament as is, and stop messing with perfection. Please.

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LGHL Ohio State dishes out new 2025 basketball offer, prep for busy summer of camps and visits

Ohio State dishes out new 2025 basketball offer, prep for busy summer of camps and visits
Caleb Houser
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

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buckeyes look to have another loaded summer full of recruiting on the agenda.

With school getting out soon for high school prospects across the country, Ohio State’s coaching staff is gearing up for another busy summer on the recruiting front. Spending the last several weeks out on the road paying visits to long-time priorities and new players as well, we’ve seen how much effort has gone into these current and upcoming classes, which bodes well for the Buckeyes overall.

As the staff spends more time in Columbus during the summer months, it’s camps and visits that will take up much of their time. Big recruiting weekends are already on the schedule with several top players Ohio State is trying to land, and surely the chance to host players for one-day camps will bring up a handful of new names as well.

Last summer was an effective one for the Buckeyes for the 2024 class, and this year should be no different. Knowing this haul can see upwards of 25-plus players, Ohio State has an awesome start so far, but there’s plenty more to be done in order to be satisfied. Odds are the list of names flocking to campus in the coming weeks does nothing but continue to grow.

Visit season is nearly here for Ohio State prospects


Most of the time when Ohio State sends an offer out to prospective player, they do so based on what they’ve already seen on film. Sure, some offers are common sense and don’t need much evaluation, but the Buckeyes do their due diligence and have a staff dedicated to watching countless hours of film so they can make a call on whether to offer a certain athlete or not.

That said, when the Buckeyes believe they need a second look, camp invites are often sent out, giving a player the opportunity to work out for the staff and “earn” the offer from Ohio State. Seen before in cases with former Buckeyes like Terry McLaurin, this staff doesn’t hand out anything for free, but camp performances many times can lead to bigger things.

Top players just want to compete, and doing so in front of Ohio State’s staff can further boost their stock. Whatever the scenario, the Buckeyes are going to have tons of kids in front of them during their camp dates, and that’s a great thing for the Buckeyes pursuit of current targets and even potential prospects as well.

Looking at some of the guys already making plans to camp with Ohio State, on Thursday Jabari Mack shared some of his upcoming summer plans, and made sure to include the Buckeyes. The No. 59 player nationally and seventh-best receiver in the 2026 class per the 247Sports Composite, Mack is another top player at the position Brian Hartline will look to coach up, and with a loaded offer list to his name already, it won’t be much of a surprise to see the Buckeyes get in the mix in the near future.

The 6-foot, 190 pound athlete currently holds offers from the likes of Florida State, LSU, Michigan, Oregon, Texas, and a host of others, but as it’s been seen time and time again, top recruits at this position tend to have Ohio State somewhere in the mix if not right at the top of their minds.


These are the Camp/visits I will be attending and their dates.

Alabama-May 31st
Clemson-June 5th
LSU June-13th
Ohio State June-17th
OKlahoma June-20th
@samspiegs @MarshallRivals @TomLoy247 @Hayesfawcett3 @Perroni247 @SonnyShipp247 @HankSouth247 @TheUCReport @On3sports

— Jabari Mack (@JabariMack7) May 23, 2024

Moving back inside of the Ohio state lines, Cincinnati, Ohio native Drayden Pavey will also look to camp with the Buckeyes this coming summer, as his plans include a trip on June 5. Coming from a school the staff knows well and produces college football talent annually, Ohio State is no stranger to Pavey, and will love to see him perform on campus as he preps for a strong senior campaign.

A 6-foot-3, 305 pound defensive lineman, Pavey is currently the No. 96 DL in the country per the 247Sports Composite. Cincinnati, Indiana, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, and others have already entered his recruitment, but Ohio State has yet to offer, which makes this a potential case of Pavey camping to try and receive one from his in-state blue blood program.

The Buckeyes have two guys already committed on their defensive line for the 2025 class, but still need to work on the interior. A strong performance and senior campaign may just lead to Pavey having a shot.


I am registered for @OhioStateFB camp. @R2X_Rushmen1 I’m on the way. June 5th. @Birm @mickdwalker

— Drayden “Big Pav” Pavey (@dpavey_) May 23, 2024

Quick Hits

  • The basketball program is also putting in the recruiting work, and sent out their latest offer yesterday in the 2025 class to Indiana native, Braylon Mullins.

A 6-foot-5, 180 pound shooting guard, Mullins is currently the No. 108 player nationally and 13th best player at his position per the 247Sports Composite. Holding offers from the likes of Creighton, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Notre Dame and Stanford, the Buckeyes now offering allow them to try and make up some ground.

An impressive kid academically looking at the schools he has heard from, head coach Jake Diebler wants to surround himself with full-package type of guys. Being close in distance doesn’t hurt either, but now the next step will be getting him to campus.


After a great conversation with @JakeDiebler I am blessed to receive an offer from @OhioStateHoops!!! Thank you for the opportunity!! ⚪pic.twitter.com/tP10A1loVr

— Braylon Mullins (@mullins_braylon) May 23, 2024

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