Bucklion said:

DeLauter on pace to hit 7000 home runs

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Like I said…

Cade Smith with the blown save

It’s been 20 years since Ohio State’s Final Four run in Tampa Bay​

You can erase it from the history books, but you can’t erase the memories.

As the 2019 Final Four gears up for tipoff and a national champion to be crowned on Monday, we’ve now hit the 20-year mark of the Final Four that, supposedly, didn’t happen for the Ohio State Buckeyes. You won’t see a banner hanging from the rafters at the Value City Arena, nor will you see one hanging up in the practice gym. You may see it in some record books, but always accompanied by an asterisk.

You can attempt to erase the the Buckeyes’ wins en route to a Final Four run in Tampa Bay, but the memories will always be there.

With Michael Redd and Scoonie Penn leading the way, let’s take a look back at the magical run Ohio State had in March 1999.

By the time that the regular season ended, OSU reached as high as No. 10 in the AP Poll. They won a game in the Big Ten Tournament, before falling to Illinois in the semifinals. The Buckeyes were the second best team in the Big Ten regular season, going 12-4, and had an overall record of 27-9.

The Tournament​

Ohio State drew the No. 4 seed in the South Region. In their first round game against Murray State, Redd led all scorers with 27 points. Singleton chipped in a double-double en route to 72-58 victory for the Scarlet and Gray.
In the second round, OSU cruised passed Detroit, 75-44. Redd and Penn each dropped 15 points, as the team made 10 three-pointers and 44 percent of their shots from the field.

The Sweet 16 brought chalk matchups. Auburn was the No. 1, and would do battle with the Buckeyes; Maryland was the No. 2 seed, and drew No. 3 St. John’s. That’s where the chalk would end though, as St. John’s defeated UMD, and OSU stunned Auburn.
Ohio State survived, 72-64, but needed a big game from their stars. Penn scored 26, while Redd had 22. Brian Brown had the third-most points for the Bucks in this game — getting nine off 2-of-9 shooting. Auburn had four guys go for double-figure scoring, but the power of Redd and Penn in the point column was the difference maker.

With a trip to Tampa Bay on the line, Ohio State had control in the second half of their Elite 8 contest with St. John’s — leading at one point by 10. However, St. John’s made a push late, and had a chance to tie the game with 12 seconds remaining via a pair of free throws. However, Chudney Gray missed the first attempt. He made the second one, but OSU still had a 75-74 advantage. Penn was then fouled, and went to the line for two free throws himself. Like Gray, he missed the first and made the second.

The difference was Penn atoned for the miss by poking the ball away from Erick Barkley as he made his way to the top of the perimeter. Redd scooped the ball and held onto it before being fouled with 0.7 remaining. Redd made the first freebie, but missed the second. A three-quarter court heave was dialed up for St. John’s, but it was offline. Just like that, OSU punched their ticket to the Final Four.

Against No. 1 seed Connecticut, Redd and Penn led the way again, but weren’t as effective as in games past. Redd put together a 15-point effort, while Penn tallied 11. However, it was Richard “Rip” Hamilton that doomed the Buckeyes. The future NBA star poured in 24 points against the Bucks, and was the catalyst behind the 64-58 Huskies victory. If there was a silver lining, it’s that OSU lost to the champions, as UConn toppled Duke by three points in the championship game at Tropicana Field.
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Through all of that, you can’t take away the memories from Ohio State’s run to the 1999 Final Four, even if the NCAA tried.

Another article on the same season:

Remember When: Ohio State Went On a Cinderella Run To Reach The 1968 Final Four​

A 14-year Final Four hiatus, a 12-year absence from the Sweet 16, just three NCAA Tournament wins across the last 10 seasons and therefore a general irrelevance within the national college basketball landscape might have your OSU hoops fandom ranging from malaise to anger to apathy but the reality is Ohio State has a deep basketball tradition including 11 trips to the Final Four.

The school's first Final Four appearance came back in 1939 and the most recent occurred in 2012. The most important is obviously the 1960 trip as it ultimately evolved into Ohio State hoops winning it's one and only national title.

Today we look at the most improbable Final Four trip, as earned by the 1967-68 squad led by legendary head coach Fred Taylor.

Expectations were low entering the season - the media picked the Buckeyes to finish 9th in the Big Ten - after the 1966-67 squad limped to a 13-11 overall mark including a 6-8 record in league play to tie for 7th place in what was Taylor's 9th season at the helm. Those low expectations took another hit just before the season was set to tip off as junior Jeff Miller, after leading the team in minutes as a sophomore, endured a career-ending knee injury.

With Miller on the shelf, Ohio State would rely on a talented frontline headlined by center Bill Hosket and forwards Dave Sorenson and Steve Howell. Point guard Denny Meadors also proved a clutch performer for the scarlet and gray.

The Buckeyes significantly outpaced the gloom and doom prediction finishing the regular season with a 17-7 overall record including a 10-4 mark in Big Ten play featuring a three-game win streak to end the regular season league slate, capped by a win over Illinois in Assembly Hall on March 4.

Only one team from each conference qualified for the NCAA Tournament in those days, and since first place Iowa, by virtue of a 10-3 record, was a 15-point favorite to beat a 5-8 Michigan team at home in a game scheduled for March 8, Ohio State went ahead and held their team appreciation banquet and turned in their jerseys the day after the March 4 victory over the Illini.

Assuming their season was over, the Buckeyes held light workouts for a few days but then on the night of the 8th, a first dose of March Madness kicked in as the Wolverines pulled off a 71-70 stunner in Iowa City with the Hawkeyes missing a potential game-winning shot just before the final buzzer. An anecdote shared by Hosket years later said Taylor sent Michigan head coach Dave Strack a Varsity O blanket as a Thank You for knocking off Iowa.

With both teams tied at 10-4 league records, historically that meant the Big Ten team that hadn't been to the Dance most recently would get the bid. That would've been the Hawkeyes by virtue of Ohio State earning an NCAA bid in 1962... but in May of 1967 the Big Ten honchos passed a rule to create a one-game winner-take-all tiebreaker in which the victor would be declared the Big Ten champion and earn the conference's lone NCAA Tournament bid.

The ruling came on the heels of Michigan State and Indiana tying for the regular season crown the year prior and the Hoosiers won the bid because Sparty had been to the tournament more recently.

The tiebreaker tilt between OSU and Iowa was a neutral site affair staged in Purdue Arena (which was a brand new building that you'll recognize by it's current name - Mackey Arena) exactly one week after the Buckeyes held their end of season banquet. A snow storm and the neutral site led to not even 5,000 fans attending as the Buckeyes nearly blew a 12-point lead but escaped with an 85-81 victory to win the league title and advance to the NCAA Tournament.

Unranked but in the Dance, even as the OSU shot-callers didn't want to foot the bill to send the cheerleaders and band, Ohio State headed to Lexington, Kentucky for the Mideast Regional where it took on East Tennessee State. The Buckeyes built an 18-point lead before earning a 79-72 win thanks to big nights from Howell (22 points), Hosket (18) and Sorenson (14).

The win set up a date with No. 3 ranked Kentucky on its home court in Memorial Coliseum where it was undefeated that season. The Buckeyes built a modest 44-40 halftime lead which climbed to an 8-point cushion at 54-46 before the Wildcats began chipping away as Taylor was forced to strategically deploy Hosket after picking up his fourth foul with 7:32 left in regulation. Kentucky would eventually take a 1-point lead but with just five seconds left and OSU with possession under its own basket, Hosket found Sorenson of the inbounds and "Sunshine" promptly buried a 5-footer off the glass with two seconds left to complete the stunning upset.

Sorenson's game-winner gave him a team-high 22 points on the night while Hosket added 21 points and 12 boards and Howell contributed 20 and 7. The ever-cranky Rupp skipped the postgame presser and Ohio State advanced to the Final Four.

"Some say we were good, some say we were lucky, all I know is we're in L.A. and Rupp is still in Kentucky."– Line from a poem written by OSU guard Bruce Schnabel after OSU's stunning upset victory

The 1968 Final Four was staged in Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum where the Buckeyes would face No. 4 ranked North Carolina while the other matchup saw the No. 1 ranked Houston Cougars take on John Wooden's vaunted (and heavily paid) UCLA Bruins.
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Men’s Basketball Final Four Flashback – Ohio State Buckeyes​

The Buckeyes take on Florida Saturday in a rematch of the 2007 NCAA Championship game. Relive Ohio State’s run to the Final Four.
First Round: Ohio State 78, CCSU 57
Mar. 15, 2007, Lexington, Kentucky
LEXINGTON-Greg Oden finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season as the Buckeyes won their 18th straight game in the First Round of the 2007 NCAA Tournament against Central Connecticut State. Jamar Butler scored 17 points and Ron Lewis added 13 for the Buckeyes. Ohio State needed less than 5 minutes to build a double-digit lead and kept the pressure on well into the second half. Javier Mojica led Central Connecticut with 19 points. With the Blue Devils double- and triple-teaming Oden, Butler and Lewis had plenty of wide-open looks from the outside and took full advantage. Five of Ohio State’s first six field goals were 3-pointers, and by the time the Blue Devils caught their breath, they were down 17-3. CCSU eventually collected itself, but by then the Buckeyes and Oden had left little doubt about their dominance.

Second Round: Ohio State 78, Xavier 71 OT
Mar. 17, 2007, Lexington, Kentucky
LEXINGTON-Ron Lewis’ long 3-pointer with two seconds left forced overtime, then Mike Conley Jr. dominated the extra period for a 78-71 victory over Xavier in a second-round South Regional game. The Buckeyes’ rallied from an 11-point deficit in regulation. Ohio State trailed 55-44 with 7 1/2 minutes left, and was still down 61-52 with 2:54 left. Oden fouled out with under 10 seconds to play. Xavier’s Justin Cage then made of one of two foul shots with 9.3 seconds left for a 62-59 lead, giving Ohio State its last chance. Lewis came down and, with two defenders flying at him, swished the tying 3-pointer from several feet beyond the arc. With Oden on the bench, fellow freshman – and high school teammate – Conley took over. He scored 11 points in overtime and the Buckeyes were never threatened again in winning their 19th straight game. The Buckeyes, who finished No. 1 in the final Associated Press poll, advanced to the Round of 16 for the first time since 1992. Ohio State leads to the series 3-1, with Xavier’s only victory coming in the opening round of the 1984 National Invitation Tournament.
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National Champinoship: Florida 84, Ohio State 75
Apr. 2, 2007, Atlanta, Georgia
ATLANTA-The Ohio State men’s basketball team fell to Florida, 84-75, in the 2007 NCAA Tournament Championship game in the Georgia Dome. Freshman center Greg Oden led the Buckeyes with 25 points and 12 rebounds, his 14th double-double of the season. Florida led 40-29 at the half with the help of a 6-for-9 3-point clip. It was just the sixth time this season Ohio State has trailed at the break. The Buckeyes cut the Florida advantage to seven twice in the second half, the second after Ron Lewis converted a driving lay up to make it 51-44 with less than 13 minutes to play. Florida pushed its lead back out to 14 at 61-47 after Chris Richard converted an old-fashioned 3-point point with nine minutes to play. Ohio State again made a push and sliced its deficit to 66-60 at the 5-minute mark after Oden connected on two free throws. Again Florida countered. This time, Taurean Green nailed the Gator’s 10th 3-pointer of the night. Al Hordford sunk a 12-footer to up Florida’s lead to 73-62 with a little more than three minutes to play. The Gators never looked back, winning their second national championship in a row. Mike Conley pitched in 20 for the Buckeyes and joined Oden on the 2007 All-Tournament team. Ron Lewis was the third Buckeye to score double figures with 12 points and Ivan Harris added seven in their final game as Buckeyes. Ohio State made its fifth appearance in the national title game. The Buckeyes last won the NCAA championship in 1960, with a 75-55 victory over California.

Bruce Thornton to Compete in College 3-Point Championship​

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Quick Hits: Cortez Hankton Calls Ohio State “Even Better Than I Would Have Ever Imagined,” Jeremiah Smith Wants to Continue Being “The Hardest-Working Person on the Team”​

Cortez Hankton​

• On inheriting Jeremiah Smith: “It’s a blessing. I’m grateful. I’m thankful. He’s a generational talent. But more importantly, he’s a fine young man. He’s a great kid. And he yearns to learn football. He yearns to be coached. And he’s like that every single day. He’s been a sponge. We’ve put a lot on his plate, but he’s handled it well.”
• Hankton called Smith “probably the most physically blessed guy that I’ve coached.” He’s challenging Smith this offseason to be “more of a student of the game,” to “embrace it all” and to “learn conceptual football.”
• Hankton said Brandon Inniss has “an infectious personality.” He said Inniss is “a natural leader” and “a captain for a reason.” He added, “The guys are willing to listen and also follow his lead. And he has put it on tape, right? His actions, they have aligned with his words, and it’s good to see.”
• Hankton said Ohio State has been “even better than I would ever have imagined.”
• Hankton said Brock Boyd has impressed him this spring. Hankton said Boyd has physical gifts, toughness and football IQ, which have “helped him catch the eye of a lot of people.” Hankton added, “He’s been really fun to coach.”
• On Chris Henry Jr.: “Talented, but he’s young, right? Like all of the young guys, they have a lot to learn, but he’s done a good job. And just trying to get him to truly play at a high level with urgency and playing fast, but he’s so efficient and smooth, and he has length and ball skills, but he’s an extremely talented young man. But he still has to improve every single day.”
• On Devin McCuin: “Devin, man, just a great kid, extremely coachable, wants to be great, but has elite speed. And if you watch this tape, when he gets the ball, he is truly exceptional in terms of accelerating after the catch.”
• On Kyle Parker, who shed his black stripe on Saturday: “To see KP, who was like a brother to Kyren, taking that black stripe off, man, it was really just fun and heartwarming to watch, because I know that dude would be smiling for him. I can see them dancing in the corner and celebrating. And it's days like today that truly let you take the perspective of being thankful and grateful to be in this position to coach.”

Jeremiah Smith​

• Now one of the oldest players in Ohio State’s receiver room, Smith knows younger players look to him for leadership. “It’s pretty crazy how time flies. I’m going into my junior year now. I remember I was just a little freshman out here running around making plays. But now… I’m the oldest guy in the room, so I got to continue to come in each and every day and continue the Ohio State standard as a receiver.”
• Smith said he wants to improve his football IQ and yards after the catch entering 2026. “Just making guys miss, that’s really it, running through a soft shoulder. I mean, Coach Hank, he does a good job showing me clips and stuff like that about how to run through a soft shoulder and making guys miss. I feel like that’s something ya’ll will see from me a lot this year, making guys miss.”
• Smith said he didn’t come to Ohio State thinking about breaking records; however, he said the coaching staff has “done a great job of using me in the right way to accomplish those things.” He added: “I’m really grateful to hopefully break them records.”
• Smith said Devin McCuin and Kyle Parker “fit our program” and “fit our culture.” He said, “I mean, them guys came in, working their mentality, and just been doing things the right way, and just kept their head down and working.”
• On Chris Henry Jr.: “Chris, I thought I’d never meet somebody that’s more quieter than me. Chris is quiet, he’s so laid back, he’s chill, got that Cali vibe in him. But Chris is another one, just came in, kept his head down, just working.”
• Smith said Keionte Scott’s pick-six in the Cotton Bowl is motivating him throughout this offseason. He said it’s “always something in the back of my head.”
• On Brandon Inniss: “This year he’s gonna be the guy. He’s gonna be the one taking that leap this year, and we owe it to him. He’s been here for four years, he know he gotta come in and put in the work as well, but just do or die for him. This could determine if he’d be a first-round draft, so he knows what’s at stake.”
• Smith hinted that Miami attempted to convince him to transfer after beating Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl. “I knew especially at the end of that game that a certain program was gonna come at me very hard. I'm not gonna say no names. I think everybody here knows who it was. But I wasn't surprised.” Smith said he never considered leaving. “I was always gonna be at Ohio State.”

Just sayin': Click on the link for video of the entire interview.

Jeremiah Smith Blames Himself for Miami Pick-Six, Motivated to “Never Make That Play Happen Again”​

Jeremiah Smith blames himself for the pick-six that led to Ohio State’s College Football Playoff quarterfinal loss vs. Miami last season.

Trailing 7-0 in the second quarter, Ohio State was in position to tie the game after Smith hauled in a deep ball from Julian Sayin for a 59-yard gain to get the Buckeyes into the red zone. Just two plays later, however, Miami nickelback Keionte Scott jumped a screen pass by Sayin and returned it all the way for a 72-yard touchdown that gave the Hurricanes a 14-0 lead. Ohio State never climbed out of that hole, suffering a 24-14 loss that ended the Buckeyes’ quest for a second straight national championship.

In the three months since, there’s been plenty of discourse about whether Sayin or Smith was to blame for that play. While the interception goes on Sayin’s statline, Smith failed to block Scott on the pass intended for Brandon Inniss, allowing Scott to run unabated to the ball. Smith was unable to catch Scott from behind as the Miami defensive back sprinted all the way to the end zone.

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Smith is pinning the blame on himself and says that play has been a big source of motivation for him this offseason.

“You can say that play is on me, and it's something I'm gonna learn from, for sure,” Smith said Saturday. “It's a humbling moment, and just coming into this offseason, I'm gonna push myself to exhaustion and never make that play happen again.”
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The loss to Miami hurt Smith not only because it ended Ohio State’s season, but because it came against his hometown team – a team that tried extremely hard to flip him away from his Ohio State commitment, and whom he all but confirmed made another push to try to convince him to transfer in January.

“I knew especially at the end of that game that a certain program was gonna come at me very hard,” Smith said. “I'm not gonna say no names. I think everybody here knows who it was. But I wasn't surprised.”

Smith, however, said there was never any question in his mind that he’d be back at Ohio State for another year.

“I was always gonna be at Ohio State,” Smith said with a laugh.

Just sayin': Just a classy thing to say.

Ohio State Pistol Team Wins Sixth Straight National Title, Seventh Since 2018​

Ohio State's pistol team continued its dynasty tonight in Missouri, recording a sixth consecutive national title and the program's seventh since 2018, all coming under the direction of head coach Emil Milev.

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Ohio State won the Aggregate Team championship by 330 points over second-place West Point, with the U.S. Naval Academy placing third. The Buckeyes boasted the top eight shooters in the aggregate competition, led by Ada Korkhin, Marcus Klemp and Blaine Simpson. Fourth through eighth place featured Johnathan Dorsten, Ankita Deokule, Evan Langerak, Riya Salian and Maral Gantsooj.

The Buckeyes placed first in the Air Pistol team competition as four shooters slotted in the top five: Korkhin (2nd), Klemp (3rd), Salian (4th) and Simpson (5th).

OSU also won the Sport Pistol team competition in dominant fashion, holding down the top eight spots. Deokule took top honors, followed by Korkhin, Dorsten, Langerak, Simpson, Klemp, Abbie Leverett and Salian.

Lastly, the Buckeyes won the Standard Pistol team competition while sweeping the top nine spots. Leverett was the top shooter here, followed by Simpson, Gantsooj, Klemp, Dorsten, Langerak, Korkhin, Deokule and Salian.

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Toosii, a 26-year-old rapper from Syracuse, New York, has joined the LSU football team. It's been quite an eventful ride there.

The rapper, whose real name is Nau'Jour Grainger, announced in August 2025 he was pausing his music career to pursue his football dreams. Grainger, who returned kicks and played wide receiver for Rolesville (N.C.) at the high school level, visited NC State and Duke while landing a scholarship offer from Sacramento State.

Grainger eventually committed to Syracuse, citing a return to his hometown as the primary motivation.

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Things quickly turned ugly between Grainger and Syracuse. Coach Fran Brown publicly categorized Grainger as a walk-on, which seemed to embarrass the rapper.

"No coach, that ain't what happened," Toosii said in a January 2026 TikTok video. "I told you I wasn't coming there no more, and you feel like you wanted to break the news first before I told people what school I was going to. (Brown) is a bozo for that."

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After the Syracuse debacle, it appeared as if Grainger's college football career ended before it even started. Then Grainer suddenly appeared on the LSU football roster this week, and he's been seen catching passes in practice. The Favorite Song rapper is listed as a wide receiver with No. 89 on the LSU website.

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zwem said:

Purdue is in trouble. Arizona starting to play solid defense and getting whatever they want in the paint on the offensive end.

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AZ just flipped a switch

Purdue is in trouble. Arizona starting to play solid defense and getting whatever they want in the paint on the offensive end.

Kyle Snyder match up next on Real American Freestyle. Just google Fox Nation Live and you can stream it live from there for free (not sure if that's a TV channel as well or not).

Going up against Akhmed Tazhudinov, who won a gold medal in the last summer Olympics, and who has defeated Snyder twice in the past.

Jagdaddy said:

I’m actually going to the Loveland regional today since Cornell is playing (and will likely get killed by) DU. Friend I’m going with grew up in Ithaca.

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Does Loveland usually host NCAA hockey tournaments?

buckeyemania11 said:

The buckeyes pick up a unexpected series win over the Goofers with a 9-3 win today

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Wut lol

ORD_Buckeye said:

Crazy fucking Cheese-Sparty game. Cheese wins 30 seconds into OT to head to the Frozen Four.

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Yep, they were down 3-1 with 5 minutes left. For some reason I was rooting for their comeback.

Thump said:

Like clockwork.

Turds.

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Is that......bad?

Thump said:

1-161.

Book it!

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You know the best part about being 1-1 in a 3 game series?

A chance to lose the series tomorrow!

Iowa and Illinois has been classic big ten basketball. Great game so far.

1-161.

Book it!

Like clockwork.

Turds.

It was a nice run but they aren’t making the playoffs….

17 shots against one of the worst defenses in the league is not a positive….

Crazy fucking Cheese-Sparty game. Cheese wins 30 seconds into OT to head to the Frozen Four.