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WR Jeremiah Smith (All B1G, B1G Frosh/WR of Year, All-American, 2025 Rose Bowl Off MVP, National Champion)

I know 4 is an outstanding player, I just didn’t realize how close to these records he’s already at.

And we get the Sayin-Smith connection next year?! These records will be shattered if he can stay healthy.

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2025-2026 Ohio State Men's Basketball

Ohio State Gave Up 102 Points In Its Season Opener, But IU Indy Presented A Unique Challenge​

By Josh Poloha on November 5, 2025 at 8:35 am @jorshp
Jake Diebler

© Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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What an interesting way to start the season, to say the least.
Ohio State beat IU Indy on the opening day of the college basketball season, but the Buckeyes allowed 102 points while doing so. It was the first time an OSU opponent scored 100 in regulation since a 100-65 loss to Maryland on Jan. 16, 2016.
On paper, allowing a program such as IU Indy to score 102 points in the season opener is, well, not good. But when you really break it down, it wasn't as bad as the final score might have shown.
Four-time Ohio State captain Bruce Thornton isn't worried, stating after the game that it's just some small details that the Buckeyes must fix moving forward.
"They have a lot of great shooters," he said of IU Indy. "They had a great offensive scheme. They had a lot of back-door cuts and some shooters who shot over 45% last year. Sometimes, we were overplaying. It was just little details that we have to make sure we tighten up and be a better defensive team."

We break down how Ohio State's season-opening win over the Jaguars will likely be the type of game that the Buckeyes won't see again this season, or next season, or the season after that. It's that rare.

Ben Howlett's Past​

The 38-year-old is in his first season leading IU Indy, his first job as a Division I basketball coach. That said, he has plenty of experience. After playing at West Liberty from 2005-09 and spending seven years as an assistant coach, he led his alma mater from 2017-25, a stretch where he went 217-37 as a head coach while winning seven MEC regular season titles and three conference tournament championships. Howlett was named the MEC Coach of the Year three times (2018, 2022 and 2025).
In 2024-25, Howlett's final season leading the Hilltoppers, they went 30-5 and scored 100-plus points in 17 games, including a 162-106 win in regulation. While the Marietta, Ohio native has a history of being a successful coach at the Division II level, he's hoping that success transitions to the top level of college basketball.
Part of that success has been that Howlett's teams love to run up and down the court all game, putting on a full-court press for 40 minutes and using the bulk of their depth and bench to remain as fresh as possible while doing so. Against Ohio State, nine IU Indy players played at least 14 minutes while six notched at least 20 minutes.
At the very least, Howlett will make sure that scoring and pace are mandatory, while defense might be optional at times.

The Pace​

Given Howlett's past and the fact that Ohio State was expected to have a very good offense and questionable defense heading into this season, Monday night's game was always expected to be a high-scoring affair. Yet, somehow, no one could have projected that it would lead to 220 combined points.
While IU Indy scored 102, it was as much to do with the pace and not just OSU straight up allowing triple digits. Even then, though, center Christoph Tilly knows that the Buckeyes must improve defensively, even though the Santa Clara transfer is only one game into his Ohio State career.
"Defensively, we still have to work on some stuff, obviously," he said. "They scored over 100 points – that can't happen. We will keep working on that."
The Jaguars shot 50% from the field and 31.6% from beyond the arc, the former of which Jake Diebler knows that his team must improve on.
"The 50% stands out, and we only had six steals," Diebler said. "They made some midrange floaters in the paint over size that we challenged. They banked a couple in. Defensively, the field-goal percentage is obviously not good enough. We've got to get more deflections and be more active and pressure more defensively."

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2025 College Football Playoffs Discussion (12 Team Format)

I don't doubt at all that they would screw over a 2 loss ACC or Big 12 team who got their 2nd loss in the conference title game for a 3 loss Texas.

I don't think SMU last year set a precedent, it just ended up giving them future justification for taking the 3 loss SEC team over a 2 loss ACC type team who took their 2nd loss in the CCG
I was really hoping Arizona State would beat Texas for the opposite reason - to justify leaving mid-pack SEC teams out.
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Ohio State vs. IU-Indy, Monday, Nov. 3, 630 PM, BTN+

Sounds like a good game to build from. Sure, I get that they got over a hunnerd, but as didn't watch the game, have zero notable assertions. Certainly shows tOSU's firepower, and gives Diebs something to work on. 'Runner' teams will score more points, but also give up more points. Half court O slows the game down, and keeps the scores down. OK, those are givens. Cannot wait to see in person, going to be there for the Nebraska game, and probably the Grambling game as well. Glass half full, looks like some of the transfers are earning their keep (unlike last year), and when get into B10 season, will pay dividends.
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2026 tOSU Recruiting Discussion

11W Forums

KYBuck4858 1 hour ago
Per Birm, it’s not looking like we will want to take two more RBs, and it will be whichever target wants to commit first out of Legend Bey or Amari Latimer. The thought is it will be Bey. TN is recruiting him as a WR. A&M was pushing for a flip this fall and also wanted him at WR.

Regarding Timmons, it just needs to get across the finish line (finalizing $ talk). Even the FSU insider thinks he’ll flip to us.
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Auburn Football (Paying Players Before NIL + Scientology)

Articles from that time verify this take

A friend of Nick's Saban's agent reached out to a member of the UT Board of Regents. How many degrees of separation do we have there? And quoting Paul Finebaum as "thinking" Saban was maybe considering Texas? That's not a credible source. Sounds like a bunch of Texas-sized day-dreaming to me.
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