Do we have a thread about various OSU beat writers and podcasts and whatnot? Apparently Austin Ward and Birm have been fired, so THE podcast is in a bit of some turmoil at the moment. Anybody know what's up?

Heck yeah! As ambivalent as I am about the program right now, Bruce seems like a really good dude and pretty darn solid player.

Get this man some help, Diebs!

Welcome to the Buckeye Family, CJ!!

Zurp said:

I'd rather that they do lots of things differently from how they've done them.
I hope they don't pick him.
There will be lots of worse picks available.
They have picked worse in the past. Remember when they used a first and second round pick to select a tight end? Not two different tight ends - it was one tight end they used 2 picks to get.
Remember when they selected some doof from up north to play punt returner on every single defensive play? He played linebacker and strong safety and corner back for the doofuses up north, but Cleveland put him at free safety, and played him so deep every play that it became a 10 versus 11 game.
Then there was some running back - was he from Alabama? I forget. The smartest thing the Browns did with him was trade him to the Colts. Was that Trent Richardson?
And I'm sure we could list a bunch more bad draft picks the Browns have made.

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One only needs to mention the Sovereign of Workout Shorts Warriors, David Veikune. No other player even needs to be mentioned...but the list is long behind him.

Honor&Glory said:

New level of ‘Red-ing’ going on. Jeesh.

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go big or go home!

Three areas of concern for Ohio State football ahead of the 2025 season​

After losing so many starters from last year’s national title team, there are going to be some growing pains at spots for Ohio State in 2025.

We are a little more than a week away from Ohio State’s spring practices wrapping up with the “spring showcase” at Ohio Stadium next Saturday. With a few weeks of practices under their belt, we are starting to get a better idea of what the starting lineup might look like when the Buckeyes welcome Texas to Columbus at the end of August for the season opener for both teams.

While there are a few positions that are rock solid, such as the wide receiver group with Jeremiah Smith, Carnell Tate, and others, there are other positions that there will be plenty of questions about throughout the spring and summer. Today we are going to look at three positions that still feel pretty fragile.

Luckily there is still almost five months before the season kicks off, so any positional questions have plenty of time to put in work ahead of the Texas game.

Defensive tackle​

Running back​

Strong safety​

Just sayin': I still say quarterback is the primary concern for the 2025 Buckeyes.

The Ohio State men’s basketball team got better on Thursday​

Jake Diebler added a starter via the portal and returned a starter on the same day.

Things have been a little tense for Ohio State fans over the past 10 days. They’ve watched a few great players with Columbus roots enter the transfer portal, consider Ohio State, and then go elsewhere. They’ve watched their biggest rival swipe a player that was also considering Ohio State, and the status of the team’s best player was up in the air as well, as he weighed staying, transferring, or going pro.

Meanwhile, teams all across the country like UConn, Baylor, Miami, and Louisville were walking down the aisles of the transfer portal supermarket and throwing anything they wanted into their shopping cart without even checking the price.

Well take a deep breath, Ohio State fans. Your favorite team got a whole lot better on Thursday.

It started with head coach Jake Diebler announcing that Bruce Thornton, the team’s leading scorer for the past two seasons and a three-time captain, would be returning for his senior season. He expects Thornton to enter the 2025 NBA Draft and work out for teams to get feedback on his game, but ultimately expects Bruce (who is not projected to be a draft pick) to return to Ohio State.

It goes without saying that Bruce Thornton’s return is massive for not just the team, but the program and the fanbase. Aside from the fact that Thornton is a phenomenal player, he’s a rare occurrence — someone who stayed at the same school all four years. It’s tougher and tougher these days for kids to grow up and have a “favorite player” in college, because players are constantly changing teams. Thornton is one of the few exceptions.

Later Thursday afternoon, former Santa Clara center Christoph Tilly — a 7-foot tall, 240-pound center who was born in Germany but spent much of his childhood in Chile, transferred to Ohio State. He averaged 12.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game last season, playing for Herb Sendek at Santa Clara.

Ohio State’s pursuit of and commitment to Tilly is a complete 180 from last year’s transfer portal strategy. Last spring, Jake Diebler swung high for the uber-talented sophomores who didn’t perform as freshmen, and it blew up in his face.

Aaron Bradshaw fell marvelously short of expectations, and this week he entered the transfer portal once again looking for a fresh start elsewhere. Sean Stewart showed more promise than Bradshaw and the arrow is pointing up for the soon-to-be junior, but ultimately 5.7 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 18.4 minutes per game did not meet the expectations that anyone had for the former McDonald’s All-American.
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What happened on Thursday isn’t going to knock anyone’s socks off, but the bottom line is that Ohio State got better yesterday. For a team that was probably one win away from making the NCAA Tournament last year, that’s all that matters.