One flew over the cuckoo's nest has to be in there somewhere

Podcast: A week-plus break for Ohio State is good news heading into the Big Ten Tournament
Colton Denning via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


After a grueling stretch of games, the Buckeyes get a break as they look to play more consistent in the postseason.

It was pretty apparent that fatigue was an issue for Ohio State as they closed out the regular season. The Buckeyes went 2-2 in the span of eight days, not always showing the consistency, or offensive rhythm, that defined the team’s success in December and January.


With such little depth, starters like Keita Bates-Diop, Jae’Sean Tate, and Kaleb Wesson were pushed to the limit —with Wesson dealing with ankle issues, no less— including in Friday’s 80-78 double overtime win at Indiana. Now, with a full week off before Friday’s game against either Penn State or Northwestern, the Buckeyes should be plenty rested and ready to make their first serious run in Big Ten Tournament since 2014.

On this episode of the Hangout in the Holy Land, Colton Denning and Patrick Mayhorn discuss the crazy win at IU, how the time off can benefit the Buckeyes’ offense schematically, and being encouraged about C.J. Jackson’s recent string of aggressive decision making. Other topics include:

• Whether or not the players and coaches want another shot at Penn State.
• How this year will be remembered as a launching point for Ohio State basketball.
• Thoughts on the season overall.

The guys also have an in-depth discussion on the recent news of college basketball players being paid under the table, and why they think it’s time that athletes get their just share of the revenue that they create for the universities and the NCAA.

Fair warning: there’s some explicit language in this episode.

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Teleconference: Coaches preview 2018 Big Ten women’s basketball tourney
BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network

On Monday, the Big Ten women's basketball coach's participated in a teleconference with members of the media to preview the Big Ten Women's Basketball Tournament. Audio from each coach is posted here.

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Teleconference: Coaches preview 2018 Big Ten men’s basketball tourney
BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network

On Monday, the Big Ten men's basketball coach's participated in a teleconference with members of the media to preview the 2018 Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament. Audio from each coach is posted here.

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FAMILIAR FACES: Young settles in, earns playing time for Buckeyes - Suburbanite
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


FAMILIAR FACES: Young settles in, earns playing time for Buckeyes
Suburbanite
He saw a season-high 22 minutes of action in a mid-February game against rival Michigan and scored a season-best six points in the Buckeyes' win over the Wolverines in early December. Getting up to speed at the college level has been a process, one ...
Ohio State up to No. 13 in Week 17 AP Poll247Sports
Ohio State offers standout 2019 Florida DBLand-Grant Holy Land
Could Ohio State's defensive line be even better this year? Projecting the Buckeyes' 2018 defensive depth chartThe Athletic
OSU - The Lantern -College Crosse (blog) -Eleven Warriors
all 31 news articles »

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Ohio State moves up to No. 13 in AP Poll
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes are joined by Michigan State, Purdue and Michigan as Big Ten teams in the top-15.

After securing wins against Rutgers and Indiana to conclude the regular season, the Ohio State Buckeyes moved up from No. 16 to No. 13 in the latest AP Poll.

Big Ten regular season champions Michigan State, who defeated Wisconsin on Sunday afternoon to clinch the No.1-seed in the Big Ten Tournament, maintained their spot as the No. 2 team in the country.

Purdue, who came into last week as the No. 9 team, moved up one spot to No. 8 after getting wins against Illinois and Minnesota.

Michigan is the fourth and final Big Ten program in the AP Poll Top 25; the Wolverines come in at No. 15, moving up two spots.

For the third straight week, the Virginia Cavaliers are the No. 1 team in the nation. The ACC regular season champs scored two victories in the past week, and are in the driver’s seat to become the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament—barring some kind of collapse in the ACC Tournament.

Behind UVA and MSU are the Xavier Musketeers. For Chris Mack’s program, it’s the highest ranking they’ve ever received. Rounding out the top-5 are Villanova and Duke, respectively.

Below is the full AP Poll Top 25.

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Ohio State men's basketball: Buckeyes on rise again in AP poll - The Columbus Dispatch
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State men's basketball: Buckeyes on rise again in AP poll
The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State has risen to No. 13 in the Associated Press men's basketball poll after closing the regular season with two wins last week. The Buckeyes (24-7 overall, 15-3 Big Ten) had dropped from No. 8 to No. 16 the week before after losing at Penn State ...

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Master Teague will be full-go for Buckeyes for spring ball - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Master Teague will be full-go for Buckeyes for spring ball
247Sports
Recently, Ohio State early-enrollee running back Master Teague was asked if he is “fully healthy.” He offered a succinct response before elaborating. "Yes, I feel good,” Teague said. Later, Teague was asked again about his physical status after missing ...


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Ohio State basketball: What's at stake for Buckeyes in Big Ten Tournament? - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State basketball: What's at stake for Buckeyes in Big Ten Tournament?
Landof10.com
What must Buckeyes do to clinch an NCAA Tournament bid? Ohio State will be back in the field playing for a national championship after missing out on a spot in the bracket for the last two seasons. Considering how low the expectations were for the ...
Ohio State women's basketball | Buckeyes clinch Big Ten title, No.1 seed in tournamentThe Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State podcast: Buckeyes cap off surprising regular season with buzzer-beater at IndianaDayton Daily News
Buckeyes will face Penn State-Northwestern winner in B1G tourney247Sports
Land-Grant Holy Land -OSU - The Lantern -cleveland.com -SB Nation
all 207 news articles »

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ttun signee

Ohio State basketball: What's at stake for Buckeyes in Big Ten Tournament? - Austin American-Statesman
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State basketball: What's at stake for Buckeyes in Big Ten Tournament?
Austin American-Statesman
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The regular season was without a doubt an unexpected, unqualified success for Ohio State basketball. Chris Holtmann's debut season exceeded all reasonable expectations in the preseason, to become one of the feel-good stories in a ...
Lady Buckeyes end regular season with four straight winsThe News Center

all 1 news articles »

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Ohio State podcast: Buckeyes cap off surprising regular season with buzzer-beater at Indiana - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State podcast: Buckeyes cap off surprising regular season with buzzer-beater at Indiana
Landof10.com
On the latest edition, Kyle Lamb reacts to Ohio State's 80-78 double overtime win against Indiana Friday night and looks forward to the Big Ten Tournament, which gets underway for the Buckeyes this Friday in New York against the winner of the Penn ...
Ohio State women's basketball | Buckeyes clinch Big Ten title, No.1 seed in tournamentThe Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State Buckeyes basketball gets two seed in Big Ten tournament247Sports
Women's Basketball: No. 14 Ohio State clinches outright Big Ten title with 89-64 win versus Penn StateOSU - The Lantern
The Daily Collegian Online
all 226 news articles »

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Best of the week that was: Carsen Edwards, Jordan Bohannon & Spartans make headlines
Tom Dienhart, BTN.com Senior Writer via Big Ten Network

Schools celebrated Senior Days across the Big Ten, so emotions packed many arenas. It was an exciting week of action, as Michigan State clinched its first outright Big Ten title since 2009 and schools looked to polish NCAA resumes with the Big Ten tourney right around the corner.

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Ohio State: Buckeyes miss out on Big Ten regular-season title; Ryan Shazier gets ovation in Cleveland - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State: Buckeyes miss out on Big Ten regular-season title; Ryan Shazier gets ovation in Cleveland
Landof10.com
The Big Ten regular season is in the books, and the Buckeyes missed out on first place by one game. Michigan State clinched the outright regular-season conference title with a win over Wisconsin on Sunday. The No. 2-ranked Spartans finished 16-2 in ...
Former Ohio State LB Ryan Shazier attends game between Cleveland Cavaliers, San Antonio SpursWKYC-TV

all 7 news articles »

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BTN Presents Coverage of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament
BTN Communications via Big Ten Network

BTN’s week-long coverage of the Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament presented by SoFi begins tonight and includes 10 game broadcasts, a comprehensive studio presence and digital and social initiatives to bring fans closer to the action in Madison Square Garden. Coverage begins at 5 p.m. ET today with the exclusive, live announcement of the annual Big Ten basketball awards on the BTN Live: All-Conference Selection Show. Host Rick Pizzo and Jon Crispin will reveal All-Big Ten selections, as well as Big Ten Player, Coach of the Year and Freshman of the Year. Interviews with select award winners will also be

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Ohio State offers standout 2019 Florida DB
Charles Doss via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes dish out a scholarship to another St. Thomas Aquinas product.

Even though this weekend was pretty laid back on the recruiting trail for the Ohio State Buckeyes, they still found their name in the headlines.

Buckeyes offer 2019 DB


Ohio State has offered numerous former and current standouts from St. Thomas Aquinas in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. From the look of things, it doesn’t look like Urban Meyer and company are finished trying to add Raiders to the Buckeyes roster.

Like many of his current teammates including, Daniel Carter, Jaden Davis, Marcus Dumervil, and Derek Wingo have received throughout the process, class of 2019 four-star safety Jordan Battle took to his Twitter page on Friday morning to share with the world that Ohio State offered him a chance to continue his education and football career in Columbus.


Talented enough to play either safety or cornerback on the next level, the 6-foot-1, 187-pound Battle adds the scholarship from Ohio State to a solid list of offers that currently consists Florida, Georgia, Michigan, and well over a dozen other programs from across the country.

As a junior last season at St. Thomas Aquinas, Battle, the 29th safety and 347th overall prospect in the class of 2019, per the latest 247Sports Composite Rankings, accounted for 55 total tackles to help pace the Raiders to an overall record of 12-3 and another deep run in the Florida state playoffs.

4-star QB thinks OSU offer is “pretty cool”


Just hours after earning his offer from Meyer, Ryan Day, and the rest of the Ohio State coaching staff nearly two weeks ago, four-star quarterback Grant Gunnell decommitted from the Aggies of Texas A&M.

Fresh on the market and pegged as one of the top available signal callers in the class of 2019, the Houston native stayed close to home to participate in the The Opening Regional Camp held at Legacy Field in Katy, Texas on Sunday.

After having the chance to strut his stuff against some of the most sought after prospects in the southwest, Gunnell caught up with VYPE Houston to break down recruiting, which included his offer from OSU.


“It’s pretty cool. Just knowing their history and everything, and Coach Meyer, and Coach Day. So it will be cool to get up there and talk to them.” Gunnell, who has passed for over 11,000 yards and 142 touchdowns during his high school career at St Pius X, stated on his recruitment with the Buckeyes.

Reportedly set to visit Columbus in early March, Meyer, Day, and crew will finally get their chance to show Grant, who is also feeling the love from programs such as Oklahoma State, LSU and Arkansas, what it would be like to to be a student-athlete at Ohio State.

Looking for a 2019 quarterback to bring into the fold, his visit is a big one for both sides. Stick with Land-Grant Holy Land for the latest.

Quick Hits

• On Friday Ohio State offered Cleveland St. Ignatius class of 2018 quarterback Daniel Alexander a preferred walk-on spot with the football team. If he accepts, Alexander, who also holds an opportunity to suit up at Butler University, would join his teammate and fellow St. Ignatius senior Jack Jamieson, a offensive lineman, as a walk-on for the Buckeyes next season.
• 2020 Cincinnati Princeton outside linebacker Jaheim Thomas tells Marc Givler of Rivals that he “loved” his recent visit to the Ohio State campus. Yet to pick up a scholarship from the Ohio State coaching staff, the 6-foot-4, 200-pound sophomore has offers to play at Rutgers, Kentucky, Cincinnati, Toledo, and others.

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Buckeyes claim team sectional title - Athens Messenger
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Buckeyes claim team sectional title
Athens Messenger
Nelsonville-York advanced eight wrestlers to district competition during last week's sectional tournament. From left to right are qualifiers Colton Snyder, Logan Bruce, Brian Heller, Colt Yinger, Noah Inboden, Tyler Speelman, Collin Yinger and Donovan ...


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Ohio State men's basketball | Buckeyes earn No.2 seed in Big Ten tournament - The Columbus Dispatch
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State men's basketball | Buckeyes earn No.2 seed in Big Ten tournament
The Columbus Dispatch
Ohio State has finished second in the Big Ten and earned the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten men's basketball tournament. After the No. 16 Buckeyes won at Indiana in double overtime Friday night, they had to wait for the result of Sunday's game between ...
Women's Hockey: Ohio State beats Minnesota State 5-2, completes sweep in first round of WCHA tournamentOSU - The Lantern
Women's Hockey Sweeps Mavericks, Heads to SemisEleven Warriors

all 4 news articles »

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Lady Buckeyes end regular season with four straight wins - The News Center
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Lady Buckeyes end regular season with four straight wins
The News Center
14 Ohio State rolled past Penn State 89-64 Sunday to clinch the outright Big Ten regular-season title and the No. 1 seed to the conference tournament. Mitchell's 3,286 career points moved her past former Baylor star Brittney Griner (3,283). Mavunga had ...

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This crazy, beautiful (regular) season of Big Ten basketball
Geoff Hammersley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Sure, Sparty came out on top, but the journey to get there was a wild one.

On Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center in Madison. Wisc., the Michigan State Spartans cemented their claim as regular season Big Ten Champions with a down-to-the-wire 68-63 win against the Wisconsin Badgers.

Tom Izzo’s Spartans began the season as the No. 2 team in the AP Poll, and ended the regular season in the same spot. As expected, they took home the regular season crown and are now headed to New York City for the conference tournament—one where they’ll have the No. 1-seed.

Yeah, this was a predictable (and safe bet) outcome for how the top-spot in the Big Ten would finish once the season wrapped up. But to get to this point, there were tons of surprises, upsets, and down right zaniness.

The biggest of the surprises are none other than the Ohio State Buckeyes. In Chris Holtmann’s first season at the helm, he strung together nine straight conference wins to begin his time at OSU. That’s the most ever by a head coach in his first year at a Big Ten institution since Sam Barry recorded 11 straight victories for Iowa in 1923. Overall, OSU ended the regular season with a 23-7 (14-3) record, including a huge 80-64 win over then-No. 1 Michigan State on Jan. 7.

Sparty won 16 of 18 games against Big Ten foes, but got the doors blown off in Columbus against OSU. The place where the Spartans fell to the Buckeyes, was also the place where the Bucks, who were 9-0 to start conference play, would get beat by a buzzer-beater, banked-in three pointer by Penn State’s Tony Carr.

Ohio State’s kryptonite this year were the Nittany Lions. In the second meeting between the two, which happened on Feb. 15, the Buckeyes got down by as many as 30 before falling, 79-56. That loss was followed up by another loss (against Michigan), which enabled the Spartans to jump back into the driver’s seat for control of the Big Ten standings.

Joe Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
It Takes Two: Between Holtmann and Bates-Diop, they are the catalysts to the Buckeyes’ success.

But, the overall journey was pretty amazing. On Feb. 23, the semifinalists for the Werner Ladder Naismith Coach of the Year Award were announced. Making the cut was Holtmann. Sure, Texas Tech’s Chris Beard, Virginia’s Tony Bennett and Auburn’s Bruce Pearl are on that list, too, but who really expected the Bucks to be in the hunt for a conference title, let alone being a contender in the NCAA Tournament? In the first week of December 2017, OSU’s national championship odds hovered between 300-to-1 and 200-1; Michigan State’s odds were around 4-to-1.

On both sides of the ball, forward Keita Bates-Diop played a pivotal role in Ohio State’s success. He recorded 18 double doubles on the season, and showed up huge in games against Michigan State and Purdue. KBD’s heroics in conference play propelled him into shortlists for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year and Wooden Award. Without him in the equation, the Bucks wouldn’t have had a consistent rebounding presence as well as a constant No. 1 shooter.

But flashback to late November. Who would’ve expected Ohio State to be this good this year? Especially after they let a 15-point lead slip away to Butler in the final six minutes of the PK80 Invitational. At that time, the Buckeyes felt like an NIT team; but within a few weeks, they flipped the script and became a force to be reckoned with. A combination of Holtmann bringing the spark, in addition to Bates-Diop growing into a top conference performer, was what it took to get the tour de force campaign underway.

The game where everything came together for OSU was against then-No. 3 Purdue on Feb. 7. The Boilermakers led for most of the night, and carried a 14-point lead in the second half. However, a lineup change (and a change of tactics) was enough to chip the lead away, leading to KBD getting a put-back basket with less than three seconds left in the game to seal the one-point, 64-63, win in West Lafayette, Ind.

While Purdue didn’t struggle last season and carried a No. 20 ranking in the preseason AP Poll, they were a constant presence at the top of the conference standings. At one point, Matt Painter’s program was the No. 3 team in the land. The loss to OSU kicked off a three-game skid for the Boilermakers—one that featured road losses to the Spartans and Badgers. Before the skid, Purdue was nearly taken down by last place Rutgers on the road.

Teams that looked nearly unstoppable one week, were trying to get off the slippery slope of losses the next. Ohio State and Purdue were two examples of that this season—but, if we’re being honest, the fact that both these teams made pushes well inside the top-10 is something to hang their heads high about. Michigan State, while carrying the torch as the conference leader, spent the better part of February avoiding big upsets. They escaped by Indiana, Northwestern, Iowa, Purdue and Wiscy.

Then we take a look at Nebraska, who has flown under the radar as the No. 4 team in the conference. By holding off Michigan for that fourth spot, the Cornhuskers join MSU, OSU and Purdue as teams that get the double-bye at the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden. Like Ohio State’s climb, who thought Nebraska was going to be a top-4 team in the conference back at the start?

Whatever Tim Miles did since the end of last year, he should keep doing it. The Cornhuskers ended 2016-17 with an abysmal 12-19 mark overall. In the conference, times were rough for the Lincoln, Neb., program as they saw only six wins in 18 games. (That was one less win than what Thad Matta’s program had against B1G foes.)

This season, Nebraska went 22-9 overall, and brushed off an early loss against St. John’s. For most of the year, that loss to the Red Storm looked bad; the team went on an 11-game losing streak before getting monumental wins against top-5 programs, Duke and Villanova, in back-to-back games.

Unlike years past, a condensed Big Ten schedule took place, forcing teams to play two conference games in early December to compensate for the early start time of the conference tournament. On top of that, teams had to play a handful of games in a tighter window. As you can imagine, playing more games with less time to rest causes all sorts of problems. If you look back to OSU’s season finale against Indiana, both teams looked exhausted.

The season took a bunch of twist and turns, and ended with a predictable team winning the regular season crown. But, like anything, the journey getting there was the fun part.

That’s especially true with Buckeye Basketball being back again. Now, we’ll see what kind of craziness March brings us. It always does.

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Here is the 2018 Big Ten Tournament Bracket
Alex Roux, BTN.com editor via Big Ten Network

The stage is set for New York City. The 2017-18 Big Ten regular season wrapped up Sunday, locking in seeds and schedules for the 2018 Big Ten Tournament at Madison Square Garden.

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Thad Matta's downfall began with a top-five recruiting class that didn't deliver

Entire article: https://sports.yahoo.com/news/thad-...ll-fated-2015-recruiting-class-022510936.html

Just wondered what Thad's top 5 recruiting class was up to these days:

Daniel Giddens (Alabama): https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/131270/

Mickey Mitchell (Arizona State): https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/131268/

AJ Harris (New Mexico State): https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/131271/

Austin Grandstaff (DePaul): https://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/players/131269/

Jaquan Lyle (New Mexico): sitting out this year

Overall it looks like they aren't doing much better at their new school than they did at Ohio State. Basically I'll say the first 4 (above) were grossly overrated. Lyle (at least) could put up some points; however, (apparently) he wasn't a "good fit" for Ohio State.

WIAH: On super QB Jack Miller; OL recruits; flips and more - 247Sports
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


WIAH: On super QB Jack Miller; OL recruits; flips and more
247Sports
WIAH: On super QB Jack Miller; OL recruits; flips and more. What I am hearing Buckeyes' includes super QB Jack Miller; Ohio State OL recruits; working on a flip and more... Bill Kurelic - 17 minutes ago; 2; Tools. Edit; Slot to 247Sports Home; Slot to ...


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Bucks lose finale in Desert 6-1 to Oregon St. Had a chance to go 3-1 on weekend but they blew Fridays game vs the Beavers (gave up 6 unearned bott 8). Still though 5-3 on the year. Headed to Florida next weekend

Big Ten women’s tourney bracket: Ohio State earns top seed
Brent Yarina, BTN.com Senior Editor via Big Ten Network

The Big Ten Conference has announced the full bracket for the 25th Big Ten Women’s Basketball Tournament that will take place Feb. 28-March 4 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

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