So pedo state vs usc, probably the two hottest/weakest backhalf scheduled teams in the country?

Ohio State football: Why the committee got it right putting the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff - Landof10.com
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State football: Why the committee got it right putting the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff
Landof10.com
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As it turns out, the debate when it came to Ohio State making the College Football Playoff wasn't much of a debate after all. The Buckeyes aren't only in college football's final four, they're in it as the No. 3 seed and are set for a ...
Buckeyes CFP boundBuckeyeGrove.com (subscription)
Ohio State Buckeyes selected to play in College Football PlayoffWKYC-TV
Alabama-Washington, Clemson-Ohio State set for playoff semisESPN
Dayton Daily News -USA TODAY -247Sports
all 1,328 news articles »

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Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 2 Clemson Tigers - ESPN (blog)
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Fiesta Bowl: No. 3 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. No. 2 Clemson Tigers
ESPN (blog)
There hadn't been all that much to cheer for when the Buckeyes were trailing, allowing the Ohio State fans and players to save up for the celebration and unleash it all at once. Lowest moment: Urban Meyer's programs are known for their prolific work on ...

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Ohio State will play Clemson in the 2016 Fiesta Bowl in the College Football Playoff
Matt Brown 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 headed to the desert for a playoff tussle with the Tigers.

Ohio State didn’t win the Big Ten this year. They didn’t even win the Big Ten East outright, as Penn State won the right to go to the conference championship game, and then won the whole dang thing. But thanks to a stellar regular season, Buckeye fans were confident they’d find a way to make the College Football Playoff anyway. And today, they were proven right.

Ohio State was selected as one of the top 3 seeds in the College Football Playoff, and will face Clemson in the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl. Alabama will face off the other playoff bid winner in the Chick fil-A Peach Bowl, in Atlanta.

This makes the Buckeyes the first team ever to make the College Football Playoff without winning a conference title. Thanks to road wins over Oklahoma and Wisconsin, and a home win against Michigan, it would have been nearly impossible to argue Ohio State’s resume was insufficient. And now they’re back in the Playoff for the second time in three years.

The Buckeyes are 0-2 all-time against Clemson, and the Tigers are one of the very few teams that can say they’ve beaten the Buckeyes in the Urban Meyer era. Ohio State lost in the 2013 Orange Bowl 40-35, and also in the 1978 Gator Bowl, 17-15. You might remember that game as the one where Woody punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman, leading to his firing. So there’s a bit of history between these two teams.

We’ll have much more on the Tigers soon, but for now, the Buckeyes have achieved one of their major goals of the season, and have a path, albeit a very difficult one, to win another national title.

The Fiesta Bowl will be played on December 31, 2016 at either 3:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. ET in Glendale, AZ. While that’s New Years Eve, good news: it’s a Saturday this year. And if you’re reading this anywhere in the Buckeye State, even if the Fiesta Bowl winds up being the late game, it’s a pretty sure bet it’ll be on at whatever party you’re at.

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Buckeyes CFP bound - BuckeyeGrove.com (subscription)
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Buckeyes CFP bound
BuckeyeGrove.com (subscription)
Ohio State had been No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings for several weeks and on Saturday afternoon it was announced that the Buckeyes stayed in the top-four despite not playing in a conference championship game and will be the No. 3 seed ...
The Buckeyes are in! Ohio State chosen for College Football PlayoffLandof10.com

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Cincinnati could look at Ohio State’s Kerry Coombs as a head coaching candidate to replace Tommy Tuberville
Matt Brown via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


An FBS job just opened in Ohio, and that may mean a Buckeye assistant could be on the move.

Compared to last year, this has been a relatively quiet coaching carousel season, but it might heat up in a big way now, especially for Buckeye fans.

According to Football Scoop, Cincinnati Bearcats head coach Tommy Tuberville is stepping down, after a lackluster season.

Whenever an Ohio position opens up, Ohio State assistants are often considered possible candidates, and this would be no different. Ohio State’s cornerbacks coach and special teams coordinator Kerry Coombs has already been suggested as a possible candidate by one analyst, and he probably won’t be the only one.


Coombs would make a ton of sense for the Bearcats. Before joining the college ranks, Coombs was a highly successful high school coach in the greater Cincinnati area, spending time at local powers like Lakota, Loveland, and Colerain. He also coached at Cincinnati from 2007-2011, and few coaches know the area as well as he does. Coombs’ energy is also unparalleled.

He won’t be the only candidate, of course. This could be a landing spot for Charlie Strong, and Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky’s head coach, could also be very successful there. Perhaps Neal Brown, Troy’s head coach and former Kentucky assistant, could do well here too. It’s also possible other Ohio State assistants could be interested in this job as well.

Cincinnati is a pretty good non-Power 5 job, close to a large concentration of talent, an ambitious athletic department, and is in the best non-power conference league in the country. The right hire could launch the program back into the Top 25. We’ll have to see if that hire comes from Ohio State’s staff.

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Ohio State No. 2, Penn State No. 5 in final AP Top 25
Luke Zimmermann via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


If the committee’s sentiments echo the pollsters...

Despite a head to head win over Ohio State on a blocked field goal in the midst of a fourth quarter self implosion, the media members who comprise the AP Top 25 weren’t moved enough by Penn State’s impressive come from behind victory against Wisconsin to move them into their own informal Top 4.

The AP Top 25’s Top 4 stays Alabama (an unsurprising unanimous No. 1), the Buckeyes at No. 2, Clemson at No. 3, and Washington at No. 4. The pollsters move the Nittany Lions above the same Michigan team that beat them by 39 but the margin between PSU and Washington is roughly that of the Huskies and Clemson.

The Buckeyes finish the regular season with wins over the AP’s No. 6, No. 7, and No. 8 teams, two of the three on the road. Assuming the committee approaches things similarly to the press, the anxieties of late last night/this morning may prove unmerited yet.

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I think it depends on what happens at noon today. That will set the schedule.

Ohio State 70, Fairleigh Dickinson 62 | Buckeyes wake up in second half - Columbus Dispatch
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Ohio State 70, Fairleigh Dickinson 62 | Buckeyes wake up in second half
Columbus Dispatch
The Knights entered the game 259 spots lower nationally in scoring defense and with just one win against a Division I opponent this season, but the Buckeyes rode a solid eight minutes to a dissatisfying 70-62 win in front of an announced crowd of 11,570.
Loving leads Buckeyes to 70-62 win over Fairleigh DickinsonBig Ten Network
Buckeyes hold off pesky Fairleigh Dickinson 70-62247Sports
RECAP: Ohio State basketball bounces back with 70-62 win over Fairleigh DickinsonLandof10.com
WHIZ -Scout -Chat Sports
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Ohio State basketball: Sluggish Buckeyes hold off Fairleigh Dickinson 70-62 - cleveland.com
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Ohio State basketball: Sluggish Buckeyes hold off Fairleigh Dickinson 70-62
cleveland.com
The Buckeyes won, 70-62, bouncing back from a loss on Wednesday to Virginia, and a sluggish first half on Saturday against the Knights. That Tate score ignited 13-2 run to start the second half for the Buckeyes, who lead by just one at the half ...


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Women's volleyball: Buckeyes Sweet Sixteen bound - OSU - The Lantern
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Women's volleyball: Buckeyes Sweet Sixteen bound
OSU - The Lantern
The Buckeyes made their presence known from the beginning of the first set. A variety of hitters went to work, which resulted in an early 9-1 run for OSU. As Kansas State closed in on the OSU lead, the arena erupted, showing the home team support for ...
Wildcats' Comeback Bid Falls Short Against BuckeyesK-StateSports.com
Ohio State edges Kansas State in dramatic five-set duel to advance in NCAA tournamentLand-Grant Holy Land
Wildcats' comeback falls shortManhattan Mercury (subscription)
Topeka Capital Journal
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Ohio State edges Kansas State in dramatic five-set duel to advance in NCAA tournament
Greg Woods via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


The Buckeyes survived a furious rally from the Wildcats to earn yet another rematch with Wisconsin.

When Audra Appold sent a missile of a kill over the net Saturday night, it seemed done. It seemed over.

It seemed the deed had been done, that Ohio State, now up 2-0 on Kansas State in the second round of the NCAA tournament in Manhattan, Kan., would cruise to a sweep with a win in the third set.

What followed was quite the opposite.

Instead, the Wildcats flipped a switch and claimed both the third and fourth sets, urged on by the fervent Bramlage Coliseum crowd.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, that’s where the road stopped for K-State: Ohio State eked out a 17-15 win in set five en route to a 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 23-25, 17-15 five-set win, good for a Sweet 16 matchup with Big 10 foe Wisconsin.

“It was an epic match, it really was,” head coach Geoff Carlson said. “Hats off to K-State; they made some really great adjustments. That was just a game of heart by two really, really, really great teams.”

Outside hitter Luisa Schirmer paced Ohio State in kills with 21, a game-high, on top of 10 digs and five blocks. Middle blocker Taylor Sandbothe, sister of K-State freshman Elle Sandbothe, added 15 kills, four digs and eight blocks. As a team, Ohio State finished with a .185 hitting percentage.

But Ohio State had work to do before the reward of a third match with the Badgers this season, and it wasn’t easy for the Buckeyes.

Though it did seem so early on. Ohio State jumped out to a 16-6 lead in set one, and though K-State hinted at a future comeback with a small resurgence in the set, it was far too late. The Buckeyes claimed set one.

They did the same to set two, though in more narrow fashion. Ohio State never managed more than a four-point lead, but it was enough for another win.

But that’s where things changed.

“It was more them than us,” Carlson said.

Kansas State used an early 4-0 run to bolt out to a 9-4 lead, made tighter when the Buckeyes rallied to tie the set at 13, but the quick runs the Wildcats pieced together were the difference in their 25-22 win.

Ohio State was again presented the chance to slam the door shut in the fourth set, but K-State refused to cave. The Wildcats carded 13 kills in set four alone, and two separate 3-0 Buckeye spurts weren’t enough to end things in four.

Kansas State opposite hitter Bryna Vogel sent the match to five sets with an emphatic, vigorous kill. To five it would go.

And the fifth and final set followed the pattern the previous two sets would have suggested: an airtight, seesaw affair that, fittingly, came down to the final points. The stadium sat in anticipation after outside hitter Ashley Wenz’s kill sent it to match point, and in heartbreak when the ball tumbled to the ground after a kill from Schirmer.

The Buckeyes wouldn’t have had it any other way. They had escaped.

“We really crystallized what it means to fight for each other and work for each other,” Sandbothe said. “That’s something that being in the Big 10 has taught us.”

For Sandbothe, playing with her younger sister across the net meant a different kind of match, one that changed the way she played, if only in trivial ways.

“I told her I wasn’t going to be able to look at her during the match because she’s just so cute,” Sandbothe said. “She reminds me so much of everything that I love.”

So the Buckeyes will advance to a Sweet 16 tilt with Wisconsin, the very team the Buckeyes dropped both regular-season meetings to earlier this season. The teams are no strangers, and Carlson hopes the fortunes are flipped in the looming matchup.

“We know Wisconsin. They’re in the Big 10; they’re pretty good,” he said with a smile. “We’re going to enjoy this one for sure, and I couldn’t be prouder of these two and the whole team, actually.”

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College Football Playoff 2016 selection show: Start time, TV schedule, and live stream info
Luke Zimmermann via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


It all comes down to this.

Are the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2016/2017 College Football Playoff? Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany sure thinks so.

One of the most powerful men in college athletics swung by the College GameDay set outside the Big Ten Championship Game between the third and fourth best team in the conference and stated declaratively that Ohio State had “unequivocally” proven their playoff worth. He added that while Alabama and Ohio State were “in” in his mind, Michigan and a ‘few other teams’ also merited inclusion. He never mentioned either team playing for the Big Ten title in the segment.

Will Ohio State make good on Commissioner Delany’s confidence? We find out this early afternoon.

The College Football Playoff selection committee, fresh on the heels of meeting late into the night, will unveil their final Top 25 rankings of the 2016 season as well as the matchups for the New Year's Six bowls. The unveiling will be made live on ESPN.

The Playoff/bowl unveil special is a daunting fours long, beginning at 12 p.m. ET. Worry not: you won’t have to tune in all four hours to find out where Ohio State’s headed and who they’re facing. ESPN estimates the participants in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl and PlayStation Fiesta Bowl will be unveiled around 12:30 p.m.

GameDay's Rece Davis will maestro the affair along with former Ohio State Buckeyes Joey Galloway and Kirk Herbstreit plus Danny Kannell and David Pollock. The always colorful Paul Finebaum, Chris Fowler, and others will cameo throughout the show.

If you’re curious why Ohio State is ultimately ranked wherever they are, College Football Playoff selection committee chair Kirby Hocutt (also the athletic director of Texas Tech) will be on the program around 12:40 p.m. as well as after the New Year’s Six bowl matchups are released.

Ohio State already has a press conference scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. Decent bet you might just hear from OSU head coach Urban Meyer on an ESPN platform sometime Sunday as well. An Ohio State spokesperson adds that ESPN will be in the team meeting room when the Buckeyes’ post season destination is known.

How to watch, stream, and listen


TV: 12 p.m. ET, ESPN

Radio station: ESPN Radio

Streaming online: WatchESPN

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Final Playoff Projection: Alabama-Ohio State, Clemson-Washington - USA TODAY
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Final Playoff Projection: Alabama-Ohio State, Clemson-Washington
USA TODAY
Ohio State also beat Big Ten West champion Wisconsin and Big 12 champion Oklahoma by 21 points on the Sooners' field. The Buckeyes have been No. 2 in the College Football Playoff selection committee's top 25 for the past three weeks. Penn State has ...
Ohio State football | No matter how season ends, young team beat expectationsColumbus Dispatch
Second Thoughts: Don't worry, Buckeyes are a lock for playoffsMyDaytonDailyNews
Ohio State's likely bowl scenario: College Football PlayoffLandof10.com
Eleven Warriors -cleveland.com -ESPN
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CFP Final Four prediction: Will Big Ten title vault Penn State over Buckeyes? - Dallas News (blog)
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CFP Final Four prediction: Will Big Ten title vault Penn State over Buckeyes?
Dallas News (blog)
Entering the weekend, the Buckeyes (11-1) had three victories over teams ranked in the top 10: Wisconsin, Michigan and Oklahoma. But they aren't Big Ten champions or even division champions thanks to the Penn State loss. This story is about Colleges ...
The top 5 quarterbacks Tom Herman has coachedHookem.com

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Buckeyes Score Six Straight In Blowout Over Gopher Men's Hockey - KSTP.com
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Buckeyes Score Six Straight In Blowout Over Gopher Men's Hockey
KSTP.com
The No. 11/9 Gopher Hockey program settled for a conference split with No. 10/11 Ohio State on Saturday night, dropping an 8-3 contest and snapping a seven-game winning streak against the Buckeyes. Minnesota (7-5-2 overall, 1-1-0-0 Big Ten) rallied ...
Men's hockey: Gophers top Buckeyes 5-3 in Big Ten openerTwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
Gophers hockey splits series with loss to BuckeyesFOXSports.com
Gophers Cut Down Buckeyes 5-3Gopher Puck Live (blog)
Eleven Warriors -Land-Grant Holy Land
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Ohio State football: What Penn State's Big Ten Championship Game win means for the Buckeyes and the College ... - Landof10.com
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Ohio State football: What Penn State's Big Ten Championship Game win means for the Buckeyes and the College ...
Landof10.com
In the moments following Penn State's victory over Wisconsin in Indianapolis, a mini-debate between the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes' respective candidacies reignited both on the FOX broadcast and social media. The argument seems simple. Considering ...
Big Ten playoff tracker: Ohio State in position as B1G looks to get two in CFPESPN (blog)
CFP Final Four prediction: Will Big Ten title vault Penn State over Buckeyes?Dallas News (blog)
What are Penn State's playoff chances now?Allentown Morning Call
Eleven Warriors -Yahoo Sports -SportsBlog.com (blog)
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Wildcats' Comeback Bid Falls Short Against Buckeyes - K-StateSports.com
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Wildcats' Comeback Bid Falls Short Against Buckeyes
K-StateSports.com
MANHATTAN, Kan. – The Kansas State volleyball team climbed out of an 0-2 hole to force a decisive fifth set against Ohio State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Saturday night, but he Buckeyes escaped with a five-set win, 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, ...
Wildcats' comeback falls shortManhattan Mercury (subscription)
Kansas State volleyball falls in five sets to Ohio State in NCAA tournamentTopeka Capital Journal

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Final bowl projections: Ohio State could still miss the playoff but...
Luke Zimmermann via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


They’re probably in. *Probably*

Ohio State’s coaches spent the better part of the last week reeling in five-star super recruits and laying the groundwork to add additional four and five-stars to the fold. This was fine and good and, heck, perhaps even a bit of a gamesmanship, until James Franklin and Penn State rallied from a big early deficit and a bunch of first half mistakes to do what PSU’s done seemingly the entirety of the last eight weeks – which culminated with winning the Big Ten Championship Game over Wisconsin, 38-31.

Clemson did everything they could to make Clemson’ing a thing again, but a clutch fourth down defensive stand allowed the Tigers to win a second straight ACC championship and likely punch their ticket to a second straight College Football Playoff.

Late Friday evening, Washington put together an impressively dominant win over No. 8 Colorado, 41-10, to complete their own playoff case and add one more worthy side meriting consideration to the mix.

So where do we stand now?

Conventional wisdom, even as of, say, 10 p.m. ET Saturday evening, feels all but turned upside down. You may have been adamant that a chalk final four of 1. Alabama, 2. Ohio State, 3. Clemson and 4. Washington made sense for everyone, but you certainly have to feel at least a little less sure after witnessing the Lions’ impressive comeback.

Still, the Buckeyes’ potential options are relatively finite, especially compared to so many other future bowl/potential playoff participants who won’t know their fate until Sunday afternoon.

Here’s where Ohio State’s going bowling during the 2016-2017 bowl season:

Ohio State plays in the Fiesta Bowl vs. Clemson or Washington


If the committee punts on “punishing” the Buckeyes’ not doing better than losing a conference championship game participation tiebreaker to fellow co-Big Ten East Division champions Penn State, it’s possible OSU stays No. 2.

Recent history, which College Football Playoff chair Kirby Hocutt says has no bearing — and that precedent doesn’t matter; his words! — would likely have OSU being knocked down a peg a la Florida State, who won the ACC in 2014 but did so after surviving close call after close call after close call and never really bettering their standing despite going undefeated. Worth noting that those Noles were undefeated but were behind a pair of one loss teams in Alabama and Oregon.

In either case, the Buckeyes would be headed to the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl in familiar Glendale, AZ in the Phoenix area with No. 1 seed lock Alabama playing in the Georgia Dome for a second straight game.

Ohio State plays in the Peach Bowl vs. Alabama


If the committee has been intellectually dishonest about the value of a conference championship during their weekly rankings reveals during the last three weeks, it’s possible Ohio State is somehow knocked down to No. 4.

The Buckeyes beat the best team other than themselves in the Big Ten, lost to the third best team, and beat the fourth best. Other than a 13th data point, there is no resume metric that says Clemson or Washington is superior to the Buckeyes’ curriculum vitae-wise.

That said, if the committee is simply making it up as they go along, we can’t rule out the possibility of an Ohio State-Alabama rematch in the 1 v. 4 game. Don’t look so excited, Ohio State fans.

Ohio State plays in the Rose Bowl against USC


It seemed impossible not even 24 hours ago, but now there’s creeping doubts that a very traditional, very staid group of predominately older white male college football power brokers could be unadventurous and simply go to the tried and true formula of the four highest ranked conference champions. This was the case in 2014 and 2015 by and large, with only Big Ten champion Ohio State over Big 12 co-champs TCU and Baylor the point of any real contention.

If the committee somehow goes back into a shell and decides to leave the team with the most Top 10 wins of any team in the country out, the Buckeyes will fall back into the Rose Bowl spot vacated by Penn State and play most likely 9-3 (and one of the hottest teams in the country), USC.

The Rose Bowl is always special in its own way, but to younger people -- and especially in a post College Football Playoff world -- would come as a mostly unwanted participation trophy. But at least those picturesque sunset visuals, right?

For OSU faithful, this would amount to the darkest timeline. It probably only has about a 15% chance of coming to fruition. But we can’t reasonably rule out the possibility.

Anyone who says they know definitively how the committee thinks or feels who isn’t one of the 12 people in that room is lying.

Now all that’s left is to wait and see who’s the least wrong.

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The Football Fever: Buckeyes await College Football Playoff release Sunday - ABC6OnYourSide.com
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The Football Fever: Buckeyes await College Football Playoff release Sunday
ABC6OnYourSide.com
COLUMBUS -- Buckeye players and fans were left to wait and watch during conference championship weekend. Seven days ago, Ohio State rocked the Shoe with a double overtime win over the Team up North, 30-27. Less noise this weekend but some ...

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Wrestling: Buckeyes Win CKLV Invitational With Two Champions - Eleven Warriors
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Wrestling: Buckeyes Win CKLV Invitational With Two Champions
Eleven Warriors
As opposed to my personal December traditions of watching conference championship football games and gaining several pounds, the wrestling Buckeyes have made it a habit to bring home individual and team titles from the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational ...


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Ohio State demolishes No. 11/9 Minnesota, 8-3
Matt Torino via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Ohio State hockey got revenge for their loss on Friday to the Gophers with the blowout victory

The Ohio State-less football game going on in Indianapolis wasn’t the only Saturday night matchup of ranked Big Ten teams. There was also Ohio State hockey’s absolute beatdown of Minnesota in the latter’s home arena by a score of 8-3.

Ohio State’s hockey team got revenge for the 5-3 sound defeat on Friday to the nation’s No. 11/9 Gophers with the smothering of Minnesota on Saturday. The No. 10/11 Buckeyes improved to 9-2-4 on the season while Minnesota fell to 7-5-2. Both teams are 1-1 in Big Ten conference play since they’ve only played each other.

Make no mistake, Ohio State has a great record now at the halfway point of the season, but came into this series with questions. They had some lackluster performances against opponents like Robert Morris they should dominate and hadn’t faced a true national power since the upset of Denver way back in the beginning of October.

Compounding those questions were the ones in goal. Christian Frey has been alternating between hurt and mediocre this entire season going into Saturday and Matt Tomkins has played well this year but never been consistent or even average in terms of save percentage over his career in extended stretches.

Friday night did not answer these questions in positive manners for the Buckeyes. Tomkins was bombarded and didn’t stop a shot in the second period. The team was smothered in the third period despite staying close. They just couldn’t generate any chances despite being behind. They didn’t deserve to win.

Things are looking much rosier after Saturday’s destruction.

Christian Frey only allowed three goals despite facing 34 shots against a more talented team. They outshot Minnesota for a majority of the game before they blew it open and went into more of a natural shell to prevent a humongous comeback. And the goal scoring juggernaut we know and love returned on top of that.

Mason Jobst, who’d be tied for the Bucks’ lead in points on the night with four, scored the first goal for the Buckeyes just 33 seconds into the game. His fourth had Luke Stork as the lone helper. He came into the game shooting just 6.7% but with four points, now is over a point per game with 16 points in 15 games.

Tommy Parran scored his third of the year at 9:32 to give Ohio State the two goal advantage, but Minnesota was not going to go down easily, at least at the start. Within 1:33, starting at 11:20, Tyler Sheehy and Ryan Lindgren both scored for the Gophers to tie the game at two apiece.

And that’d be the score going into the intermission. Shots were 12-7 Minnesota, but with the Gophers falling behind early and having to play more aggressively than anticipated, it wasn’t a death knell for Ohio State. You could easily see a game like Friday’s unfolding, though.

Nick Schilkey and Jobst decided they didn’t want to go down that path again, however, Schilkey scored his 13th of the year at 2:06 of the second and Jobst followed that up at 2:20 to give Ohio State the two goal lead back once again with his fifth of the year.

And just 4:47 after that, Tanner Laczynski scored his sixth of the season to make it 5-2 Ohio State. Josh Healey made it 6-2 just 1:44 later with his second of the season and the boat race was on. That 6-2 score would hold up going into the second intermission as Frey stopped all seven Minnesota shots put on net.

David Gust kept the beating on just 4:57 into the third as he scored his tenth of the year to make it 7-2. That score would hold for a relatively long time until Sasha Larocque scored his first of the year 13:08 to make it 8-2. Minnesota would add another goal in garbage time from Sheehy to make it 8-3 and that final score would hold.

Frey was solid. The offense showed it can break out against better teams than the Niagaras and UConns of the college hockey world. Jobst found the back of the net again. Laczynski continued his super freshman season as his point total is now up to 22 on the season as he had a goal and three assists. Schilkey had a goal and an assist and now has 19 points in 15 games. Gust is now in double digits scoring. The defense scored three times.

There’s not much you could have possibly asked for coming into this weekend series. The Buckeyes showed they’re no fluke against the biggest traditional titan the Big Ten has to offer. They hopefully rediscovered their old solid goalie in Frey. They’re getting scoring from everywhere you could ask. The NCAA tournament is not out of the realm of possibility for this team.

The Bucks will take much of the rest of this month off before reconvening against Miami in Columbus on New Year’s Eve. It will hopefully be a pretty nice pregame for the College Football Playoff on New Year’s Day. I hope I didn’t just jinx this whole thing.

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Ohio State football | No matter how season ends, young team beat expectations - Columbus Dispatch
via Google News using key phrase "Buckeyes".


Ohio State football | No matter how season ends, young team beat expectations
Columbus Dispatch
Few believe the Buckeyes will be left out of the playoff. If the expected happens, Ohio State will enter the semifinals assured of something else: No matter what happens on New Year's Eve, the Buckeyes' season should already be considered a success.
The Ohio State Buckeyes Are Flagrantly OverratedHuffington Post
Ohio State's likely bowl scenario: College Football PlayoffLandof10.com
Second Thoughts: Don't worry, Buckeyes are a lock for playoffsMyDaytonDailyNews
cleveland.com -ESPN -New Philadelphia Times Reporter
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Voters say Buckeyes should be out of CFP - 247Sports
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Voters say Buckeyes should be out of CFP
247Sports
During its broadcast of the SEC Championship game between Alabama and Florida, in which the Crimson Tide won 54 - 16, the announce crew made not of a poll on the 'SEC on CBS' webpage about the College Football Playoff. The question posed to fans ...

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Loving leads Buckeyes to 70-62 win over Fairleigh Dickinson
BTN.com staff via Big Ten Network

Marc Loving scored 18 points to lead Ohio State past Fairleigh Dickinson, 70-62 on Saturday. The Buckeyes improved to 7-1 with the victory.

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