LGHL Uncut Podcast: Holtmann, Okpara, Holden discuss Ohio State’s win over St. Francis
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

The Buckeyes beat the brakes off of St. Francis during the second half of Saturday’s route.

Throughout the season, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.

Listen to the episode and subscribe:

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If you missed Saturday’s game between the No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes and the St. Francis Red Flash, that’s okay, we don’t blame you. Not even 72 hours after the Duke game and amidst all kind of college football hysteria, even I nearly forgot the Buckeyes had a noon tipoff against one of the statistically worst teams in the nation.

The Buckeyes didn’t light the world on fire during the first half, carrying just an eight-point lead into halftime. But they outscored St. Francis 52-23 in the second half en route to a 96-59 win Saturday afternoon in Columbus.

Felix Okpara, who set career highs in points, rebounds, and steals, as well as scoring his first career double-double, spoke with the media about knocking down his first career three-pointer as well as what he thinks he brings to the team coming off the bench behind Zed Key. Tanner Holden discussed the team’s defensive ceiling, as well as his adjustment from the Horizon League to the Big Ten.

Holtmann discussed the stark turnaround between halves, crediting the change to better effort on the defensive end. He also spoke about Okpara’s big day, and how important it will be for Brice Sensabaugh to not let struggles on the offensive end carry over to the defensive end and vice versa.


Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor

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Game Preview: No. 4 Ohio State women’s basketball at Rutgers
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Barbara J. Perenic/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buckeyes open up the Big Ten calendar with a lunch-time away game against the Scarlet Knights

It’s been an exciting week for the Ohio State women’s basketball team. Guard Jacy Sheldon returned from an injury, fellow guard Rikki Harris played her best game of the season and Ohio State traveled to Louisville and overcame a 14-point deficit to beat the No. 18 Louisville Cardinals 97-77. To ice the cake, Big Ten play begins against a team that’s at the start of a rebuild in the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.

It has the makings of another double-digit Ohio State win, but conference play has a way of motivating teams.

Preview


Ohio State and Rutgers are on two vastly different trajectories to their season. The Buckeyes sit comfortably at 7-0, while the Scarlet Knights have a tough 4-5 record. Rutgers is a team going under extreme renovations.

It starts within the coaching staff. Legendary head coach C. Vivian Stringer, who’s being honored at Sunday’s game, led Rutgers since 1995 before retiring in March of this season. Now at the helm is former Big Ten championship-winning coach Coquese Washington.

Washington, formerly at the helm of the Penn State Nittany Lions for three conference regular season titles between 2007-2019, rejoined the head coaching ranks after being an assistant since 2019. The former Notre Dame graduate and WNBA player inherited a team with only three returners, and a lot of work to do in rebuilding the program.

An interesting thing to note about the Scarlet Knights roster is its size. Not talking about heights and wing-spans. No, the number of players. Rutgers touts an eight-player roster. Of those eight, two are freshman and three transferred into the program this season. That means there’s a lot of chemistry to build.

All three returners began the season starting all nine games. So far, the Scarlet Knights sit last in the conference in points per game (63.2), second to last in points allowed (70.8) and a statistic that’ll be most concerning for Rutgers on Sunday: turnovers.

Ohio State’s 29 average forced turnovers per game is No. 1 in the entire country. For Rutgers, with its team make-up and adjusting to the first year of a new coach, their 20.9 turnovers given up per game has the potential to add a couple points in the Buckeyes’ favor.

Even so, there’s talent on the Rutgers roster, especially at guard. Senior Awa Sidibe, a former NJCAA athlete, and freshman Kaylene Smikle are the two to watch offensively. Smikle joined Rutgers after winning Pennsylvania’s Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year award in 2021-22, and so far she hasn’t started, but she’s produced.

Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Kaylene Smikle takes a lot of shots and covers a lot of the court.

Smikle leads the Knights with 13.3 points per game, all off the bench. For Sidibe, she’s a threat in scoring and grabbing boards. Sidibe’s started the season scoring 10.8 points and securing 6.3 rebounds per game.

Projected Lineups

Lineup Notes:

• Forward Cotie McMahon’s six minutes on Wednesday is the lowest of her young freshman NCAA career for a single game.
• Five players on the Buckeyes average double figures in points per game.
• Forward Rebeka Mikulášiková, who won two Big Ten Honor Rolls this season, leads the Buckeyes with 18.1 points per game.

Lineup Notes

• Kassondra Brown began the year on the bench, but’s started the last three games for Rutgers.
• Antonia Bates is Rutgers other freshman guard who isn’t as prolific of a scorer as Smikle, but leads the team with 13 blocks.

Prediction


On paper, this looks like a game that the Buckeyes can control from the jump. Ohio State has the experience, and both times they faced teams with heavy transfers and new looks — Tennessee and Louisville — the Buckeyes came out on top.

Rutgers won’t have an answer for the Scarlet & Gray’s intense press on defense. The team who forces the most turnovers against the side who gives up the most is a recipe the Buckeye defense should enjoy.

The only way that the Buckeyes fall is if their shooting goes cold. So far this season though, Ohio State hasn’t let the opponent get in the way of the motivation to win and win big.

Forward Cotie McMahon, who sat most of the game against Louisville with head coach Kevin McGuff wanting experience on the court, could see this game as an example of what she can bring to the table. Playing only six minutes against the ranked Cardinals side is a good motivator in that department.

How to Watch


Date: Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
Where: Jersey Mikes Arena - Piscataway, New Jersey
Television: B1G Network
Stream: FOX Sports with a B1G Network subscription

LGHL Prediction: 98-63 Ohio State Buckeyes

Beats for the Unbeaten


The Buckeyes had an added bonus following their win against Louisville. Ohio’s own NBA superstar LeBron James rewarded the entire women’s basketball team this week.

James gave everyone a pair XX James shoes and scarlet and gray custome Beats by Dre headphones, with a shiny Burger King-esque crown for good measure. The future Hall of Famer also gave the team a note:


It’s say to say the ladies were excited.


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In Conversation Podcast: Ohio State is in! Previewing the playoff selections, seedings
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

The four teams are practically guaranteed at this point, but the order is not.

On Land-Grant Holy Land In Conversation, we talk to people in and around Ohio State athletics, and the sporting world at large, to bring you a different insight and perspective to the teams, athletes, and university that you love.

Listen to the episode and subscribe:

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Even before the Big Ten Championship Game kicked off last night, the four teams were essentially confirmed for the College Football Playoff. Matt Tamanini and Jordan Williams agreed that it will be Georgia at No. 1, Michigan at No. 2, and then Ohio State and TCU will jostle for the No. 3 spot.

In this special episode, the guys talk about what might come into play for the CFP committee when they decide which order the Frogs and Buckeyes will be seeded. Does avoiding a rematch put the Buckeyes in fourth? Or does giving the Dawgs the best possible draw put TCU at No. 4?

In addition, Matt and Jordan also discuss what Ryan Day, his staff, and his squad need to do in order to win their semifinal matchup — against whichever opponent they draw — and move on to the championship game. How much do the elements of revenge and surprise play into things for the Buckeyes if they match up with the Wolverines first?

After UGA beat up on LSU, why does Jordan feel so confident about Ohio State’s chances against the defending national champs? Get answers to all of these questions and more in the podcast.


Connect with Jordan Williams
Twitter: @JordanW330

Connect with Matt Tamanini
Twitter: @BWWMatt

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enjoy

No. 25 Ohio State men use explosive second half to beat St. Francis 96-59
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

The first half was underwhelming for OSU, but after halftime, the Buckeyes poured it on.

After a brief foray into power-five competition over the past two weeks, the No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes (6-2) returned home Saturday afternoon to face off with the St. Francis (PA) Red Flash (2-7) at the Schottenstein Center. St. Francis struggled last season to the tune of a 9-21 record and hasn’t exactly set the world on fire this season either, winning just two games over the first month of the season. KenPom has them as the No. 331 team in the nation (out of 363).

Ohio State, on the other hand, is coming off of a 2-2 stretch against four teams all inside KemPom’s top 75, including three teams who were ranked in the AP Poll at the time of the game. The Buckeyes secured wins over Cincinnati and Texas Tech in Maui, while losing to San Diego State on the island and falling to the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor just three days ago.

To the surprise of very few, Ohio State bounced back with a win over an extremely overmatched Red Flash squad in front of a sparse, sleepy crowd at the Schottenstein Center this afternoon. In all actuality this game was over as soon as the ball was tipped, but after some first-half frustrations, the Buckeyes turned it on down the stretch and walked away victorious, 96-59. Ohio State outscored their opponent 52-23 after the break.

Ohio State went with the same lineup they’ve been rolling with all season: Bruce Thornton, Sean McNeil, Justice Sueing, Isaac Likekele, and Zed Key. Rob Krimmel’s St. Francis squad started Marlon Hargis, Cam Gregory, Maxwell Land, Landon Moore, and Josh Cohen.

The Buckeyes overwhelmed St. Francis from the jump, blitzing the Red Flash and going up 13-4 by the first media timeout just 4:29 into the game. The Buckeyes hit six of their first eight shots, including three layups from Likekele, who hasn’t been quite the offensive force in Columbus as he was when he played for Oklahoma State. Likekele finished with eight points, five rebounds, and three assists over 25 minutes.


However, while it looked like the Buckeyes may be on their way to an all-time blowout, St. Francis did not let it get there early on. Ohio State pushed the lead to 16 points early on, but the Red Flash went on a 9-3 run from the 11:42 mark to 8:41, getting back within 10 points, 30-20. The Ohio State offense was doing its job, but the Buckeyes’ defense was letting them down on the other end against one of the worst teams in the country.

What looked like a potential blowout didn’t play out that way at all in the first half, with Ohio State taking a 44-36 lead into the break. The Buckeyes dominated the first 10 minutes or so, but St. Francis was the better team for the rest of the opening stanza. Thornton led eight Ohio State scorers with 10 points in the first half and dished out two assists with no turnovers. Cohen and Land each had 12 points in the first half for the Red Flash.

The Buckeyes extended their lead to 19 points by the under-12 media timeout of the second half, 66-47. It’s safe to assume that Holtmann had some choice words with his men in the locker room at halftime about defense, as the Red Flash came out of the halftime break and shot 38.5 (5-13) over the first eight or so minutes — as opposed to the 55% they hit during the first half.

Things really got messy over the next five minutes between the second and third media timeouts, with the Buckeyes blowing the doors off the Red Flash (finally) and making it a 24-point game by the eight-minute mark. With seven-plus minutes remaining, Holtmann was running a lineup of Sensabaugh, Roddy Gayle, Likekele, Okpara, and Kalen Etzler in mop-up minutes.


By the time the final buzzer sounded, the Buckeyes had completed a bounce-back win over St. Francis. If you weren’t around to watch Ohio State’s sixth win of the season — or forgot they played a nooner today — here are some of the key moments that led to a big Buckeye victory:

How do you break a zone?


At the first media timeout about four minutes into the game, St. Francis head coach Rob Krimmel switched his team defense to a 2-3 zone after Ohio State began the game by knocking down six of their first eight shots. As the saying goes, you can either break a zone by shooting over it or getting to the middle of it. The Buckeyes went with the former, as Brice Sensabaugh — who had just checked in for Sueing — and Bruce Thornton immediately knocked down triples for the Buckeyes right over the top of SFU’s zone defense, making it 19-9 Ohio State just over five minutes into the game.

Red Flash makes a run, cuts it to eight


Ohio State opened up a 27-11 lead after eight minutes of play and it looked like the Buckeyes were on their way to running St. Francis off the floor before halftime. But that did not happen, as St. Francis outscored Ohio State 16-8 over the next 6:18, cutting the deficit in half from 16 points to just eight.

Sensabaugh’s tough stretch


There’s been some griping and questioning from some fans early on this season as to why Sensabaugh — the team’s second-leading scorer, is not starting and instead is playing just 18 minutes per game off the bench thus far. Well, a 17-second stretch late in the first half of today’s game shined a light on why Holtmann has yet to plug the talented freshman into the starting lineup.

With Ohio State leading 38-29 and just under five minutes remaining in the first half, Sensabaugh went for an open dunk along the baseline and completely whiffed. The ball slammed on the front of the rim and St. Francis’ Brad McCabe grabbed the rebound. Sensabaugh then fouled McCabe as he turned to run up the court — his first foul.

On the ensuring SFU possession, Sensabaugh found himself guarding the 6-foot-10 Cohen — St. Francis’ leading scorer — below the basket. The junior big man turned Sensabaugh into swiss cheese, mixing him up with two pivots and easily scoring over the top of the freshman.

A tough 17-second stretch all around for Sensabaugh, who still finished with a team-high 15 points on 4-10 shooting and was 4-4 at the free throw line.

Thornton’s hot hand


The freshman point guard established himself as a steady floor general over the first few games of the season, looking like he’d been in college much longer than he actually has been. However, Thornton rarely forced shots and averaged just four shot attempts over the first three games of the season. However, since Maui, Thornton has been more aggressively hunting his own shot and making teams pay for leaving him open.

After knocking down three three-pointers against Texas Tech two games ago, Thornton matched that against the Red Flash today in just 23 minutes on the floor. His three-pointer at the 18:28 mark of the second half was his third of the day, which gave him 13 points and the Buckeyes a 49-38 lead. Thornton entered the game shooting 47.6% from distance. He finished the game with 13 points on 5-10 shooting and 3-5 from 3-point range. He also dished out those two assists and had two rebounds.

Felix wants you to hit the weight room, respectfully


Freshman center Felix Okpara — the main backup to Key — has played more than some thought he would, considering how raw his offensive game is. However, in those 13 minutes per game, Okpara has shown flashes that he can be a real difference-maker and bring some juice to the Buckeyes, especially on the defensive end.

But today Okpara did it on both ends, stealing two passes and also scoring on a possession where he missed the shot, grabbed his own rebound, missed that layup, grabbed his own rebound again, and finally scored through contact. The 6-foot-11, 220-pound freshman’s three-point play gave Ohio State a 69-47 lead with 10:37 remaining in the game.

Okpara would later connect on his first career three-pointer with 3:31 remaining in the game to give Ohio State a 91-55 lead and also gave Okpara his first career double-double. Okpara finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, two steals, and a block over 16 minutes. The points, rebounds, and steals were all career-highs for the freshman from Lagos, Nigeria.

Up Next:


No. 25 Ohio State (6-2) opens Big Ten play on Thursday, Dec. 8, welcoming the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-2) to Columbus for the first time in two seasons. Rutgers recently lost to Miami in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, and will tangle with No. 10 Indiana later this afternoon. The game will tip off at 7 p.m. E.T. and will be broadcast on ESPN2.

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enjoy.thank utah

Might as well setup a game thread!

Ohio State has likely made the College Football Playoff, and the internet is mad about it
Gene Ross via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images

Don’t be like Dan.


Ohio State was given an early Christmas present on Friday night when the Utah Utes trounced USC in the Pac-12 Championship Game by a final of 47-24. Lincoln Riley’s Trojans led 17-3 early in the second quarter and looked to be en route to a dominant victory that would easily lock up their spot in the College Football Playoff. Instead, Caleb Williams got banged up, and Utah would go on to outscore USC 44-7 the rest of the way. Now with two losses and no conference title to show for it, the Trojans will almost certainly be booted from the top four in favor of the Buckeyes in Sunday’s final rankings.

Of course, the timeline was immediately flooded with Ohio State fans thrilled that their team would now get a chance for redemption. On the flip side, there were also more than a fair share of Grinches upset that the Buckeyes will backdoor their way into the CFP after their showing against Michigan their last time out. While I understand the frustrations there, I am here to tell those people that they are mad at the wrong things.

The biggest complaint I've seen by annoying national media folk like Dan Wolken is that USC is being punished for playing an addition game against a highly-ranked opponent while Ohio State got to take the week off. On paper, this may seem true, but in this specific case there is more than meets the eye.

A quick look at USC’s resume and you will find that the Trojans were lucky to even be here in the first place. Their regular season schedule — one which saw them avoid both Oregon and Washington in-conference — doesn’t have a single ranked win until the last two weeks of the regular season, where they scored a three-point victory over UCLA (17th in the latest CFP rankings) and an 11-point win over Notre Dame (21st). They also had a previous loss to Utah (at the time 20th, now 11th) on the road, and several wins by one score to lesser opponents (Oregon State, Arizona and Cal) — although the Beavers went on to finish the season ranked as well (15th).

Let’s compare that to Ohio State. The Buckeyes feature an identical 11-point win over Notre Dame as the Trojans do, but add a 13-point victory over a Penn State team that is currently ranked No. 8 in the country. While the rest of their schedule isn’t exactly a murderers row, they took care of business in beating every team in their path by double-digits leading into the Michigan game. Their only loss, albeit a bad one, was to the current No. 2 team in the nation in the final contest of the regular season.

What about how these two teams actually stacked up on the field? Well, for all the hype about Lincoln Riley’s high-flying offense led by Caleb Williams, USC sits just one spot ahead of Ohio State nationally with the 5th-ranked total offense (499.8 YPG) to the Buckeyes’ 6th (492.7). OSU, in fact, is better in scoring offense, ranking 2nd in the country (44.5 PPG) ahead of USC two spots behind (41.1). Defensively, there is no competition. The Trojans were one of the worst defensive units in all of FBS, ranking 102nd overall allowing 415.1 yards per game. Ohio State, conversely, ranks 12th, allowing 303.9 yards per game.

So, it was arguably Ohio State who had the better resume heading into championship weekend. If USC had avenged their loss over Utah and won the Pac-12, they would be unequivocally ahead of the Buckeyes on Sunday. Instead, the Trojans failed to add that final bullet point to surpass OSU. This is not them being punished for playing an additional tough game, and those that are looking at it that way are seeing it from the wrong angle. This was USC’s chance to prove that they belonged in the CFP and that they weren’t just turnover luck merchants with a flashy QB. They didn’t get the job done.

Now, is there a chance that Ohio State gets blown out by Georgia in the first round if everything else goes according to plan? Absolutely! I still have zero faith in Ryan Day to adequately prepare his team for a big game and not shit his pants with awful play calls when times get tough. That being said, you should be mad at the system, not at the Buckeyes. There is simply no other team that has put itself in position to take that No. 4 spot, unless you want to reward a two-loss Alabama team without a single impressive win on the year. If roles were reversed, I bet you wouldn’t see as many people pining against the Tide to make the College Football Playoff.

At the end of the day, we won’t have to worry about any of this stuff once the College Football Playoff field expands to 12 teams in the not-so-distant future, so there’s really no use in getting worked up about it. Ohio State will either get a chance to knock off the defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs or a shot to avenge its loss against Michigan — or perhaps both, if things break the right way! What they do with this opportunity remains to be seen, but as things stand the Buckeyes are the only team in the country with a real argument for that final spot.

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LGHL Asks: Do Ohio State fans want the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

I imagine some of these answers would be different following USC’s loss last night.

Well, well, well. My how the tables have turned thanks to the result of one game... no, not The Game. I’m talking about last night’s result in the Pac-12 Championship that saw the Utah Utes demolish the USC Trojans 47-24 in a game that essentially secures the Ohio State Buckeyes a slot in the College Football Playoff.

For the first time since the opening drive of last Saturday’s game, it felt as if all of Buckeye Nation was happy and celebrating their good fortune. While there are certainly those who (at least earlier in the week) do not want to see their favorite team in the playoff, as you will see below, it felt as though the fandom was the collective loved one of a condemned man who had just been given a reprieve.

While just five days ago, we were consumed with gloom and despair, we are all now optimistic about the future and quickly convincing ourselves that every single one of the complaints we had earlier this week will be magically resolved by New Year’s Eve.

So, although circumstances have clearly changed since this survey went out into the field, we asked Ohio State fans three burning questions about how they were feeling about things mid-week, so let’s take a look at the responses.

Question 1: If you could magically change one aspect of OSU’s on-field performance, what would it be?



I’m not going to lie, I thought that the offensive line answer would be a much more popular choice. I’m not surprised that lockdown corners won — because I think that is clearly the most glaring need for this team — I thought that given the affection for a traditional power running game amongst our fanbase that it would be much higher than 16%.

Nonetheless, after the loss to Michigan last weekend, I wrote that fixing the cornerback position through high school recruiting and the transfer portal was one of the most important jobs that Ryan Day and his staff had to address.


There were not enough scholarship cornerbacks on the roster when the season began and that was only exacerbated by a seemingly never-ending litany of injuries to the guys who were in that room.

But that third option is the one that I think will be the easiest to turn around quickly. While some of the injuries likely won’t be 100% by the time the CFP semis roll around, I do think that some of the key contributors will be closer to full strength. If OSU can get TreVeyon Henderson, Miyan Williams, and maybe even Jaxon Smith-Njigba, back healthy that will be an absolutely huge addition to their chances of winning it all.

Question 2: Do you still want Ohio State to make the College Football Playoff?



One-third of respondents to this question said that they did not want the Buckeyes to make the playoff, and I don’t think that I can fault them. I never want to tell anyone how to be a fan, but I, for one, am really excited about the Buckeyes’ opportunity to not only compete for a national title, but to redeem themselves in the eyes of the fans, national media, and even themselves.


Very few things are as dangerous as a talented team that has been written off and left for dead. I still think that there is a lot that Day and his coaches need to remedy before the semifinal matchup, but I think that this team is clearly talented enough to beat anyone that they line up against.

Question 3: How much more or less optimistic about the future of the Ohio State football program are you now than last week?



I imagine that this would be a bit different if we asked this question today instead of Wednesday, but clearly, coming off of the loss to Michigan, there was reason to be less optimistic than you were before. However, new life can be a rejuvenating thing. What once felt like a desperate, demoralizing situation can feel like an unbelievable opportunity when circumstances change.

Ohio State will be in the College Football Playoff, and I certainly am not going to bet against them.

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Big Ten conference basketball returns! Women’s basketball power rankings for the first week of B1G action
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Twitter | @OhioStateWBB

With almost four weeks of the season done and conference play at the forefront, how do the teams rank?

Standings are great. They crown champions and separate the most successful teams from the cellar dwellers. Power rankings are different. They try to find which team is the best, which is something game-in and game-out schedules can hide with upsets and slip-ups.

After over three weeks of the season, its time to decide which Big Ten women’s basketball team is the best. Unlike polls that start from the preseason, these rankings start after teams have already taken the court and start to show what they’re all about, to avoid any No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers preseason situations as they now sit outside of the top 25.

Without further ado, here’s how the teams rank so far.

1 - Indiana Hoosiers

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 at Illinois


The Indiana Hoosiers are one of three teams in the conference heading into Big Ten play with a perfect record. It’s not only the perfection of their 8-0 start, but who they’ve beaten.

While beating the Tennessee Volunteers doesn’t look like as big of a feat in hindsight, their ACC/B1G win against No. 6 North Carolina — a start-to-finish dominating 87-63 result — is made even more impressive with guard Grace Berger watching the win on crutches from the bench.

2 - Ohio State Buckeyes

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 at Rutgers


It’s undeniable that the Ohio State Buckeyes are off to a fantastic start to the season. If there could be a 1A and 1B in the power rankings, the Scarlet & Gray would be up there too, but the tiebreaker is the ranked wins.

Sure, Ohio State has great wins against Tennessee and No. 18 Louisville Cardinals, but both of those teams are not at the same levels as they’ve been in recent history. They’re both loaded with talent, but the experience of the Buckeyes have put both teams with relatively new chemistry forming into a chokehold in 40-minute games.

3 - Michigan Wolverines

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 vs. Northwestern


It seems like an easy pick to put the Michigan Wolverines in at three because they’re the third team with no losses on their record, but a reason they’re up here is because of slip-ups from some other conference powers and one big win.

The Wolverines haven’t had a tough non-conference schedule, starting a bit lighter than usual with center Haz Hillmon now in the WNBA with the Atlanta Dream. However, their win against No. 21 Baylor Bears gives them an edge. Forward Emily Kiser’s point average shot up to 20.1 this season after last year’s career high of 9.3 points per game, making the Hillmon departure not nearly as big of a storyline.

4 - Maryland Terrapins

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 vs. Nebraska


Outstanding guard Diamond Miller is the reason the Maryland Terrapins are competing this season, and why they’re at four on the list.

Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

After some stumbles, although losing to the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks is hardly a shock, Miller is healthy again and leading the Terrapins into a surprisingly good season with two stars transferring out in the offseason.

Thursday, Miller hit the game-winning buzzer-beater to defeat the No. 7 Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 74-72. They’re a scary team for anyone in the Big Ten to face, as long as Miller stays healthy.

5 - Iowa Hawkeyes

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 at Wisconsin


A lot about what’s said of Miller above could apply to Naismith Player of the Year finalist Caitlin Clark. In the Iowa Hawkeyes game against the NC State Wolfpack, Clark scored 45 points — a season-high for an individual scoring performance so far in the early NCAA season. The difference between the two? Iowa lost, and it wasn’t close.

NC State came to Iowa and handed the Clarkeyes a 94-81 defeat. Iowa started the year as a No. 4 seed, but the challenges they’ve placed in front of them this year have all gone against them. Losing to No. 3 UConn in a close game isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but losing to Kansas State isn’t great.

Their best win this year is an away game against the Drake Bulldogs, where it took overtime to beat the unranked side.

6 - Purdue Boilermakers

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 5 at Michigan State


The only tarnish on the Purdue Boilermakers schedule this season is a loss to Florida State, which isn’t much of a tarnish at all. They also haven’t exactly challenged themselves.

Their win against the Syracuse Orange on Wednesday was convincing, but games against the Michigan State Spartans and No. 20 Maryland Terrapins will show a lot more of what this year’s team is about.

7 - Illinois Fighting Illini

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 at No. 5 Indiana


Illinois has created an extra favorable schedule for themselves, including a 100-point win against the same McNeese Cowgirls the Buckeyes put up 99 points on. Until the ACC/B1G Challenge, there wasn’t a sign that this team was going to compete once bigger names arrived on the schedule, especially after losing to the University of Delaware at the Daytona Beach Invitational.

Then, on Wednesday, the Illini put up a 21-point win over the Pitt Panthers. Pitt isn’t the stiffest competition in the ACC, but the win shows that maybe Illinois is better than expected?

8 - Minnesota Golden Gophers

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 3 vs. Penn State


The beginning of the season was exciting for the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They had a last-second win against Lehigh University, and came within three points of beating the Virginia Cavaliers on the ACC side’s home court.

One reason is their two freshman standouts in Mara Braun and forward Mallory Heyer. Braun hit a buzzer-beating three against Lehigh and leads the team in scoring with 19.7 points per game. Hayer won B1G Freshman of the Week, averaging nine points and six rebounds per game.

Twitter | @GopherWBB
Guard Mara Braun (10) during her 26-point performance against Wake Forest.

If those two stay consistent in their first years, they’ll be a fun and interesting team to watch.

9 - Penn State Nittany Lions

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 3 at Minnesota


The Penn State Nittany Lions are in an opposite situation from Illinois in the first power rankings. Guard Makenna Marisa and the Lions would be higher up this list if not for the ACC/B1G Challenge.

On Nov. 21, Penn State came back for the second largest comeback win in conference history, and largest in program history, when they beat Syracuse after being down by 21 points.

Wednesday, they faced an unranked but undefeated Virginia Cavaliers side in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions were beaten comfortably, and only scored seven points in the first quarter. A single loss doesn’t ruin a season, but it looked a lot like Penn State games over the last couple seasons.

10 - Michigan State Spartans

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 5 vs. Purdue


The Michigan State Spartans had a lot they had to make up this season, highlighted by someone on the Spartans’ beat prior to the season’s tip. The Spartans had six comfortable wins against some smaller teams, but once ranked sides showed up its been a different story.

Sparty is on a three-game losing streak, falling comfortably to the Iowa Cyclones and getting edged by the Oregon Ducks. At the last ACC/B1G Challenge, they fell to Georgia Tech. Losing guard Nia Clouden and forward Tamara Farquhar in the offseason has created a big hole that will take time to fill.

11 - Nebraska Cornhuskers

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 at Maryland


Last season, the Nebraska Cornhuskers were the surprise team in the conference. That let them not surprise many people this season, entering ranked No. 22 in the preseason AP poll.

This season, Nebraska’s struggled. A no good, very bad week saw the Cornhuskers on the wrong side of a 77-51 defeat to the No. 20 Creighton Bluejays, and then losing to the Drake Bulldogs by 18 points four days later.

The duo of center Alexis Markowski and guard Jaz Shelley hasn’t been enough to compete against top sides. Against the No. 9-ranked Virginia Tech Hokies, Shelley had six assists but only four points in a lopsided 85-54 defeat.

12 - Northwestern Wildcats

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 at No. 17 Michigan


Nearing the end of the rankings are the Northwestern Wildcats. Northwestern lost their two lone ranked games by 53 and 34 points against the Oregon Ducks and Notre Dame, respectively.

Forward Veronica Burton, a three-time B1G Defensive Player of the Year, isn’t replaceable, and its showing this season.

13 - Wisconsin Badgers

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 vs. No. 10 Iowa


Sitting near the bottom of the power rankings — and last in the standings — this season in the Big Ten are the Wisconsin Badgers. At 3-6 thus far, the Badgers are scoring more than years past, but are also allowing more scoring from opponents.

They might not be last for long, with a possible momentum-building five-point defeat against Florida State in the ACC/B1G Challenge.

14 - Rutgers Scarlet Knights

Last Week: N/A
Upcoming B1G Games: Dec. 4 vs. No. 4 Ohio State


When Rutgers announced they’d have an eight-player team this season, it brought up a lot of questions and intrigue. The answers haven’t gone the Scarlet Knight’s way.

To be fair, they’ve packed nine games into their early season schedule, including the Tennessee Volunteers and Texas Longhorns, but they lost both of them handedly. Against Boston College this week, they lost by 14 points and now have to face the Buckeyes, who beat the same BC Eagles by 18.

Twitter | @RutgersWBB
Can Rutgers turn their season around in conference play?

Things get easier for Rutgers from there, not playing another ranked team after the Buckeyes until Jan. 2 against Maryland, but they’re currently at a -5 turnover margin and giving up 20.9 possessions a game. Not a great time to welcome the team with the highest turnover margin in the NCAA to New Jersey this weekend.

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Ohio State men’s basketball vs St. Francis: Game preview and prediction
Meredith Hein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Zach Bolinger/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Buckeyes look to bounce back after a narrow loss to Duke before their first conference game of the season.

After stumbling on the road earlier this week, the No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes men’s basketball team looks to bounce back today against St. Francis PA before moving on to their first conference game of the season.

The Buckeyes return home after falling to No. 17 Duke in Durham 81-72 Wednesday in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. After being up early and keeping things close in the first half, Ohio State fell behind shortly after the break by as many as 13 points.

But then came the comeback late in the game, with the Buckeyes showing gritty effort to pull within five with just minutes left in the second half. In fact, the Buckeyes outscored Duke 43-42 in the second half. Unfortunately, Chris Holtmann’s squad couldn’t quite pull off the magic of last season when the Buckeyes beat the top-ranked Blue Devils.

Ohio State shot 47% from the field, but an abysmal 23% from range. Junior forward Zed Key led the Buckeyes in scoring with 21 points on the night, most of which came in the second half with Key sitting some in the first half with foul trouble. Key added a team-high eight rebounds on the evening.

Seniors Sean McNeil and Justice Sueing had 14 and 12 points, respectively, while freshman guard Bruce Thornton continued his strong early season run with 11 points on the night. Ohio State had just nine points from the bench. In particular, freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh struggled, really, for the first time this season, putting up just four points after averaging double figures in his first six games.

Fouls were also an issue for the Buckeyes against Duke. Ohio State gave up 25 personal fouls and Duke was most unfortunately quite reliable from the free throw line, connecting on 26-of-30 attempts. However, the physical play also meant a fairly even match on rebounds, with Duke pulling in 34 to the Buckeyes’ 31.

Turnovers, however, were an issue that couldn’t be explained away. Ohio State had 16 turnovers (the season high was 17 against Eastern Illinois). It was a disappointing performance in that area considering the Buckeyes had averaged eight over the preceding three-game stretch.

While no losses are good, this loss looks less bad than others and shouldn’t break Ohio State’s momentum moving into the December schedule. The Buckeyes posted impressive wins over Cincinnati and a ranked Texas Tech after losing to No. 17 San Diego State in Maui over Thanksgiving week.

Now, Ohio State looks to bounce back and work out the kinks in its final matchup before conference play begins against Rutgers next week. Fortunately, the Buckeyes will have a shot against a 2-6 St. Francis team.

Preview


The Buckeyes’ opponent for this afternoon comes from the Northeast Conference and has had a notable history on the hardcourt, including alumni Norm Van Lier, a Chicago Bulls great from the 1970s.

More recently (this season), the St. Francis Red Flash are 2-6 with wins over Hartford and Franciscan. However, the Red Flash have hung around in many of their games. Against Butler, St. Francis was within two late in the first half before the Bulldogs pulled away for a 95-67 win.

The Red Flash are losers of their last two games. In their last outing, the squad fell to Bucknell in similar fashion. After pulling within three points in the second half, Bucknell outpaced St. Francis for an 89-65 win.

Despite shooting just 39% from the field against Bucknell, the Red Flash were respectable from range, connecting on 11-of-29 three-point attempts (38%). However, they missed two-thirds of their free-throw attempts and had 13 turnovers. Bucknell also out-rebounded St. Francis by a 43-28 margin.

In that game, junior forward Josh Cohen led the Red Flash in scoring with 18 points on the night. Junior guard Brad McCabe was the only other St. Francis player in double figures, adding a dozen points off the bench.

For the second-straight year, Cohen leads the Red Flash in scoring on the season, averaging more than 20 points per game. He’s also had a team-high 6.8 rebounds per game. Shooting 67% from the field, Cohen has scored in double figures every game this season. Though not an outside threat at all (he hasn’t attempted a three-pointer since the opening game of St. Francis’ 2020-21 campaign), the 6-foot-10 forward has made himself a consistent threat in the paint.

Beyond Cohen, the Red Flash lost their second and third-leading scorers from their 2021-22 campaign. However, junior guard Maxwell Land, who averaged 11 points per game last season, is putting up 13 points and six rebounds per game this year. Freshman guard Landon Moore has also been a bright newcomer for the squad, putting up 12 points per game.

The Red Flash are led by Robby Krimmel, an alumni of St. Francis who played point guard for the Red Flash from 1996-2000. He’s amassed a 136-176 record at St. Francis since taking the helm in 2012, though his in-conference record is close to 0.500. While the Red Flash have never made the NCAA Tournament under Krimmel (or generally since 1991), they did win a regular season title in 2019 which also earned Krimmel conference coach of the year honors.

Prediction


The Buckeyes have had an edge since leaving Columbus for Maui, playing exciting basketball despite their most recent loss to Duke on the road. Ohio State hasn’t played in Columbus since November 16, when the Buckeyes defeated Eastern Illinois 65-43. Overall, Ohio State is 3-0 this season. Ohio State has also not entertained the non-elite schedule the way it has in the past, putting opponents away early during its homestand. This afternoon’s matchup would seem to fall in a similar vein.

Still, this game is an opportunity for the Buckeyes. While the loss to Duke was not a devastating blowout, it did expose some areas Ohio State must fine tune ahead of what’s always a brutal conference schedule. That schedule happens to start next week against Rutgers before taking a hiatus until January.

In particular, turnovers remain an issue in the early going of the season. Ohio State is averaging 12 per game, good for 95th in the NCAA. Worse, the Buckeyes’ assist-to-turnover ratio is an abysmal 0.94, which is 231st in the NCAA. With a lot of new faces and roles on the team, it makes sense that it could take a minute to gel and boost the assist game, but that has to get solved by conference play.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, St. Francis is in a similar boat with turnovers, coughing the ball up 13 times per game (though with 15 assists).

Ohio State will also need to get its fouls in check. As mentioned, fouls were also a problem against Duke, with three players fouling out and 25 total team fouls that sent a very good free throw shooting team to the line in a narrow game. Most notably, Sensabaugh fouled out having played just 14 minutes Wednesday. Holtmann will likely try to reincorporate Sensabaugh, who is the second-leading scorer on Ohio State behind Sueing, after he was stymied with just four points against the Blue Devils.

This afternoon, Ohio State will also face an opponent who has some sticking ability and a veteran leader who can score down low. It’ll be a good test for Chris Holtmann’s defense.

Still, things are looking up for the Buckeyes with a team that’s come together really well through seven games. Ohio State will need to shake off the loss to Duke and channel that energy into building on its early season momentum this afternoon.

ESPN BPI: Ohio State 97.9%
Time: 12 p.m. ET
TV: BTN

LGHL score prediction: Ohio State 81, St. Francis 62

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Ask LGHL: Should Ohio State fans want the Buckeyes to make the College Football Playoff?
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Unlike 2018, I really want to see the Buckeyes make the playoff, despite a disappointing regular season finale.

Based just on our Twitter mentions, I know that this is a question that folks have very differing opinions on, and honestly, I think that there are all wholly valid. Even though the No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes came into their regular season finale undefeated, the road getting there was still incredibly fraught, and the fraughtness only escalated to 11 after getting beat by Michigan for the second year in a row.

However, despite a maddening loss to their rivals, the Buckeyes are still very much alive for a berth into the College Football Playoff. Their easiest path would be for the Utah Utes to beat the USC Trojans in the Pac-12 Championship Game tonight on FOX at 8 p.m. ET. If the Men of Troy do win, the Buckeyes will still have a chance if the Kansas State Wildcats can beat the TCU Horned Frogs in Saturday’s Big 12 title game at 12 noon ET.

But the question for many Buckeye fans is, do you want to see Ohio State make the playoff after obviously being a less-than-complete team with glaring issues that we have covered ad nauseam over the course of the past week?

Thinking about this reminds me of a somewhat similar situation four years ago. In 2018, the final season under former head coach Urban Meyer, the Buckeyes were a pretty poor defensive team that lost to an unranked Purdue squad 49-20 and needed to avoid a two-point conversion in overtime to survive at Maryland 52-51.

Following OSU’s 45-24 win over Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship Game, I wrote — much to the consternation of many OSU fans — about the fact that I would prefer not to see the Buckeyes make the CFP because I thought that the Buckeyes were significantly behind the top teams in the country — Alabama and Clemson — and I was worried that having a repeat of OSU’s 2016 semifinal, Fiesta Bowl beatdown to Clemson could have a significantly negative impact on the program.


Now, I believe wholeheartedly in not trying to tell other people how to be a fan, but for me, I am in a completely different mindset heading into Championship Weekend. With all of my heart (and maybe 50% of my brain), I want Ryan Day and his team to have a go at the title this season.

There are some cynical arguments that I imagine some folks could have about another loss — especially to Jim Harbaugh — could hasten a move to replace the OSU head coach, but that is absolutely no part of my rationale here. Instead, I look at the landscape in college football and I do not believe that there is a dominant team in the bunch, and every team capable of making the CFP is substantially flawed. The Buckeyes might be amongst the most flawed, but there is no team that I am terrified for them to play, especially if you remove the names from the jerseys.

Obviously, there are emotional reasons to be worried about a rematch with the Wolverines, but I did not come out of that game thinking that they were an unbeatable team. It was essentially neck-and-neck through three quarters and in the final frame, the home team lost the plot and the coaches essentially forgot what their team was actually good at.

Do I feel confident that the coaches could turn around a better performance in the playoffs against Michigan, Georgia, USC, or TCU? Absolutely not, but I think it is certainly possible.

I still believe that the Buckeyes are the most talented team in contention for a CFP berth, and most of their issues this season, in my opinion, have been due to injuries and borderline coaching malfeasance. Of course, the players aren’t without blame, as they are the ones on the field, but you expect college players to make mistakes — sometimes major ones — that’s part of the sport. But, in my humble blogger-brain opinion, it has been the coaching staff, especially Day, who has been the biggest disappointment of the season.

I have written extensively about my belief that the head coach is long overdue to give up playcalling, but I also think that his insistence on proving the 2021 postgame comments from Harbaugh and former Michigan offensive coordinator wrong was just as damaging.


Day wanted to make his team into a “tough” power-running team, despite the fact that he had constructed it so it shared more DNA with an air-raid unit than a traditional Woody Hayes three-yards-in-a-cloud-of-dust attack. I think that also trickled over to the defensive side of the ball by giving overmatched cornerbacks a chance to “man up” and play one-on-one on the outside, often to disastrous results.

However, maybe this is just wishful thinking or outright fandom foolishness, but after what we saw last weekend, given the opportunity to fix those mistakes, they have to have seen the light, right? There’s no way that Day will continue to avoid targeting the best wide receiver in the country in the second half of a game, right? There’s no way that he will favor a running back who was a linebacker at the start of November over a guy who was coming off of an impressive 100-yard performance the previous week, right? There’s no way that defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will continue to put his CBs on an island for average opposing quarterbacks to pick apart like they were high schoolers, right?

Who knows? Maybe I am giving them far too much credit, but I have to believe that given a chance at immediate redemption, this staff — especially with time to hopefully get a lineup as close to 100% healthy as possible — will do something different to put the team in a better chance to win the game, and a title.

Even if the coaches put together a perfect game plan and the injured players are all back healthy, that obviously doesn’t guarantee that the Buckeyes will win one game, let alone two. But, given the fact that the road through the playoffs is as open as it has been in recent memory, that is a risk that I, as a humble fan with literally zero impact on the on-field result, am willing to take.

I know that Twitter will be even more of the absolute hellscape that it already is should Ohio State lose to Michigan for the second time in the span of two or three games, but given what I think we know about this team and this season, I believe it is worth the risk. So, I am going all in on rooting for the Utes and Wildcats this weekend! Join me if you want, but I will completely understand if you’d prefer the Buckeyes on the outside looking in come Selection Sunday.

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Play Like a Girl Podcast: Update on Ohio State women’s hoops with Thomas Costello
Meredith Hein via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Plus, previewing what could be the Big Ten’s best field of women’s basketball teams...ever?

On LGHL’s Play Like a Girl podcast, the team talks everything from Ohio State sports to advocacy for women in sports and all the happenings in between.

Check out the podcast below, and make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts:


Welcome back! This week, LGHL’s women’s hoops expert, Thomas Costello, joins the pod to share his thoughts on Ohio State women’s basketball, including the tremendous start the team has had to start the season that propelled the Buckeyes to No. 4 in the latest AP Poll. The pair discuss:

• The impact of Jacy Sheldon
• Surprising newcomers (and veterans who’ve stepped up)
• How other teams in the Big Ten are looking (cough, Iowa)
• Any hope for the conference to win the NCAA Tournament next spring

Plus, Thomas and Meredith review how Team Dog and Team Cat did in the last week of the regular season and share picks for the College Football Playoff.


Contact Thomas Costello
Twitter: @1ThomasCostello

Contact Meredith Hein
Twitter: @MeredithHein

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You’re Nuts: What should replace the Big Ten/ACC challenge?
justingolba via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

After 23 years, the iconic challenge has gone the way of the dinosaurs.

We are now officially a month into the college basketball season, and the Ohio State men’s team is 5-2 heading into the second month of non-conference play (although they play Rutgers next week, too).

It has been an interesting two weeks for the Buckeyes, as they have participated in the Maui Invitational and took on Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The Buckeyes finished the tough four-game stretch at 2-2, and looked incredibly promising at times.

The Duke game was part of the iconic Big Ten/ACC challenge, an event in which the Buckeyes defeated the top ranked Blue Devils in Columbus last season. The ACC won the challenge 8-6 this season.


To recap last week, in honor of the Michigan game (pain), we debated our favorite Ohio State-Michigan moments on the hardwood. In a landslide, Justin’s pick of Evan Turner’s half court buzzer beater in the 2010 Big Ten tournament took the win, getting 76 percent of the vote. “Other” got 18 percent of the vote, and Connor’s pick of Kyle Young’s ripped jersey game in early 2020 got six percent of the vote.



Here are the updated standings.

After 77 weeks:

Connor- 33
Justin- 31
Other- 9

(There have been four ties)


This week, in honor of the end of the Big Ten/ACC challenge, we are going to be debating what we think the Big Ten should replace the challenge with. The ACC will be now doing a challenge with the SEC, and the Big Ten already has the Gavitt Games with the Big East.

Ohio State finishes 10-12 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC challenge, and went 1-1 against Duke these last two seasons. Purdue finishes as the only Big Ten team with a winning record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Today’s question: What should replace the Big Ten/ACC challenge?

Connor: Regional rivalry week

Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

It seems very unlikely that the Big Ten will create any kind of “challenge” with another conference next season, mostly because the most likely candidate — the PAC-12 — is on the other side of the country. So if the Big Ten doesn’t pick a new partner to battle it out with every season, why not ensure that every school plays a game against one of its in-state rivals?

Basketball fans all have one thing in common — they all think their team is the best in the state. Look at Ohio, where Dayton fans have laid claim to being the best program in the state ever since beating Ohio State in the 2014 NCAA Tournament. Ohio State fans, on the other hand, have a pretty strong case that it’s the Buckeyes who are the most successful college basketball team in the state of Ohio.

This rivalry isn’t unique to Ohio. There’s a good inter-state rivalry in pretty much every state. Typically, this sense of competition burns between a mid-major like Dayton and a traditional power five like OSU, but that’s not always the case. Look at New Jersey, where Rutgers and Seton Hall have grown into rivals at close proximity. Rutgers plays in the Big Ten, while Seton Hall competes in the Big East. Both are successful programs which have garnered attention on the national stage over the past decade.

Now, this wouldn’t operate like the Big Ten-ACC Challenge or the Gavitt Games or anything of the sort. There wouldn’t be a “score” kept, but each individual fanbase would have the opportunity to see their team play one of their inter-state rivals once per season. Ideally, this would be on a rolling basis so that different teams would get to take a crack at the big dog in that state. For example: Ohio State plays Dayton in 2023, Xavier in 2024, Toledo in 2025, and Wright State in 2026.

Here’s one example per school of what this could hypothetically look like for each team:

• Rutgers - Monmouth
• Ohio State - Dayton
• Michigan - Central Michigan
• Michigan State - Eastern Michigan
• Iowa - Drake
• Illinois - Loyola Chicago
• Indiana - Butler
• Minnesota - UM-Duluth (there are no other D-I programs in Minnesota)
• Penn State - Temple
• Maryland - Towson
• Nebraska - Creighton
• Wisconsin - Marquette
• Northwestern - DePaul
• Purdue - Notre Dame

Justin: Big Ten/MAC challenge

Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images

I said this on the podcast this week as a joke, and then I started to think about it and I actually think it could be an incredible slate. The one caveat I will give to that is I don’t know if there are any TV rights or anything that could impact this, so I am just throwing this out there as an idea and nothing more.

We all know that the MAC is competitive in basketball against some of the top teams and programs in the country. Michigan has already struggled with Ohio and Eastern Michigan, Kent State had Houston on the ropes and last season, it took a last second bucket for the Buckeyes to take down the Akron Zips in their opening game of the season, who ended up playing UCLA tough in the NCAA Tournament.

Buffalo and Toledo have been incredibly strong programs over the past four and five seasons, and Ohio has beat Virginia recently.

Some people might ask, why would the Big Ten do this? What is the benefit to them? Well the simple answer is most of the Big Ten schools play MAC schools through the season anyway, so might as well make it a challenge.

I like and its entertaining. That is my argument.

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Three Things To Watch during the Conference Championships
CMinnich via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Ohio State fans are bystanders during this weekend’s action.

“For a driver to be driven by somebody else is always an ordeal, for there are only three types of drivers; the too fast, the timid and oneself.” ~ Virginia Graham

Virginia Graham was an American talk-show host from the 1950s through the 1970s. While Ms. Graham was well-educated and well-spoken, I feel comfortable that Ms. Graham was not necessarily thinking about college football when she made the above statement, but it certainly applies to Ohio State fans as we collectively approach the conference championship weekend as interested observers.

The collective autopsies on Ohio State’s grisly defeat last week are all available for anyone to peruse. The unfortunate reality is now Ohio State’s coaches, players, and fans must all await to see what bowl game destination awaits the Buckeyes after this weekend.

Below are Three Things To Watch during the Conference Championships...

1. The Pac-12 Championship (Utah vs. USC) on FOX at 8 p.m. ET

Every Ohio State fan has this one down cold — if Utah can defeat USC, perhaps Ohio State can move up from the currently slotted 5th spot into the 4th spot that USC has, and the Buckeyes would earn a College Football Playoff berth. USC presently sits as a -2.5 favorite.

Utah did defeat USC by one point at home on Oct. 15, 43-42. And this is the kind of game that could favor the superior defensive team, as Utah is only giving up an average of 20 points per game.

Before Ohio State fans ask the obvious rhetorical question of “What is a Ute?!?”, here are some things to remember — 1) USC quarterback Caleb Williams is now the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, so do not be surprised if Williams makes several spectacular throws in this effort, and 2) USC has Alex Grinch as their defensive coordinator. If that name does not ring a bell, just fire up the old YouTube machine for some 2018 Ohio State clips, and you will feel better about Utah’s ability to put points on the board against the Trojans.

This has all the feels of a shoot-out, so Friday night could get interesting.

2. The Big 12 Championship (Kansas State vs. TCU) on ABC, Saturday at 12 p.m. ET

Here is the other possible domino to fall that could impact Ohio State. TCU sits 3rd in The College Football Playoff rankings, and the same logic about USC applies here — perhaps if TCU loses, Ohio State moves up into the 4th spot. Also like USC, TCU is a -2.5 favorite by the oddsmakers.

The problem with that is twofold. For one thing, TCU would have only one loss, the same as Ohio State. Would the College Football Playoff committee punish the Horned Frogs for losing their conference championship game, while the Buckeyes did not even qualify for their conference championship game?

And another problem, TCU defeated Kansas State more decisively than Utah beat USC, as the Horned Frogs rallied past the Wildcats back on Oct. 22, 38-28. Will Kansas State have enough to take TCU on this bigger stage?

3. The B1G Championship (Purdue vs. Michigan) on FOX, Saturday at 8 p.m. ET

“That Team Up North” is favored by 17 points, and should be able to win this game comfortably. Wouldn’t it be something if the Boilermakers trip up the Wolverines? Purdue would get the Rose Bowl trip it so desperately wants, and then the Wolverines would slide down in the rankings.

Don’t laugh, stranger things have happened in conference championship games. I can vividly recall Kansas State upsetting Oklahoma in the 2003 Big 12 Championship, and how that created chaos and controversy for the BCS Championship. Do I believe that will happen on Saturday night? No, but if it does, Ohio State fans may be reflecting upon that quote from Virginia Graham when it comes to the Buckeyes’ postseason destination.

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Column: The sky is not falling on Ohio State football, the Buckeyes have just spoiled you
Josh Dooley via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Buckeyes’ most recent loss to TTUN was a heartbreaker, but if you are still upset about “only” having an inarguable top-5 CFB program, maybe it’s time to switch your allegiance to the Harlem Globetrotters.

You can’t win ‘em all, folks. Such is the reality of college football, competition in general, and life as a whole. Ohio State and Buckeye Nation found out the hard way this past Saturday, as the football team was stuffed in a locker by their arch rival.

But guess what? It’s not over. Just like it was not over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor! The Buckeyes still have a chance to back their way into a College Football Playoff appearance and exercise a few demons. And if they don’t, well, life goes on. And OSU will likely be right back in the hunt again... and again... and again.

120+ schools and teams in college football would give anything to be in the same enviable position, so maybe we as fans of the scarlet and gray should take a chill pill. I hear they can be quite helpful during the holiday season.


Now, I am not trying to make excuses for Ohio State and in particular, Ryan Day. The Buckeyes were out-coached, under-prepared, and failed to adjust accordingly. Then, when cheeks got especially tight, the team lost its composure.

I say these things with confidence because the Buckeyes are/were the more talented team, and they still lost. And no, I do not need to be reminded that J.J. McCarthy and Donovan Edwards exist and were five-star recruits in their own right. OSU has a roster full of future NFL talent, far more than the roster up north. But talent alone does not dictate outcomes. The game of football is played on a field and between two sidelines, not on paper.

However, Buckeye Nation does not want to hear about ownership of costly errors or promises to get and be better. No, they (we) simply want results. So here are some of the recent results everyone seems to be upset about:

Day is 45-5 as the head coach of Ohio State, which gives him the highest current winning percentage of all active FBS football coaches... All. Active. Coaches. Scoff at limited tenure and strength of schedule all you want, but I would also remind you that Jim Tressel lost an average of 2.2 games per season while in Columbus, and Urban Meyer fumbled away games he had no business losing (to inferior Big Ten opponents).

Day got the Clemson monkey off OSU’s back, was a blown call away from beating them twice, has never lost to a non-TTUN Big Ten opponent, and is 15-5 against top-25 opponents. Do those five losses hurt? Hell yes they do, and Day should be held primarily responsible for all of them. But is there anything to be said for learning on the job?

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Buckeyes’ head coach is 43 years old and took over a job which would cause many, more experienced head coaches to piss down their leg. Losses in the most crucial games mean that he has mildly underachieved by only the highest of high standards, but anyone calling for Day’s job is borderline delusional... this year.

Who would you rather have instead, Nick Saban? How about Knute Rockne or Bear Bryant, would either of them suffice? Great coaches do not grow on trees. Just ask Miami, USC, or TTUN, to name a few. Those programs recently dealt with literal decades of poor coaching and/or mistakes in hiring. Speaking of TTUN...

Let’s stick with results. Day is 1-2 against Jim Harbaugh. That sucks. But did we expect Ohio State to dominate The Game for 30 years? 40? OSU has 17 wins over Michigan (you got me, they’ve earned it temporarily) since 2000, but the latter is CFB’s winningest program. Ever! The Buckeyes should lose to them occasionally. We are not talking about Arkansas State here.

And do not overlook Harbaugh. For as goofy as this man comes across – and he most certainly does – his results are pretty damn impressive. Captain Khaki went 29-6 at San Diego, won an Orange Bowl with Stanford, and coached in a Super Bowl at the next level. We should stop acting like last weekend’s loss came to Derek Mason and the 2020 Vanderbilt Commodores. Including Harbaugh, I would actually argue that Day has only lost to a few elite coaches and elite programs, although Mario Cristobal is doing his best to fall out of favor with Club Elite.

Is it the manner in which Ohio State has lost recently that has fans in a tizzy? I get that. But again, I would bring up the whole learning curve thing, in regard to Day or any head coach. His (Day) first loss came in a CFP semifinal. His second came at the hands of Nick Saban and a historically-great Alabama team, in the national title game! Three and four? Well, OSU got smacked around in both, and there is no acceptable justification.

But you know what Day did in response? He fired people. He went out, and with Gene Smith’s help, acquired the premier coaching free agent on the market to fix defensive woes. He gave his best effort to correct certain mistakes. And most importantly, he owned each and every one of the losses. He always has. Loss No. 5 was especially hurtful, but all the pieces were in place for a victory. The Buckeyes (and all of their coaches) simply failed to execute better than the Wolverines last Saturday.

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

As for those players on the field, what more could anyone ask for? The vast majority performed at, or above expectations, for 11.5 games this season. Want All-Americans and All-Big Ten players? Ohio State has plenty of those. Young building blocks and former five-star recruits foaming at the mouth to make an impact? Yep, got those too. Good dudes? Seems like it. Competitors? No doubt. Tough guys? Well, that is TBD. But I personally believe in this roster, as well as the coaches’ ability to prepare players for war. It comes down to battles, and the Buckeyes just so happen to have lost a few costly ones in recent years.

I will not argue with the opinion (or fact) that Ohio State should win some of these bigger games. No matter who the coach is, or which team they are facing. Almost winning the Big Ten in not deserving of any accolades or trophies. Day knows it, the OSU players know it, and we as fans are quick to remind them. But to borrow from a certain pleated pant-wearing, steak and milk-consuming, slumber party-having son of a gun: Who’s got it better than us? The answer is very, very few.

So to all the “woe is me” Buckeye fans out there: Suck it up, buttercup. Life and, by extension, college football is not a video game. Nor is Ohio State afforded the luxury of facing CFB’s version of the Washington Generals on a weekly basis. Instead, they compete against 130 other programs to chase a championship which only 12 have won since the turn of this century — including OSU. They have been on the precipice of doing so each and every season since Day took over. They have been in the hunt, but unable to complete the kill. Hopefully that mission is completed sooner than later, but pissing and moaning from fans – and clamoring for some white knight to come in and save a team not really in need of saving – does not aid the process.

This Ohio State football team is well-positioned to remain in the hunt for years to come. Check the depth chart. Check the future recruiting rankings. Or simply check out the win rate since December 4, 2018. Take solace in those things, instead of dwelling on two consecutive losses to a top-3 rival... Sh*t happens. But it does not mean that the sky is falling on our beloved Buckeyes. Act accordingly, by rooting for the Utah Utes and/or Kansas State Wildcats this weekend. Go Bucks!

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Why is this News? All the articles and tweets Buckeye fans need for December 2, 2022
Matt Tamanini via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports

All the Buckeye news thats fit to re-print.

Look, we get it. Your days are busy and you don’t have time to read all of the stories and tweets from the three dozen websites dedicated to covering Ohio State athletics, or the 237 Buckeye beat writers churning out hot takes and #content on a daily basis. But that’s ok, that’s what your friends at Land-Grant Holy Land are here for.

Monday through Friday, we’ll be collecting all of the articles, tweets, features, interviews, videos, podcasts, memes, photos, and whatever else we stumble across on the interwebz and putting them in our daily “Why is this News?” article. That way, you’ll have a one-stop shop for all of the most important Buckeye news, jokes, and analysis.

You’re welcome!

For your Earholes...


Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio

On the Gridiron


EXPLAINER: How will College Football Playoff expansion work?
Ralph D. Russo, Associated Press

It’s official: College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams for 2024 season
Paul Myerberg, USA TODAY

Tracking redshirt situation, playing time for Buckeyes freshmen (paywall)
Andy Backstrom, Lettermen Row

Ohio State WR coach Brian Hartline on job speculation: ‘I do not have any plans to go anywhere else’
Will Backus, 247Sports


Film Review: Key moments defined Ohio State’s 45-23 loss to Michigan
Chris Renne, Land-Grant Holy Land

Explosive plays doom Buckeyes, Jim Knowles debut in The Game (paywall)
Austin Ward, Dotting the Eyes

Questions that still linger from Ohio State’s loss to Michigan
Patrick Murphy, Bucknuts

This really sucks for him and college football:


How conference championship games, latest CFP rankings impact Buckeyes
Spencer Holbrook, Lettermen Row

Previewing and predicting the conference championship games
David M Wheeler, Land-Grant Holy. Land

What Big Ten awards got right, wrong about Buckeyes offense (paywall)
Bill Landis, Dotting the Eyes

MC&J: Ohio State fans are huge supporters of Utah and Kansas State this weekend
Brett Ludwiczak, Land-Grant Holy Land

On the Hardwood


What was the difference between Ohio State and Duke on Wednesday?
Adam Jardy, The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio State’s loss to Duke gives Buckeyes valuable experience, room to grow
Patrick Murphy, Bucknuts

Young Buckeyes Hanging Tough Against Top Competition Despite Two Losses in Past Four Games
Griffin Strom, Eleven Warriors

Listen to the postgame press conference from the Ohio State men’s loss to Duke:


Game Notes: No. 4 Ohio State women’s basketball’s 33-point swing vs. No. 18 Louisville
Thomas Costello, Land-Grant Holy Land

Listen to the postgame press conference from the Ohio State women’s win over Louisville:

Outside the Shoe and Schott


OSU professor: Public deserves to know why Kristina Johnson resigned
Guest Columnist Judson L. Jeffries, The Columbus Dispatch

Baseball Announces 2023 Schedule
Ohio State Athletics

Ohio State Hosts NCAA First and Second Rounds
Ohio State Athletics

And now for something completely different...


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Buck Off Podcast: Ohio State state of program, checklist for future success, and listener questions
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images

The guys are talking about the state of the program and our checklist for future Ohio State success

Listen to the episode and subscribe:

Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio


On today’s episode of “Buck Off with Christopher Renne,” I’m joined by Jordan Williams to discuss where we stand on some current aspects of Ohio State’s program and our checklist for future success.

We start the show with a quick discussion about Ohio State’s playoff chances and how the Buckeyes are not dead yet. In this segment, we talk about if the Buckeyes deserve to go and why, even if it doesn’t fall Ohio State’s way, the weekend will still have great football.

Then we get into our vent sesh on the current state of the program. This conversation leads talks about the future of some coaches and players. We also dive into our thoughts on where Ryan Day is and what he needs to do to earn the trust of Buckeye Nation back.

Next, we get into our checklist for the Buckeyes having success moving forward. We talk about the future of Ohio State’s strength and conditioning, which leads to a conversation about complacency among some coaches. This then leads into a discussion about Ohio State’s current identity and where it needs to go from here.

Then, to close out the show, we get into our listener questions, which includes some recruiting, draft, transfer portal and more!


Connect with the Show:
Twitter: @BuckOffPod

Connect with Chris Renne:
Twitter: @ChrisRenneCFB

Connect with Jordan Williams
Twitter: @JordanW330

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OSU checks in on two in-state DB commits, top 2024 OL looks to narrow his list
Caleb Houser via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ryan Day and company headed to Cincinnati to check on two of their 2023 in-state commits.

Unfortunately, Ohio State is not playing this weekend, but the coaching staff is making the best possible situation out of it by hitting the recruiting trail hard. Having the weekend off, Ohio State is using this time to check in not only with the targets that are still undecided, but also the players that are currently committed to the 2023 class with in-home visits.

Making the trek from Columbus to the Cincinnati area, Ryan Day was accompanied by both Tim Walton and Perry Eliano as they stopped in to see current safety commit, Malik Hartford. The Lakota West product has been committed since April of this year and hasn’t waivered in his pledge even a bit. The hard hitting 6-foot-3, 180 pound safety has been everything you’d want to see on the field during his senior campaign, and the staff is certainly excited to get him to Columbus in the near future.

The No. 155 player nationally, Hartford is the 10th best safety in the class and the third best player from Ohio according to the 247Sports Composite. Seeing the back-end of the defense last weekend, Hartford’s commitment was already important, but there’s been some added feelings with how the secondary has played in some instances this year. With Malik being an Ohio native and seeing his film, Buckeye fans have to be thrilled about not only getting an in-state player, but one of the better safeties in the country.


Keeping with the trend, Ohio State also stuck around in the Cincinnati area yesterday to check in on another fellow 2023 defensive back commit in the class. Stopping to see cornerback, Jermaine Mathews, the Winton Woods product is another one of the top in-state players that has remained solid in his recruitment with the Buckeyes. Considered one of the more wildly underrated guys in the class, Mathews is seen as one of the premier players in the country, and not just at his position.

The No. 208 player nationally per the 247Sports Composite, Jermaine has been committed to Ohio State since July, and remains one of the more important members of the class considering his position. Simply put, the current production at the cornerback spot in Columbus isn’t up to par, and players like Mathews are where the staff feels like there will be improvements. Hoping to seal the class up with a few more defensive commits, this pair of in-state defensive backs play a major role in the future of the secondary.

Quick Hits

• On Thursday, 2024 offensive lineman Jordan Seaton (Washington D.C./St. John’s) was the main topic of discussion as he was Crystal Balled to Ohio State by Director of Recruiting for 247Sports, Steve Wilftong. Knowing the confidence that comes from those caliber of predictions, of course the Buckeyes look to be in a great spot, but yesterday Seaton took to his Twitter account to share that he would soon be dropping a top schools list.

While that’s not the commitment Ohio State fans would love to see, it is a step in the right direction, and a sign that Seaton is going through his recruitment with plans to really start focusing on just a few schools rather than his nearly 30 offers. Narrowing it down this early bodes well for the Buckeyes and their chances for landing the No. 42 player nationally and the top interior lineman in the class per the 247Sports Composite.


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LGHL Uncut Podcast: Holtmann, Sueing, Key discuss Ohio State’s loss to Duke
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

Chris Holtmann and two of his captains spoke with the media following Ohio State’s loss on Wednesday night in Durham.

Throughout the season, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.

Listen to the episode and subscribe:

Subscribe: RSS | Apple | Spotify | Stitcher | Google Podcasts | iHeart Radio


If you somehow missed it, the No. 25 Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Durham, North Carolina Wednesday night to tangle with the No. 17 Duke Blue Devils and were defeated, 81-72. Ohio State turned the ball over 16 times, and a crucial stretch at the end of the first half allowed Duke to turn a close game into a 10-point lead at halftime.

After the game, head coach Chris Holtmann spoke to the media about the reasons his team fell behind. He said there were a lot of “dumb” fouls and that Duke’s size “threw them off their rhythm” leading to only six team assists.

Captains Justice Sueing and Zed Key then met with the Ohio State media outside of the Buckeyes’ locker room. Sueing said that many of the Buckeyes’ mistakes are “correctable” and that he knows he’ll face teams similar to Duke this season, so he needs to adjust and not get in foul trouble again like he did against the Blue Devils.


Connect with Connor:
Twitter: @lemons_connor

Theme music provided by www.bensound.com

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MC&J: Ohio State fans are huge supporters of Utah and Kansas State this weekend
Brett Ludwiczak via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Peter G. Aiken/Getty Images

The Buckeyes needs either USC or TCU to lose to have any hope of making the College Football Playoff.

Last week ATS: 7-7-1 (3-3-1 B1G, 4-4 National)

Season ATS: 92-99-5 (44-50-2 B1G, 48-48-3 National)


Since the USMNT tied England on Friday in the FIFA World Cup, I guess my picks decided the record for the week should end even. Honestly though, after watching the Ohio State debacle on Saturday, a 7-7-1 record feels like a win. One more week to try and get as close to even as possible before bowl season.

Conference championship games (All games Saturday unless otherwise noted):


(All lines courtesy of Draftkings Sportsbook.)

Conference USA: North Texas v. UTSA (-9) - Friday 7:30 p.m. - CBS Sports Network

UTSA is back in the Conference USA Conference Championship Game for a second straight season. While the Roadrunners beat Western Kentucky 49-41 last year, the week before they lost to North Texas 45-23, which ruined their dreams of an undefeated season. UTSA got a bit of revenge earlier this year when they beat the Mean Green 31-27 in San Antonio.

This game has the makings of a shootout. Both teams are great on offense and awful on defense. Frank Harris will get most of the attention because of what he has done for UTSA the last two years, but don’t sleep on North Texas quarterback Austin Aune, who has thrown for over 3,100 yards and 31 touchdowns this year. While I think the Roadrunners win, the Mean Green will make them work for their second straight conference title.

UTSA 38, North Texas 34


Pac-12: No. 11 Utah v. No. 4 USC (-3) - Friday 8:00 p.m. - FOX

These teams met earlier this year, with Utah winning a thrilling contest in Salt Lake City, beating the Trojans 43-42. Cameron Rising accounted for five touchdowns, throwing for two and running for three more. Caleb Williams matched Rising, with five touchdowns of his own, all of them coming through the air. The Utes earned the victory when they went for two after scoring a touchdown with under a minute to go.

Both teams are a little lighter in the backfield heading into this game, as Utah will be without Tavion Thomas, and USC lost running back Travis Dye to injury a few weeks ago. Even though the Trojans have been playing without Dye, their offense has still been humming, as Lincoln Riley’s team scored 48 points against UCLA, followed by a 38-point game against Notre Dame last week.

I know last year Utah came into the Pac-12 Championship Game against a team they played earlier in the year and destroyed Oregon to earn a spot in the Rose Bowl. The same thing isn’t going to happen this year. After a couple of sluggish games following the loss to the Utes, USC has found its groove over the last few games. This feels like a game where Caleb Williams solidifies himself as this year’s Heisman Trophy winner, and the Trojans earn a spot in the CFP.

USC 37, Utah 27


Big 12: No. 10 Kansas State v. No. 3 TCU (-2.5) - 12:00 p.m. - ABC

Since I think USC is going to win on Friday, that means TCU will have to lose to Kansas State if Ohio State has any chance of making the College Football Playoff. The Wildcats already had the Horned Frogs on the ropes earlier this year when the teams played in Fort Worth, taking a 28-17 lead into halftime before TCU outscored Kansas State 21-0 in the second half.

The first meeting between the schools was a little strange, as Adrian Martinez was injured early in the game against TCU, leaving Will Howard to take snaps at quarterback. The injury severely changed Kansas State’s offensive attack, since Martinez can run and pass, while Howard is really just a passing threat. The Wildcats have found a rhythm under Howard, scoring 126 points over the last three games.

Following what felt like an endless string of close games, TCU got to breathe a bit last week with a 62-14 win over Iowa State. The Cyclones are putrid though so I’m not putting a lot of stock in the big win. Max Duggan has been one of the best quarterbacks in the country this year, while Keandre Miller is a huge threat on the ground. Still, I’m not convinced this TCU team has enough to go undefeated and make the CFP.

Kansas State has already had one crack at TCU, so they know what they’ll get from the Horned Frogs. The Wildcats are a well-coached team, so it’s hard to see them losing twice. Deuce Vaughn has a big day, as the Kansas State offense isn’t thrown off by an injury early in the game to their quarterback. Once again TCU is left out of the CFP, except this time they got the chance to state their case in a conference championship game, while Ohio State watches at home.

Kansas State 34, TCU 30


MAC: Toledo (-1.5) v. Ohio - 12:00 p.m. - ESPN

This game lost a lot of its luster with injuries to the quarterbacks of both teams over the last month. Dequan Finn injured his ankle last month against Buffalo, leaving Tucker Gleason as the starter for Toledo. Then Gleason broke his hand against Bowling Green a couple of weeks ago, but he was able to play last week against Western Michigan. Even though Finn played a little last week backing up Gleason, it was obvious he wasn’t the same quarterback we saw earlier this year.

One thing we do know is that we won’t see Ohio quarterback Kurtis Rourke on Saturday, as he suffered a torn ACL against Ball State two weeks ago. CJ Harris got his feet wet as the starter last week against Bowling Green in the 38-14 win. I like the Bobcats here because they have been rolling of late, while the Rockets have lost two in a row. Even if Harris isn’t effective, they can lean on running back Sieh Bangura, who has 884 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns this year.

Ohio 31, Toledo 20


Sun Belt: Coastal Carolina v. Troy (-8.5) - 3:30 p.m. - ESPN


It doesn’t sound like Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall is trending in the right direction to play on Saturday, which really hurts the Chanticleers. Backup Jarrett Guest has been really bad in the two games McCall has missed, completing less than 50 percent of his passes and throwing three interceptions.

On the other side, Troy has won nine straight games, only allowing more than 20 points in one of those games. Kimani Vidal has rushed for 1,006 yards and nine scores this season, taking some of the pressure off quarterback Gunnar Watson, who has thrown 10 interceptions this year. Even though the Troy offense has been inconsistent for much of the year, they have been better over the last two games, scoring 82 points against Louisiana-Monroe and Arkansas State.

Troy 31, Coastal Carolina 17


American: No. 22 UCF v. No. 18 Tulane (-3.5) - 4:00 p.m. - ABC

UCF has already beaten Tulane in New Orleans. The Knights do have an injury concern to deal with since quarterback John Rhys Plumlee suffered a concussion in last week’s win over USF. At least for UCF, it does sound like Plumlee is going to play, which adds a huge dynamic to their offense since the Ole Miss transfer can not only pass, he is a tremendous runner.

I know Tulane just came up to Cincinnati and beat the Bearcats. UCF provides a totally different challenge. I just don’t think the Green Wave has the pace to keep up with the Knights here. While Tulane has already faced the UCF offense once this year, I’m sure Gus Malzahn will have a few more wrinkles that the Green Wave might not be prepared for. Even with the loss, it still has been a great season for Tulane and Willie Fritz.

UCF 42, Tulane 34


Mountain West: Fresno State v. Boise State (-3) - 4:00 p.m. - FOX

These teams already met once in Boise this year, with the Broncos winning 40-20 in early October. This matchup will be a lot different since Fresno State quarterback Jake Haener wasn’t able to play because of an ankle injury. The Bulldogs are a different team with Haener, and they have made so many trips to Boise over the years that the blue turf shouldn’t throw them off their game.

Fresno State 28, Boise State 24


SEC: No. 14 LSU v. No. 1 Georgia (-17.5) - 4:00 p.m. - CBS

Just a couple of weeks ago we were wondering if LSU could make the CFP with two losses if they beat Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. Then the Tigers laid an egg against Texas A&M last week. Jayden Daniels is extremely ordinary when you can contain him on the ground. Where he is dangerous is when he can find room to run and keep defenses guessing on whether he is going to run it or throw it.

Georgia’s defense definitely won’t let Daniels get loose, as they’ll be pressuring the LSU quarterback all game long. While sometimes it does take the Bulldog offense some time to get going, they are great at wearing down their opponents on both sides of the football. I don’t really think Georgia will have to work all that hard to break LSU’s spirit on Saturday since the Tigers have to be deflated from losing to the Aggies last week. The Bulldogs solidify their spot at the top of the CFP rankings with an easy win.

Georgia 38, LSU 14


ACC: No. 9 Clemson (-7.5) v. No. 23 North Carolina - 8:00 p.m. - ABC

Right now I don’t think I’d trust a team starting D.J. Uiagalelei as a half-point favorite, let alone a 7.5-point favorite. I know North Carolina has had their own issues the last few weeks, but I feel like they want to be here more than Clemson does, as the Tigers had their eyes on a CFP spot, which has disappeared after losses to Notre Dame and South Carolina. Let’s get wild and pick Drake Maye to lead the Tar Heels to victory on Saturday night.

North Carolina 35, Clemson 31


Big Ten: Purdue v. No. 2 Michigan (-17) - 8:00 p.m. - FOX

Last year after Michigan beat Ohio State and made it to the Big Ten Championship Game for the first time, there was little doubt the Wolverines would beat up on Iowa to earn a spot in the College Football Playoff. While it seems like a given Michigan will again win in Indianapolis, they might get a little more of a fight from the Boilermakers.

Some of the football the Boilermakers have played lately hasn’t been pretty, but in the end, all that matters is they won their final three games to secure the Big Ten West for the first time. Aidan O’Connell and Charlie Jones are a dangerous combination, and the Boilers can run the football a little bit with Devin Mockobee. Jones is three receptions away from 100 catches for the year, and just a yard away from 1,200 receiving yards.

Who knows how healthy Blake Corum will be for this game? Even if Corum is limited, Michigan still has Donovan Edwards, who eclipsed 200 yards last week against Michigan. Even though Purdue might not have the talent Ohio State has on defense, talent doesn’t matter if you are undisciplined as the Buckeyes were. The Boilers were quietly solid throughout the year, giving up less than 350 yards per game.

It’s weird to call a conference championship game a hangover/sandwich game, but I could see the Wolverines coming out of the gates a little slow. Last year Michigan didn’t really turn it on until the fourth quarter, as the score was 21-3 at the end of the third. There’s no question the Wolverines are the class of the conference, 17 points just seem like a little too much to give in this spot.

Michigan 33, Purdue 21

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.

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LGHL Uncut Podcast: Sheldon, Harris and McGuff on another marquee Ohio State women’s basketball win
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Jacy Sheldon gives a short update on how she felt following her injury time away, Rikki Harris discusses her “Cold Game” and coach Kevin McGuff shares what changed the game

Throughout the year, Land-Grant Holy Land will be bringing you uncut audio primarily from Ohio State press conferences, but also from individual interview sessions.


The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s basketball team played their second ranked opponent of the season. Like the first against the then No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers, it was a game where the first half gave no intention of Ohio State winning. Then a second half led to an ending of a double-digit 96-77 dominating win over perennial college basketball power in the Louisville Cardinals.

Following the win, guards Jacy Sheldon and Rikki Harris talked about the game, before head coach Kevin McGuff.

Sheldon discussed the biggest factor in the Buckeyes win, who was sitting right next to the guard during the media availability. Also, playing in front of a raucous crowd of Cardinal fans and how her lower leg injury feels after missing the last two games against Wright State and the University of North Alabama.

Harris, who sounds as sick as she was, talks about playing even though she couldn’t breathe, and not expecting to get as many minutes as she did. Plus, how her teammates lifted her performance, where this game ranks in her all-time games as a Buckeye and feeding off the Louisville crowd.

Coach McGuff then talks about how he leveraged experience to turn the game around, what Harris means to this Ohio State team and why freshman forward Cotie McMahon didn’t play as many minutes as she has to start the season.

That and more on the latest edition of “Land-Grant Holy Land Uncut.”


Connect with Thomas:

Twitter: @1ThomasCostello

Theme music provided by www.bensound.com

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Previewing and predicting the conference championship games
David M Wheeler via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Buckeyes are playing the waiting game | Photo by Ben Jackson/Getty Images

The Buckeyes aren’t playing, but their CFP hopes hinge on the outcomes of Saturday’s conference title games.

We didn’t expect this week to seem so empty. We expected to be gearing up for yet another Big Ten Championship Game in Indianapolis. Didn’t happen.

No, the Buckeyes are idle this week, and the only game that they’re playing is the waiting game. But if things fall right, the Bucks could still find themselves in the playoffs. And, although last Saturday’s game would tend to lower confidence of success, the playoffs would offer an opportunity for redemption. Barring the playoffs, New Year’s Day would likely bring Ohio State back to Pasadena and the Granddaddy of Them All.

Starting Friday night, the Power Five conference championship games will keep us occupied, even if we can’t help but think “what might have been.” Below, I’ll preview the five matchups, and provide my take on what to expect.

(Odds change continually, and figures here were in place at the time this column was written).

PAC-12 Championship Game

Utah (9-3) vs. Southern Cal (11-1)

[USC -3]


Friday, Dec.2 — Las Vegas, NV. — 8:00 p.m. ET

The Trojans are a point away from an undefeated season, having lost 43-42 on Oct. 15 to... you guessed it, Utah. The championship game gives USC an opportunity to avenge that loss and demonstrate their conference supremacy. If you watched them handle Notre Dame last week, you know that the balanced offense, led by Heisman frontrunner Caleb Williams, is the real thing and averages 42.5 points per game. The defense, though, is sometimes suspect and can give up yards and points – to the run particularly. Lincoln Riley has done a good job with this team, and they look strong to me.

Utah, after its narrow loss to Ohio State in last year’s Rose Bowl, was ranked No. 7 in the preseason AP poll. The 29-26 opening game loss to a not-very-good Florida team sent that ranking spiraling, never again reaching better than 10th. The Southern Cal win, obviously, was the Utes’ signature victory, but they also beat a very good Washington Huskies team and lost to Oregon by only three points. UCLA, on the other hand, put up 42 points in beating the Utes by 10. Like USC, Utah sports a better offense than defense, so I think that we can expect another high-scoring game between the two.

Stakes for Ohio State? Pretty high. The Bucks could edge into the playoffs with a Trojan loss.

Southern Cal is in the driver’s seat for a playoff spot, however, and I don’t expect them to let the opportunity pass them by. USC 47-41.

Big 12 Championship Game

Kansas State (9-3) vs. TCU (12-0)

[TCU -2.5]


Saturday, Dec. 3 — Arlington, TX — 12:00 p.m. ET

Chris Klieman’s Wildcats were unranked at the beginning of the season, and didn’t see the top-25 until the end of September. They’ve been pretty consistent throughout the year. Kansas State clobbered Oklahoma State (ranked No. 9 at the time) 48-0, but dropped home games to Tulane (17-10) and Texas (34-27). The Wildcats and TCU met during the regular season, and the Horned Frogs won at home, 38-28. With three losses, K-State has no playoff aspirations, but knocking off undefeated TCU and winning the Big 12 provides plenty of incentive.

TCU has surprised me all season. I kept expecting them to lose, and they didn’t. So, here they are now, one game away from the playoffs. Coach Sonny Dykes should surely be in the running for coach of the year. This kind of success wasn’t predicted. The Frogs weren’t ranked in the AP poll until they beat Oklahoma 55-24. Then folks started to take notice. They’ve had quite a few close wins – Kansas by seven, Oklahoma State by three, Baylor by one – but you get those in magical seasons. And this one has been magical.

Stakes for Ohio State? It’s hard to say if the committee would slot a one-loss TCU (it would have to be a close loss) ahead of a one-loss Buckeye team. Perhaps. Perhaps not. Cheer for the Wildcats here.

TCU won fairly handily in the first game. I really don’t expect the rematch to be much different in what is actually a home game for the Horned Frogs. I see TCU winning, 42-30.

SEC Championship Game

LSU (9-3) vs. Georgia (12-0)

[Georgia -17.5]


Saturday, Dec. 3 — Atlanta, GA — 4:00 p.m. ET

LSU’s 15-point loss this past week to Texas A&M was a real stinker. So bad that it made the wins over Bama and Ole Miss look like flukes. Maybe they were. LSU’s other losses were to Florida State (24-23) and Tennessee (40-13). Obviously, Brian Kelly’s team has a bit of a consistency problem. The Tigers’ scoring offense and scoring defense both rank in the 30s nationally. Not bad. but not good enough.

Georgia, the defending national champions, haven’t been ranked worse than No. 3 all year, and that was the preseason ranking before they trounced Oregon 49-3 in the season opener. The only close call the Dawgs had all year was (surprisingly) at Missouri on Oct. 1, a game in which they finally pulled out a four-point win. Scoring offense and defense rankings? No. 3 and No. 1, respectively. I’ve said many times that Georgia is the country’s best team.

Stakes for Ohio State? None. Georgia is in. LSU can’t make the playoffs, even with a miraculous upset.

Georgia is still on the mission that they accomplished last year. Georgia, fairly easily, 38-17.

Big Ten Championship Game

Purdue (8-4) vs. Michigan (12-0)

[Michigan -16]


Saturday, Dec. 3 — Indianapolis, IN — 8:00 p.m. ET

The Big Ten West was a messy race all year. When the dust finally cleared on Saturday night, Purdue was the last team standing. While the Boilermakers deserve our congratulations, the fact remains that they have the worst resumé of any of these conference championship contenders.

Close losses to Penn State and Syracuse started their season. Later losses at Wisconsin (by 11) and at home to Iowa (by 21) and mediocre wins against Florida Atlantic (by two) and Maryland (by two) tell us what we need to know about this team. They’re in the game because of victories over Illinois and Minnesota. Purdue has a decent passing game, but I don’t see them stopping Michigan.

Michigan, too, is on a mission – one that might well give them the rematch with Georgia for all the marbles. Weak schedule. Lucky against the Illini. But all that grumbling stopped after the Wolverines humbled Ohio State in the Shoe. TTUN may not cover the spread, but I don’t see them stumbling in this one.

Stakes for Ohio State? Really none. Even if Michigan loses, it will get the nod over the Buckeyes.

I don’t expect a repeat of all of those big plays to give Michigan quick touchdowns, but they’ll dominate, nonetheless. Michigan 35-17.

ACC Championship Game

Clemson (10-2) vs. North Carolina (9-3)

[Clemson -7.5]


Saturday, Dec. 3 — Charlotte, NC — 8:00 p.m. ET

Other than Tiger and Tar Heel fans, will anyone be watching this game? The winner – whichever team that it is – doesn’t have a chance of a playoff bid. As I’ve said, Georgia and Michigan are in. If USC and TCU both fall, Alabama and Ohio State are there to grab their spots.

Clemson struggled all year. Neither the offense nor defense is any longer elite. The narrow home loss to in-state rival South Carolina tells us that Dabo’s boys are good, but not really good enough. The loss to Notre Dame was outright ugly, and Clemson squeaked by on several of their wins. They’re no longer in the top echelon of teams nationally.

UNC? They’re averaging 37 points a game, an offense that makes them competitive in all contests. But they’re giving up 30.3 points a game, a defense that puts every game in jeopardy. It’s hard to gauge this team. The Tar Heels struggled to beat two Sun Belt teams – App. State and Georgia State — and lost their last two games, both at home, to Georgia Tech and NC State. So, neither team finished strongly, and both come into this one limping.

Stakes for Ohio State? Absolutely none.

Someone will have to win. Clemson is favored and would like to salvage something from this season. But UNC has nothing to lose, and I see Mack Brown pulling out all the stops. UNC 38-35.


So, there they are. This weekend’s viewing menu. Buckeye fans should cheer for Utah on Friday night and for Kansas State in the early game Saturday. Come 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, we should know where things stand. Both Nick Saban and Ryan Day are lobbying for their teams to be the next one in after Georgia, Michigan, TCU, and Southern Cal.

The Buckeyes should hope that both the Trojans and Horned Frogs lose, then try to regroup for a championship run if things break their way.

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Film Review: Key moments defined Ohio State’s 45-23 loss to Michigan
Chris Renne via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images

Ohio State lost this game the minute Michigan responded. Key moments on both sides of the ball tell that story.

Ohio State’s loss to Michigan is still weighing heavy on the minds of the Buckeye faithful, with many people are already looking forward to what’s next due to the defeat. The Buckeyes ended up on the wrong side of a lopsided scoreboard, 45-23, but unlike last year there wasn’t a physical dominance in the trenches until late.

The Buckeyes did not lose this game due to bad scheme, bad execution, or players not wanting it bad enough. They lost because they were unable to make plays in key moments, and with their inability to come up big in those spots, Michigan was able to break the will of Ohio State on both sides of the ball. As many have written this week, the mental aspect failed the Buckeyes to a greater effect than any scheme could.

Looking at those key moments will help make sense of where Ohio State went wrong, how Michigan was able to attack Ohio State, and why the Buckeyes lost their grip after both teams went into the halftime. Questionable coaching decisions in big spots and defensive lapses defined this matchup, not a physical imposition.

Ohio State needed to make changes last year, and after rewatching the matchup, the Buckeyes will need to look in the mirror this year.


Through much of the first half Ohio State was in control of the game at the line of scrimmage. They had found a run game with Chip Trayanum. Up to this point, the Buckeyes offense had converted a couple of short yardage third down situations. Ryan Day had an inventive first drive, and the Buckeyes had moved the ball at will between the 20s until this play.

On 4th down in the first quarter, the Buckeyes were trying to make an aggressive play. They had settled for a field goal in a similar situation previously to go up 10-7. Day gets into the Bison-personnel look with three tight ends on the field. They motion Gee Scott Jr. down to sell the run and Michigan bites. This gives Stroud a one-on-one throw.

There are two issues here: Day overthinking this after successfully running the ball, and the decision to throw the ball to Cade Stover against man coverage rather than one of your star wide receivers.

This is the level of confidence a play-caller needs, and if the play was executed, the game could have turned at this point. Instead, Day loses his edge after this, starting in a crucial situation he decides to play conservatively.


Offensively the Buckeyes lost their confidence after the failed 4th down conversion attempt, but what happened next played a bigger role in Michigan taking over the game against Ohio State. After turning the ball over on downs, the Buckeyes’ defense came out strong, forcing Michigan into another 3rd-and-long scenario. Jim Knowles was brought in to fix Ohio State’s defense, and philosophically this has been done by being aggressive.

The only issues with being aggressive is everybody has to do their job for that to work. Michigan drops back and Ohio State brings a max pressure playing Cover-0 behind the blitzers. Cam Brown is one-on-one with no help over the top. The blitz forces McCarthy into retreating and throwing the ball off of his back foot. Cornelius Johnson is able to make the catch, and this is where the play falls apart.

Brown jumps inside and lunges at the receiver to make the tackle. By playing with bad tackling technique, Johnson is able to get outside away from any potential pursuing defenders and takes it to the house. From there, Ohio State’s defense was not the same.


The next series, Michigan strikes again. At this point they’ve found the weakness they’re going to attack, and that is Ohio State’s secondary. Knowles’ plan in this matchup was to take away the run, and by committing to that he put his defensive backs into tough positions. After the last series, Knowles changed up how the Buckeyes would defend, leaving the defenders back.

Ohio State had been getting consistent pressure on McCarthy and forcing him into uncomfortable throws early. This is why after the big play he brought in an additional defensive back, and that being Cam Martinez getting his first snaps was questionable. Michigan runs a hard play-action and Johnson runs an incredible route. He gets Martinez turned the wrong way and then breaks off to the middle of the field.

Knowles abandoning what made his defense special in the aggressive nature led to another long touchdown, and the Buckeyes’ confidence was shot.


Ohio State bounced back one last time, and the frustrating aspect about the next play is Day did not take any shots like this again until it was much too late. The play is simple. Michigan brings pressure and this leaves Marvin Harrison Jr. outside in single coverage. Stroud delivers a bomb and the Buckeyes take the lead with a few minutes to go in the half.

During the stretch when Ohio State won 19 out of 20, the Buckeyes dominated with a belief that their talent would prevail. Where Day went wrong was not trusting his playmakers in key situations, and making the questionable decision to have so many designed plays to Cade Stover when Marvin Harrison Jr. exists.

A snap of the finger and the two best offensive players combined for a score.


Despite the Buckeyes regaining the lead, the Wolverines already had Ohio State beat. After the two big touchdowns, Ohio State was questioning everything and playing with no conviction. Every step was second guessed outside of a couple plays in the second half.

Michigan runs an inside zone read option here, and they are reading J.T. Tuimoloau the defensive end. Tuimoloau dives inside towards the running back, creating an obvious read for McCarthy. The issue is Tuimoloau has help on the inside with the linebackers and safeties. By jumping inside, McCarthy is able to turn the corner with a full head of steam, and when he gets to the second level, this is where you see the first sign of defeat on Ohio State’s side.

Tuimoloau takes a bad angle, attempting a weak arm tackle. Denzel Burke throws his body at him, leaving his feet without wrapping up, and Tanner McAlister is so focused on getting the strip he gets carried an additional five yards. The Buckeyes’ effort tackling was exactly what you’d see the remainder of the game. Michigan had already won.


On the next play, Michigan is driving the football down the field and Ohio State is playing on their heels after McCarthy’s run outside. Joel Klatt does the work here for me, showing what went wrong. If you pause at the 0:07 mark, you can see the defensive backs staring at the quarterback, and neither are playing the tight end after the receiver falls.

The pressure Ohio State brings doesn’t get home, McCarthy steps up in the pocket to make the throw. He delivers to another receiver running alone past the coverage. Ohio State’s defensive backs are beat once again.


The last play on offense that told the story of this game was the decision on this 3rd-and-3 at the 50-yard line. Ohio State is looking for a response. As stated previously, they did not go to Harrison Jr. or Egbuka in these situations until the closing minutes of the game when it was out of hand.

Throughout the year, Day has made some questionable decisions in these situations, and even said he felt like he was running his head into a wall. Well, so were Ohio State fans when he decided to call a toss play to a player in his first game at running back all season.

This play is over from the start. After Stover motions across, Michigan knows exactly where the ball is going. Stover has horrendous effort in his block, and this forces Trayanum to bounce the run even further outside. The receiver vacates his block to come down, and now Traynum has two defenders to beat before he even gets to the line of scrimmage.

This was a play-call that took too much time to get in, and also took too much time to develop in this situation. Michigan’s defense is built to handle inside and outside runs in these scenarios. They play gap sound responsibility football. This allows them to stop the Ohio State back short.


But that was not all. The Buckeyes folded. They were done, and psychologically beaten. The very next set of plays told the story of Ryan Day against Michigan this year. Everyone has seen the screen shots of the fake punt, but here are two from the play. The first shows how Jesse Mirco does not look ready to catch the ball.

In the second image, you can see a hole and enough space for Mitch Rossi to find the endzone. Whether it was a miscommunication or the fake was called off after the snap infraction the play before, this was an opportunity to be aggressive. They backed off, and the next Michigan drive was an 8-minute drive to give the Wolverines a two-score lead. Ohio State would drive down one more time, settling for a cowardly field goal.




The game could be surmised by simply saying one team took advantage of opportunities and the others backed down from them. Ohio State was not beat Saturday because Michigan had better players, they were not beat because they weren’t physical enough. They were beat mentally.

Even when the Buckeyes had the lead, you can feel the tenseness in the moment that was too big for the Buckeyes. Day became conservative, not trusting himself, which in turn led to the players losing belief. In quite a few crucial points you can see the eagerness in quarterback C.J. Stroud’s face, the look of give us a shot and we’ll make it happen. But Day backed away in too many crucial moments.

This was the case on the defensive side of the ball as well. After the first touchdown Michigan scored, Knowles backed off. Once they backed off, it opened up another opportunity for Michigan to strike down field. Knowles was no longer aggressive and never committed to anything specific. Michigan was able to run the ball down the stretch, and the lack of belief led to the two home runs that put the game away.

Comparing the last two games against Michigan, this one should sting a lot more. At home, losing the battle from a mental standpoint is unacceptable, and it starts with the coaches. One team played with no fear, a strong belief, and willingness to fight even when things weren’t going well. The other puffed their chest out and ran once they got punched in the mouth.

This game was decided by moments, and in key moments the Buckeyes came up short. Now ensues another offseason of looking in the mirror and evaluating what went wrong. This time around, the Buckeyes will have to dig even deeper to find a solution.

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Game Notes: No. 4 Ohio State women’s basketball’s 33-point swing vs. No. 18 Louisville
1ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here


Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Buckeyes come away from their first ranked away game with a 19-point win

The Ohio State Buckeyes women’s basketball team entered halftime of Wednesday’s game at the University of Louisville down eight points. It wasn’t a bad deficit considering they were down 14 halfway through the second quarter. In the final 20 minutes, the Buckeyes surged ahead, turning another potential defeat into a confident 96-77 victory.

Game Notes discusses coach Kevin McGuff’s decision that helped turn it around, a big night by a guard and playing through illness.

Rikki Harris’ Cold Game


On June 11, 1997, men’s basketball great, and Chicago Bull, Michael Jordan played in “The Flu Game,” where the NBA superstar scored 38 points in game five of the NBA Finals versus the Utah Jazz. Wednesday’s game, while it wasn’t a playoff night, featured a similar performance under similar stress.

“I don’t feel good,” said Harris after the game. “I have a cold and they just kept me going. I’m not going to lie, I wasn’t expecting to play that much.”

Harris played 35 minutes off the bench, more minutes than three starting teammates. In a game that began with the Cardinals out-rebounding the Buckeyes 10-5, Harris entered the game and didn’t look back.

Even though Harris said she couldn’t breathe throughout the game, she grabbed 10 rebounds and six assists, on top of five points. It was Harris’ best statistical performance of the year after shifting from a 2021-22 starter to a role player off the bench.

It was a performance worthy of the Buckeyes’ dub chain and applause from teammate Jacy Sheldon who named her as the reason Ohio State won. Coach McGuff had nothing but admiration for the guard too.

“She’s the heart and soul of our team in many ways, just from a competitive character standpoint,” said McGuff. “She got tough rebound after tough rebound tonight, dove on the floor for loose balls. Just a great performance and we really really needed it.”

Leaning on Experience


Coach McGuff made many changes throughout the game to try and combat a talented Louisville side, but the best came in his third-quarter personnel decision.

The Cardinals shot their eight-point halftime lead to 13, scoring the first two baskets of the second half. From there though, a four-guard set of Sheldon, Harris, Madison Greene, and Taylor Mikesell (with Taylor Thierry as forward), took over the game.

McGuff went that route to get the most experience on the court. Citing too many first-half turnovers, the coach added Greene and Harris, both redshirt juniors, to the mix and it paid dividends.

After being down in the turnover margin for the first half, the adjustment put Ohio State up at the end of the 40 minutes, with 24 forced turnovers to 20 given away. The four also scored 18 of the Buckeyes' 28 in the quarter, with Mikesell and Greene leading the way.

While freshman forward Cotie McMahon started, McGuff benched the player early in favor of the older set of players, but it’s not indicative of his views on McMahon as a player.

“She’s going to be a spectacular player for us, and everyone’s seen how good she is already,” said McGuff. “But in this particular game, I wanted to lean on our experience.”

Jacy Sheldon Feels Great


A toss-up going into the Wednesday top-25 matchup was Sheldon. The guard missed the previous two Buckeye wins, due to a lower leg injury. Ohio State posted pre-game photos of Sheldon without the boot on her foot and a start followed.

Sheldon said she felt great in the game, playing to a 22-point night with three assists, three rebounds, and two steals in 39 minutes.

Sam Upshaw Jr./Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK
Jacy Sheldon (right) also grabbed a block in the final minutes of the game on guard Hailey Van Lith (left)

The highlight of the game came in the fourth quarter. With a seven-point Buckeyes lead, Sheldon received a pass on the wing, with All-American-caliber guard Hailey Van Lith defending. Sheldon did a crossover to fake a run to the paint and Van Lith bit and stumbled back a few steps. That gave the guard the room to hit the three and extend the lead to double-digits for the first time, with it never going under 10 points the rest of the night.

Silencing the Yum!


The KFC Yum! Center is Louisville’s home, and the Cardinals boast loud and rowdy fans, of all ages. Every shot erupted the arena and every foul against them elicited immediate constructive criticism to the officials.

That environment appeared to rattle the Buckeyes early, taking over a quarter before finding their footing for more consistent periods of time. Sheldon and the Buckeyes had thoughts on playing in an arena like in Wednesday’s game.

“That’s the best part,” said Sheldon. “Any competitor loves that, their intensity. They had a great crowd and they played off of it, but I think we did too.”

“We don’t mind a loud crowd,” added Harris. “It gets us going.”

Ohio State’s win stopped a Louisville 48-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents. Also, the Buckeyes forced an early exit for most, with the arena beginning to file out within a few minutes of the fourth quarter.

Forwards Play Big


Playing forward all night were Thierry and Rebeka Mikulášiková. They started together but ended up alternating in the five-position for the second half when Ohio State clawed back to lead in the game.

Even though Thierry fouled out, her performance was another sign of things to come for the Buckeyes sophomore. In the second quarter, Thierry kept Ohio State in the game with three rebounds, two on offense. Those led to second-chance buckets for the Scarlet & Gray. While Thierry didn’t attack the basket as often on Wednesday, scoring seven points overall, the couple of times she did result in positive points and drew fouls from the home Cardinals.

Mikulášiková had a game herself. The forward had 21 points and five rebounds on the night. Most of those points came from movement inside the paint. The footwork near the basket was great for the Slovakian. Mikulášiková spun around defenders, hitting layups, and got to the line twice for her efforts. The forward only took one three, missing the attempt, making the point total more impressive as Mikulášiková’s excellent season continues.

Taylor Mikesell’s Night


Ohio State made eight threes on Wednesday, and half of those came from Mikesell. The Massillon, Ohio guard scored her season high with 26 points, plus two assists and two rebounds.

The Buckeyes haven’t needed Mikesell to take over games like she did in 2021-22, but Wednesday she answered the call to get Ohio State back into the game and surge ahead. In Ohio State’s first lead of the game, Mikesell was integral.

Mikesell headed to the free throw line for three shots, with Ohio State down two. The First Team All-B1G guard missed the third shot, and a second-chance layup, but kept up with the play and made the third-chance attempt. Mikesell fought like that all night, playing every minute of the game.

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