ThomasCostello
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Ohio State women’s basketball and the curse of the No. 2 ranking
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
For the superstitious, or a least a little-stitious, the new Buckeyes’ ranking comes with a spooky streak
Black cats. Walking under a ladder. Breaking a mirror. Nobody knows the source of the bad luck for Ohio State women’s basketball, but on Monday, a curse fell upon the house of Buckeye. The curse of the Associated Press’ No. 2 ranking in the country.
Now it might not be up there with the legendary sports curses, like the Boston Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees the same week as the Titanic sunk, creating the curse of the Bambino, but the 2024 calendar hasn’t been kind to teams who earn the illustrious second-place ranking.
Dating back to January 8, when the UCLA Bruins first suffered the curse’s wrath, each of the five weeks that followed ended with the team in the No. 2 spot losing in the following week. It began with a Los Angeles rivalry win for the USC Trojans over the Bruins.
Ohio State fans know the week of Jan. 15 well, because it culminated with the Buckeyes defeat of the then No. 2 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, giving the dreaded ranking back to the Bruins, only for them to perish once again.
The ranking took a week off from ravaging the Bruins and Hawkeyes, this time falling to the Kansas State Wildcats, hungrier than ever for victims. Kansas State lost not once, but twice, in the week it sat behind the extra comfortable, and undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks.
That gave the Hawkeyes another shot at breaking the curse’s formidable power, only to have the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and free throw music, come back from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Iowa yet again. Another notch for the No. 2 curse.
Monday, the worst news imaginable, sports-wise, hit the Buckeyes when AP voters entered Ohio State’s nightmares, bestowing it the No. 2 ranking. Does that mean head coach Kevin McGuff is scouring for a four-leaf clover and avoiding stepping on cracks? Does superstition come into play for the 11-year scarlet and gray program leader?
“Not really,” said McGuff. “Just, you know, whether we’re two or five or seven, it’s always the same for us.”
Oh.
“It’s like, hey, we’ve got a big game tomorrow against a red-hot Nebraska team,” said McGuff. “So we need an excellent practice today and we’ll have all of our focus on that game tomorrow.”
Reports from Tuesday’s practice didn’t include any jitters or nervousness about the ranking’s presence around the team. Instead, the focus was on not allowing the Cornhuskers to repeat what they did to Iowa on Sunday.
“Prepare for the next game and the most important game is the next one,” said forward Rebeka Mikulášiková. “So just not focusing on numbers.”
Instead, Mikulášiková is focusing on a strength of Nebraska: It’s the interior game.
The Slovakian forward has played against Cornhuskers junior center Alexis Markowski, but this year, the Buckeyes’ defense in the paint is improved from previous campaigns. Mikulášiková’s improved strength and conditioning allows the 6-foot-3 Slovakian to not only move around defenders on offense but keep up with the moves of some of the best bigs in the Big Ten.
Against the Wisconsin Badgers, Indiana Hoosiers, and Minnesota Golden Gophers, each boasting a strong post presence, Mikulášiková has stepped up to break what looked like a cursed interior defense.
Also, the Buckeyes are a year older and sit as one of the more experienced sides in the Big Ten. Despite multiple double-digit deficits this season, Ohio State has adjusted in-game and came away with an 11-game winning streak over the likes of Iowa and Indiana. In other words, sides that tormented the scarlet and gray last year.
How well does Ohio State adjust? In the last four games, in which the above four teams with impressive play in the paint are included, the Buckeyes outscored them in the third quarter a combined 110-44.
That’s pretty scary.
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Kirk Irwin/Getty Images
For the superstitious, or a least a little-stitious, the new Buckeyes’ ranking comes with a spooky streak
Black cats. Walking under a ladder. Breaking a mirror. Nobody knows the source of the bad luck for Ohio State women’s basketball, but on Monday, a curse fell upon the house of Buckeye. The curse of the Associated Press’ No. 2 ranking in the country.
Now it might not be up there with the legendary sports curses, like the Boston Red Sox selling Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees the same week as the Titanic sunk, creating the curse of the Bambino, but the 2024 calendar hasn’t been kind to teams who earn the illustrious second-place ranking.
Dating back to January 8, when the UCLA Bruins first suffered the curse’s wrath, each of the five weeks that followed ended with the team in the No. 2 spot losing in the following week. It began with a Los Angeles rivalry win for the USC Trojans over the Bruins.
Ohio State fans know the week of Jan. 15 well, because it culminated with the Buckeyes defeat of the then No. 2 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, giving the dreaded ranking back to the Bruins, only for them to perish once again.
The ranking took a week off from ravaging the Bruins and Hawkeyes, this time falling to the Kansas State Wildcats, hungrier than ever for victims. Kansas State lost not once, but twice, in the week it sat behind the extra comfortable, and undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks.
That gave the Hawkeyes another shot at breaking the curse’s formidable power, only to have the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and free throw music, come back from 14 points down in the fourth quarter to defeat Iowa yet again. Another notch for the No. 2 curse.
Monday, the worst news imaginable, sports-wise, hit the Buckeyes when AP voters entered Ohio State’s nightmares, bestowing it the No. 2 ranking. Does that mean head coach Kevin McGuff is scouring for a four-leaf clover and avoiding stepping on cracks? Does superstition come into play for the 11-year scarlet and gray program leader?
“Not really,” said McGuff. “Just, you know, whether we’re two or five or seven, it’s always the same for us.”
Oh.
“It’s like, hey, we’ve got a big game tomorrow against a red-hot Nebraska team,” said McGuff. “So we need an excellent practice today and we’ll have all of our focus on that game tomorrow.”
Reports from Tuesday’s practice didn’t include any jitters or nervousness about the ranking’s presence around the team. Instead, the focus was on not allowing the Cornhuskers to repeat what they did to Iowa on Sunday.
“Prepare for the next game and the most important game is the next one,” said forward Rebeka Mikulášiková. “So just not focusing on numbers.”
Instead, Mikulášiková is focusing on a strength of Nebraska: It’s the interior game.
The Slovakian forward has played against Cornhuskers junior center Alexis Markowski, but this year, the Buckeyes’ defense in the paint is improved from previous campaigns. Mikulášiková’s improved strength and conditioning allows the 6-foot-3 Slovakian to not only move around defenders on offense but keep up with the moves of some of the best bigs in the Big Ten.
Against the Wisconsin Badgers, Indiana Hoosiers, and Minnesota Golden Gophers, each boasting a strong post presence, Mikulášiková has stepped up to break what looked like a cursed interior defense.
Also, the Buckeyes are a year older and sit as one of the more experienced sides in the Big Ten. Despite multiple double-digit deficits this season, Ohio State has adjusted in-game and came away with an 11-game winning streak over the likes of Iowa and Indiana. In other words, sides that tormented the scarlet and gray last year.
How well does Ohio State adjust? In the last four games, in which the above four teams with impressive play in the paint are included, the Buckeyes outscored them in the third quarter a combined 110-44.
That’s pretty scary.
Continue reading...