Mike Meals
Guest
Opinion: Will Ohio State Ever Be A Basketball School? Does it Matter?
Mike Meals via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
We are honored to introduce you to Mike Meals who is interested in becoming a writer for The Buckeye Battle Cry. Follow Mike on Twitter (@mmeals) where he is bound to win you over with his fantastic Twitter game. Please give Mike some feedback and let us know what you think.
The Oxford Dictionary defines pride as “a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired”. There are thousands of things a person can have pride in; their family, their profession, or their sports teams are just a few.
Like most Ohio State fans, I take great pride in seeing the men of the Scarlet and Gray take the field every Saturday in the fall, putting my home state’s name on over their own name, and playing with everything they have. Being a Buckeye fan has given me more pride and things to boast about than almost every other college football program has in the 33 (starting of 34) falls I have been on this earth and able to witness.
However, like many Buckeyes, once fall gives away to winter, I tend to check out of my “live and die” attitude with our Buckeyes. I still root for the hoops teams. I am proud when our KnuckleBucks do well in hockey. I love seeing our non-money teams win national championships. With all that said, I mellow out once the confetti has fallen at the bowl game.
Will that ever change? Will Ohio State ever become anything other than a “Football School”?
First, let’s look at some facts. Only one other school besides Ohio State has played for a football national title and a basketball national title in the same year, the University of Florida. Only 5 schools have ever won a football, basketball, and baseball national championship (OSU, TTUN, Stanford, Cal, and UCLA). In fact, only a couple schools have even won a bowl game the same year they won an NCAA Basketball Championship in my lifetime: ‘82 North Carolina, ’02 Maryland, ’04 UConn, ’06 Florida (see above), ’08 Kansas, ’13 Louisville, and ’15 Duke. This means 7 out of 33 autumns have ended with a basketball champion winning their bowl game.
There are definitive “football schools” and definitive “basketball schools”…and they rarely cross paths. There are plenty of times that one of the football schools has a good run in the other money sport but they are never able to maintain that momentum. Fans of that TTUN tried to act like they were becoming a basketball school a few years ago when they played for the basketball championship but as good of a job as John Beilein has done in AA since he arrived, they are not a basketball school. Some (like myself) would argue they are not much of a football school recently either.
That brings up the next question. Is it ok to accept that you are not a basketball school? With conference realignment recently showing that football is the only money sport that matters anymore, it seems the universities across America have said it is ok. Unfortunately in the NCAA, we all know at the end of the day the money in the bank is the only thing that matters.
What would it take to become a basketball school? The one-year rule hurts anyone not willing to be as dirty as Kentucky is now. You’ll never have a Michael Jordan staying in school long enough to make an impact. These schools already have dumped money into making the 12,000 seat arenas as nice as they can be. The athletic departments have all the nicest facilities for student-athletes. The free education is always there to dangle in front of these students but it doesn’t work. All the money brought in by football can’t turn a basketball program around. They are two completely different trains of thought in the athletic department. You simply can’t merge them in today’s economic landscape.
But as a fan, is it okay? Can you maintain your pride? Damn right you can. When you see that a “football” program like Ohio State finished 3rd in the Men’s Capital One Cup standings, a standing gained based on the overall Men’s athletic program’s performance, you sure as hell can. At the end of the day, when Urban is holding up that bowl championship trophy, my pride in our boys of fall will carry me through to the next year. Is it enough for you?
The post Opinion: Will Ohio State Ever Be A Basketball School? Does it Matter? appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
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Mike Meals via our good friends at Buckeye Battle Cry
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
We are honored to introduce you to Mike Meals who is interested in becoming a writer for The Buckeye Battle Cry. Follow Mike on Twitter (@mmeals) where he is bound to win you over with his fantastic Twitter game. Please give Mike some feedback and let us know what you think.
The Oxford Dictionary defines pride as “a feeling or deep pleasure or satisfaction derived from one’s own achievements, the achievements of those with whom one is closely associated, or from qualities or possessions that are widely admired”. There are thousands of things a person can have pride in; their family, their profession, or their sports teams are just a few.
Like most Ohio State fans, I take great pride in seeing the men of the Scarlet and Gray take the field every Saturday in the fall, putting my home state’s name on over their own name, and playing with everything they have. Being a Buckeye fan has given me more pride and things to boast about than almost every other college football program has in the 33 (starting of 34) falls I have been on this earth and able to witness.
However, like many Buckeyes, once fall gives away to winter, I tend to check out of my “live and die” attitude with our Buckeyes. I still root for the hoops teams. I am proud when our KnuckleBucks do well in hockey. I love seeing our non-money teams win national championships. With all that said, I mellow out once the confetti has fallen at the bowl game.
Will that ever change? Will Ohio State ever become anything other than a “Football School”?
First, let’s look at some facts. Only one other school besides Ohio State has played for a football national title and a basketball national title in the same year, the University of Florida. Only 5 schools have ever won a football, basketball, and baseball national championship (OSU, TTUN, Stanford, Cal, and UCLA). In fact, only a couple schools have even won a bowl game the same year they won an NCAA Basketball Championship in my lifetime: ‘82 North Carolina, ’02 Maryland, ’04 UConn, ’06 Florida (see above), ’08 Kansas, ’13 Louisville, and ’15 Duke. This means 7 out of 33 autumns have ended with a basketball champion winning their bowl game.
There are definitive “football schools” and definitive “basketball schools”…and they rarely cross paths. There are plenty of times that one of the football schools has a good run in the other money sport but they are never able to maintain that momentum. Fans of that TTUN tried to act like they were becoming a basketball school a few years ago when they played for the basketball championship but as good of a job as John Beilein has done in AA since he arrived, they are not a basketball school. Some (like myself) would argue they are not much of a football school recently either.
That brings up the next question. Is it ok to accept that you are not a basketball school? With conference realignment recently showing that football is the only money sport that matters anymore, it seems the universities across America have said it is ok. Unfortunately in the NCAA, we all know at the end of the day the money in the bank is the only thing that matters.
What would it take to become a basketball school? The one-year rule hurts anyone not willing to be as dirty as Kentucky is now. You’ll never have a Michael Jordan staying in school long enough to make an impact. These schools already have dumped money into making the 12,000 seat arenas as nice as they can be. The athletic departments have all the nicest facilities for student-athletes. The free education is always there to dangle in front of these students but it doesn’t work. All the money brought in by football can’t turn a basketball program around. They are two completely different trains of thought in the athletic department. You simply can’t merge them in today’s economic landscape.
But as a fan, is it okay? Can you maintain your pride? Damn right you can. When you see that a “football” program like Ohio State finished 3rd in the Men’s Capital One Cup standings, a standing gained based on the overall Men’s athletic program’s performance, you sure as hell can. At the end of the day, when Urban is holding up that bowl championship trophy, my pride in our boys of fall will carry me through to the next year. Is it enough for you?
The post Opinion: Will Ohio State Ever Be A Basketball School? Does it Matter? appeared first on The Buckeye Battle Cry: Ohio State News and Commentary.
Continue reading...