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You’re Nuts: What is the Ohio State men’s basketball team’s most challenging Big Ten game?
Connor Lemons via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
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The Buckeyes’ 2024-25 conference schedule was released Thursday afternoon.
In typical Big Ten fashion, the conference was one of the very last to release its conference schedule, dropping the news late Thursday afternoon during “Big Ten Live.” With six weeks to go until Ohio State travels to Las Vegas to battle Texas, the Buckeyes and first-year head coach Jake Diebler now have the full picture of their schedule this season.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated which Big Ten team will be the “surprise team” of the conference. Last year was clearly Nebraska, as the Cornhuskers went dancing for the first time since 2014. But what about this year?
Connor went with the Iowa Hawkeyes, who return a potential B1G POY candidate in Payton Sandfort but also have the worst defense in the conference pretty much every season. Justin picked Rutgers, who now have two of the top three players in the 2024 class in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey.
However, the readers didn’t like either of our picks, as 55% of them picked “other.” 33% picked Rutgers with Justin, and the remaining 12% agreed with Connor and his pick of Iowa.
Connor- 81
With the full Big Ten schedule now out (sans tipoff times), we’re looking down the schedule and picking out what we think will be the Buckeyes’ toughest test in conference play. Keep in mind whether the game is home or on the road, who they play right before that game, as well as how many days off the team gets before the game.
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Alex Martin/Journal and Courier / USA TODAY NETWORK
You may be thinking that Zach Edey finally leaving will result in Purdue taking a step back this season. Unfortunately, you are probably wrong.
The Boilermakers lost the National Player of the Year, yes. But they return both starting guards, plus Caleb Furst, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Cam Heide, and Myles Colvin. They also have the fifth-best recruiting class in the Big Ten, highlighted by 7-foot-3, 235-pound freshman center Daniel Jacobsen (insert the Breaking Bad “We can’t let him keep getting away with this!” meme). And future Hall of Fame coach Matt Painter didn’t go anywhere.
Purdue will have one of, if not the best backcourt in the conference this year with Smith and Fletcher Loyer. The knock on those guys in years past was the fact that they were both young and just “needed some time.” Well, they’re both juniors now. The time for Smith and Loyer to carry the Boilermakers is now, and quite a few people think they’re capable of it.
The Buckeyes travel to West Lafayette Sunday, Jan. 21. That’s three days after facing popular pre-season Big Ten favorite Indiana in Columbus, and will be the Buckeyes’ sixth game during a month in which they will play eight games. This game has the makings of a big-time letdown, especially if the Buckeyes are able to knock off the Hoosiers at home just a few nights earlier. If Diebler and the gang beat Indiana, they’ll have to quickly shift their focus to the two-time defending Big Ten champions.
Ohio State has not won at Purdue since 2018, when Keita Bates-Diop’s offensive tip-in with just seconds left on the clock won it for the upstart Buckeyes during Chris Holtmann’s very first season. Including that win, the Buckeyes have lost six of their last seven games at Mackey Arena, by an average margin of 14.2 points.
It’ll be a tough test, inside a venue where very few road teams walk out victorious.
This one is pretty simple. As the season progresses, each game gets more important, so the season finale is incredibly important for a multitude of reasons.
The Buckeyes’ season finale on March 8 is at Indiana, which means it will be senior night at Assembly Hall. Bloomington is an incredibly difficult place to play anyway, and now Ohio State has to go there during senior night when the arena will be even louder and more amped than usual.
Indiana will have one of the top teams in the conference this season, with Oumar Ballo coming in from Arizona as the top center in the transfer portal and one of the top overall players. Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Anthony Leal, Gabe Cupps, Trey Galloway, and Jakai Newton are all returning pieces for the Hoosiers that will provide valuable minutes.
Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, Luke Goode, and Langdon Hatton are all transferring in, and Bryson Tucker is one of the top recruits in the country coming to Bloomington.
Put all of these things in a blender, and this is going to pretty easily be the toughest game of the conference season — and maybe the entire season. The glass-half-full perspective, though, is If the Buckeyes are able to win this game, that would be a huge momentum boost heading into the tournament season.
Continue reading...
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-Imagn Images
The Buckeyes’ 2024-25 conference schedule was released Thursday afternoon.
In typical Big Ten fashion, the conference was one of the very last to release its conference schedule, dropping the news late Thursday afternoon during “Big Ten Live.” With six weeks to go until Ohio State travels to Las Vegas to battle Texas, the Buckeyes and first-year head coach Jake Diebler now have the full picture of their schedule this season.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated which Big Ten team will be the “surprise team” of the conference. Last year was clearly Nebraska, as the Cornhuskers went dancing for the first time since 2014. But what about this year?
Connor went with the Iowa Hawkeyes, who return a potential B1G POY candidate in Payton Sandfort but also have the worst defense in the conference pretty much every season. Justin picked Rutgers, who now have two of the top three players in the 2024 class in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey.
However, the readers didn’t like either of our picks, as 55% of them picked “other.” 33% picked Rutgers with Justin, and the remaining 12% agreed with Connor and his pick of Iowa.
After 170 weeks:
Connor- 81
Justin- 68
Other- 17
(There have been four ties)
With the full Big Ten schedule now out (sans tipoff times), we’re looking down the schedule and picking out what we think will be the Buckeyes’ toughest test in conference play. Keep in mind whether the game is home or on the road, who they play right before that game, as well as how many days off the team gets before the game.
This week’s question: What is the Ohio State men’s basketball team’s most challenging Big Ten game?
Connor: At Purdue (Jan. 21)
You may be thinking that Zach Edey finally leaving will result in Purdue taking a step back this season. Unfortunately, you are probably wrong.
The Boilermakers lost the National Player of the Year, yes. But they return both starting guards, plus Caleb Furst, Trey Kaufman-Renn, Cam Heide, and Myles Colvin. They also have the fifth-best recruiting class in the Big Ten, highlighted by 7-foot-3, 235-pound freshman center Daniel Jacobsen (insert the Breaking Bad “We can’t let him keep getting away with this!” meme). And future Hall of Fame coach Matt Painter didn’t go anywhere.
Purdue will have one of, if not the best backcourt in the conference this year with Smith and Fletcher Loyer. The knock on those guys in years past was the fact that they were both young and just “needed some time.” Well, they’re both juniors now. The time for Smith and Loyer to carry the Boilermakers is now, and quite a few people think they’re capable of it.
The Buckeyes travel to West Lafayette Sunday, Jan. 21. That’s three days after facing popular pre-season Big Ten favorite Indiana in Columbus, and will be the Buckeyes’ sixth game during a month in which they will play eight games. This game has the makings of a big-time letdown, especially if the Buckeyes are able to knock off the Hoosiers at home just a few nights earlier. If Diebler and the gang beat Indiana, they’ll have to quickly shift their focus to the two-time defending Big Ten champions.
Ohio State has not won at Purdue since 2018, when Keita Bates-Diop’s offensive tip-in with just seconds left on the clock won it for the upstart Buckeyes during Chris Holtmann’s very first season. Including that win, the Buckeyes have lost six of their last seven games at Mackey Arena, by an average margin of 14.2 points.
It’ll be a tough test, inside a venue where very few road teams walk out victorious.
Justin: At Indiana (March 8)
This one is pretty simple. As the season progresses, each game gets more important, so the season finale is incredibly important for a multitude of reasons.
The Buckeyes’ season finale on March 8 is at Indiana, which means it will be senior night at Assembly Hall. Bloomington is an incredibly difficult place to play anyway, and now Ohio State has to go there during senior night when the arena will be even louder and more amped than usual.
Indiana will have one of the top teams in the conference this season, with Oumar Ballo coming in from Arizona as the top center in the transfer portal and one of the top overall players. Mackenzie Mgbako, Malik Reneau, Anthony Leal, Gabe Cupps, Trey Galloway, and Jakai Newton are all returning pieces for the Hoosiers that will provide valuable minutes.
Myles Rice, Kanaan Carlyle, Luke Goode, and Langdon Hatton are all transferring in, and Bryson Tucker is one of the top recruits in the country coming to Bloomington.
Put all of these things in a blender, and this is going to pretty easily be the toughest game of the conference season — and maybe the entire season. The glass-half-full perspective, though, is If the Buckeyes are able to win this game, that would be a huge momentum boost heading into the tournament season.
Continue reading...