The Buckeye Blog

Did you ever think you would see the day when two, count ‘em, two Big Ten teams were eying #1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.

With Florida’s loss to unranked LSU on Sat. and North Carolina’s loss to unranked Maryland, Wisconsin may not have been set back much by Sunday’s loss to the Buckeyes. Another close game in the Big Ten tournament and both Ohio State and Wisconsin could be looking at #1 seeds in the big dance.

Everyone knows that momentum counts for a lot when it comes to seeding the tournament and Florida, which ran the table until the past few weeks locking up the SEC title, has lost 2 of its last three games. With five minutes left in the game, LSU lead Florida by a pathetic 53-35. Florida never got within eight points from then on losing by 10 with a final score of 66-56.

I mentioned earlier that Florida was struggling mentally and I am not the only one who seems to think so. Al Horford of the Gators told ESPN.com:

“I’m worried about our team right now. We just got to get back in there and just figure this out,” Horford said. “If it’s not going well on offense, guys quit on defense. That’s something we never did last year, so that’s something we have to deal with. … We’ve got to be able to overcome that and know that some nights we’re not going to score 80 points.”

While I’m sure that Gator fans will be quick to point out that they beat Ohio State earlier this season, Oden had just joined the team and was basically playing without the use of his left hand. Likewise with the loss to North Carolina which was against a pre-Oden Ohio State. Unlike many other teams out tere, the Buckeyes are much stronger than a one man team. ESPN’s Andy Katz went so far as to say that Matta coached two teams this year, “…one without Oden and and ultimately one with the superstar center.”

And finally, ESPNs Bracketology has moved Ohio State into a #1 seed (the kept Wisconsin #1 also).

Although the video is not the best, Carmen Ohio can still bring a tear to the eye.

Go Buckeyes! Bring on the NCAA and a #1 seed!

I have been waiting for this game all season and it didn’t disappoint. With less than five seconds left in the game and the Buckeyes down by one, it was all about getting the ball to Connely who took it down the lane to put the Bucks on top by one.

Wisconsin got the ball back with 3.9, drove the ball down the court only to be stopped by senior Ron Lewis who made an outstanding defensive play in his last home game for Ohio State.

With the win, Ohio State secures its second Big Ten championship in two years, even though it still faces Michigan later in the week. Ohio State also holds the best record in the NCAA at 26-3 and on Monday, it should hold the #1 spots in both the AP and ESPN/Coaches poll.

If the Bucks make it to the final of the Big Ten tournament, they should also get the #1 seed in the Midwest no matter what the pundits over at ESPN say about them.

Most importantly, this is a “quality” win. Something the Buckeyes have struggled with this season. So far, Ohio State had lost to all top five teams it met and there were some big question marks left to be answered. This should quiet some of the critics for now but I do think this game was way too close for a home game.

Best moment of the game: Coach Thad Matta getting so excited he spit out his gum, then, in slow motion replay, bends down…picks it up off the floor…and puts it back in his mouth! Barely misses a beat.

I’m afraid I didn’t get a DVR of the game but I will post the replay as soon as I can find it.

Well, hey, it was good while it lasted…what about 24 hrs?

I think they need to hand these shirt out to Ohio State fans before the game this weekend. Imagine the Schott filled with t-shirts that were obsolete in a day. If that doesn’t get into the Badger’s heads…

If you didn’t see it last night, the Badgers took a stellar nose dive against Michigan State losing 64-55. As has become the pattern, Michigan State’s Drew Neitzel played like a madman leading his team with 28 points.

No question about it, this Neitzel kid is good. He gave Ohio State a scare in the Schott and last night’s performance may have just pushed Michigan State into the tournament.

As for the #1/#1 matchup as the Buckeyes take on Wisconsin this Sunday (granted we don’t lose to 1-11 Penn State tonight), it’s still on. The new rankings don’t come out until Monday. So wear your shirts now badger fans because they won’t be worth much come Tuesday.

Oh yeah…ESPN’s Bracketology still has Ohio State as a #2 seed to #1 seed Wisconsin. And that was updated today!

I would imagine that even if Ohio State beats Wisconsin Sunday, the gurus over at ESPN will still have the Buckeyes as a #2.

For those of you who missed it (and I think most of Ohio did), Ohio State lost the Nike challenge to Florida to run more miles during the month of January. You may have seen the Nike commercial which ran in Florida before the National Championship game. Don’t be surprised if you didn’t however, Nike only made one commercial in which Brutus challenges Florida students. When I spoke to a Nike representative, I was informed that there was not a commercial challenging Ohio State students.

For anyone who actually cares about a challenge neatly marketed and packaged to sell a running shoe that plays music while you work out, Florida won. Go figure. January in Florida…78 degrees, sunny, running sound like a good workout. Columbus in January…freezing rain, snow, cloudy…I stay on the couch.

So, for about 1/2 a day, a statue of the Florida alligator was erected at the corner of 15th and High st. As you can imagine, he didn’t fare well.

(Thanks to 11 Warriors for the tip.)

Could it be that Florida peaked too early? Has Joakim Noah finally let all that passion and aggression get the best of him?

According to Noah, everything is fine even though during the last two games, he has taken swats at both a cheerleader and a coach. Say what you will about both, Noah is beginning to look more and more like a child on an elementary school playground. It also needs to be noted that Florida was struggling in both games in which the incidents happened.

Noah, meanwhile, told ESPN.com he has everything under control:

“It’s over with,” Noah said. “I’m not really supposed to talk about it. All I can say is that … I feel like people are just trying to get in my head. It’s corny, but it’s OK. Whatever. I’m over it. At the end of the day, if he tried to take the ball away from me, I wouldn’t let him get it, either. I think that people are just trying to get in my head, and I’m not going to let that happen.”

Noah added that he would have been laughing about the incident if they had been winning. At least he has that under control.

The problems for Florida don’t end with Noah however. Freshman guard Brandon Powell is also facing possible suspension for throwing a punch as Vanderbilt fans rushed the court. In all fairness, Vanderbilt is facing a $25,000 fine themselves as it is against NCAA rules for fans to rush the court after a game, no matter how big the win. I also haven’t seen the video and it is reported the Donovan was pushed.

Whatever the case, it looks like things are starting to get into the heads of the Florida players.

It all depends on who you listen to. The college hoop rankings that came out today place Ohio State at the top of the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll while the AP poll pits Wisconsin in the #1 spot with Ohio State ranked #2. Either way, it makes for a big showdown next weekend as the Bucks take on Wisconsin at home.

Florida slipped to number #3 in both polls with UCLA and North Carolina rounding out the top five respectively in both polls. The polls make for interesting reading as the Buckeyes have lost away games to North Carolina (pre-Oden), Florida and Wisconsin. However, the Bucks will have the opportunity to seal their regular season ranking when they meet on the 25th of Feb.

Ohio State will still need to get past Penn State at home, which shouldn’t be a problem however, the Lions gave the Buckeyes a good scare last Wed. They then round out the season against Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Of note, while the Bucks are ranked second to the Badgers in the AP poll, they still lead Wisconsin in the Big Ten.

And oh, what a glorious day this is. Here I am, in the heart of ACC country and neither Maryland or Duke are in the top 25. It is truly a beautiful thing. (Remember, it takes an Ohio State coach to make a Maryland basketball team.)

UpdateHere’s the gum spitting video.

To say the least, it has been a rough week. After getting hit by an ice storm that started sometime last Tuesday afternoon, the power went out Wed. morning around 6:00 a.m. and didn’t return until Thursday afternoon. The power outage did damage to our furnace so we didn’t get heat back in the house until late Friday afternoon. After a valiant struggle to keep the house warm, we abandoned ship late Wednesday and settled into a hotel room just in time to see that Ohio State barely got by Penn State and Florida struggled with Alabama.

What was really frustrating was not so much the power outage, the frozen gold fish or packing the family into the van and driving aimlessly in an attempt to stay warm. I could take all that. What was really difficult was finding out later that the Buckeyes not only almost lost to Penn State on a missed three point shot but to learn that the Bucks gave up something like a 40-19 point lead at one point in the first half.

This is not the first time that the Buckeyes have nearly blown a big first half lead. We saw this against Michigan State and they needed a big second half run against Perdue. There is no question it is a sign of Ohio State’s immaturity. If the Bucks hope to do well come March, they are going to have to learn how to play with a big lead and learn how to keep a big lead.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta summed it up perfectly on ESPN.com when he said,

“I know you guys get tired of me saying ‘We need consistency. We need consistency,” Matta said. “But that’s exactly what this team needs.”

When this team controls the consistency for two solid halves, they will have a team with national championship potential. Without it however, March may end way too soon.

This of course leads me to the good news, with Florida losing to Vanderbilt, Ohio State stands poised to move into a first place ranking taking ending the Gators lock on #1/#1. Up until this week, I thought Florida was the team to beat. They play an aggressive, exciting game but lately there have been cracks in the armor. Kentucky gave them a run and Alabama pushed it a little closer.

The question becomes, has Florida peaked too early. Noah has had his problems lately, what with Pom-Pom Gate in Kentucky and his tussle with the Vandy coach.

Ohio State’s return to #1 is not a sure thing as Wisconsin and UCLA also have a shot. However, this doesn’t seem to matter to the geniuses over at ESPN.com’s “Bracketology” division. They still like Wisconsin as a #1 seed.

None of this really matters yet. The Bucks take on Penn St. at home Wed. and then meet the Badgers in the Schott next Sunday. This game has the potential to be a #1 vs. #2 matchup. No matter what the rankings going in, whoever wins will come out ranked #1. If the Bucks can get by Wisconsin and show well in the Big Ten tourney, anything but a #1 seed would be a crime.

Now that signing day is over the reviews are it appears that Tressel is moving forward according to plan. He seems to have picked up some speed and a couple of good defensmen. One of the most interesting recruits would have to be RB Brandon Saine out of Piqua.

Saine was chosen as Ohio’s 2006 Mr. Football and was ranked #2 overall pick in Ohio. Apparently, Sane has some serious speed, maybe even Ginn Like speed.

The Buckeyes only bring on 15 players this year and coach Tressel seems happy. Ten of the fifteen come from Ohio. You can see the complete linup and player bios here.

ESPN.com didn’t seem to think the Buckeyes faired so well going so far as to name Ohio State one of the singing day losers. Don’t really know what to make of that other than it is ESPN. Rivals.com and Scout.com place the Ohio State class at 15 and 16 in the country respectively.

Lllllloyd Carr seems to have put together a good class for Michigan but they are still Michigan and they still have Carr.

Probably one of the most amazing recruiting classes has to be Illinois. Somehow, Ron Zook, who’s team has gone 4-19 in the last two seasons, has put together one of the top 15 recruiting classes in the country. Considering the Illini’s outstanding Big Ten record during the past two years (1-15) many, including former Michigan State coach John “I’m not crazy” Smith wondering if this year’s recruits won’t find an extra special something when they move into their dorms next year. As Smith told the New York Times, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

Florida and USC garnered the top two recruiting classes and Notre Dame picked up another glamor quarterback. Naturally, I’m just thrilled. As for Florida and USC, if they don’t want to play football in the cold, I don’t want to see them in Ohio anyway.

Wisconsin’s at home loss to Indiana sets the stage for what could be a big showdown Feb 25, as Ohio State takes on Wisconsin at home. But before the Buckeyes can look ahead, they will need to get past Michigan State at Michigan State this Saturday.

Last Saturday, the Bucks dominated the first half against MSU leading by 20 points at the buzzer. During the second half, however, Ohio State dropped into a defensive position in the second half creating a last possession win for Ohio State. At the same time, MSU’s Drew Neitzel went on a rampage putting in 24 points before the half was over.

There is no question that Ohio State’s inexperience came through last Saturday. The Bucks came out of the half looking as if they were planning on coasting to a win. When Neitzel took off, the Buckeyes were stymied and didn’t know how to respond. It is not the first time we have seen the Bucks fall asleep in the second half.

If Ohio State wants to see the latter weeks of March, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t, they will have to come through all 40 minutes of the big games. A slow second half may work in an off Big Ten game but come tourney time, everybody will be want their shot and there will be no room for sitting back.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the rankings this week. This is only Wisconsin’s second loss this season and the Bucks have lost three (including the loss to Wisconsin). You would think an at home loss to #25 Indiana would drop them out of the top five but I’m not sure. If they do, that should move Ohio State to #3. A number #1 seed is still well within reach come March.