Good morning, everyone and welcome to your Wednesday Skull Session.
It seems like every week I am lucky enough to recap some important Buckeye news, whether it's a big basketball win, Michigan or Indiana getting upset, or some major NCAA news.
Unfortunately, there was also big news yesterday, but it wasn't the poll-shifting, fist-bumping kind at all. Instead, WSYX (the Columbus ABC affiliate) reported that three Ohio State players are linked to an alleged rape case.
We still don't know some of the most important details of the case – such as which players might be involved and how – so it is extremely important to let the investigation run its course before raising the pitchforks against any party.
Complicating matters further is that the original report and the later news broadcast had slightly different details, such as whether the victim was an Ohio State student or not.
As this story continues to develop, the only thing we can control is how sensitively we discuss the news – with respect for the victim and without speculative accusations of others.
PREPARE YOUR BRACKETS. In other news, several would-be Cinderallas recently clinched automatic bids to the Big Dance, prompting updates from the masters of the dark arts of bracketology.
Despite a strong 5-0 finish in Big Ten play, that included wins over Michigan State and Indiana, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports has Ohio State slotted as a four seed in the South region. Joe Lunardi, his counterpart at ESPN, has the Buckeyes as a two seed in the East Region, while Crashing the Dance has Ohio State as a three.
Zeroing in on Ohio State, yesterday Sarah discussed Aaron Craft's inclusion in the Grantland tournament over the most hated college basketball player. Pat Forde's latest Forde Minutes (I missed the point where he stopped dashing, I guess) discussed the closely related issue of whether or not Craft is overrated, as some argue.
Before segueing into a discussion of race in college basketball, Forde actually lauds Craft, arguing that "Craft has earned all the love he's received." It's nice to see Craft get the praise he deserves, especially from non-Buckeyes. Furthermore, Ohio State is Forde's "hot Big Ten team":
Ohio State has won five in a row, including an upset win at Indiana and solid home victories over Michigan State and Illinois. Unlike many Thad Matta teams at this time of year, the Buckeyes are expanding their rotation instead of shrinking it, playing athletic guard Shannon Scott with Aaron Craft and enjoying the results.
It's definitely been a rollercoaster year for the Buckeyes.
AN AMIABLE BREAKUP. The Big East announced that Notre Dame will officially leave for the greener(?) pastures of the ACC, but the breakup couldn't have gone any better for both parties, really. Big East commissioner Mike Aresco announced that,
“In view of Notre Dame's expressed desire to join the ACC on an earlier timetable, the BIG EAST and Notre Dame were able to arrive at an acceptable resolution... I want to thank the Notre Dame administration and Athletic Director Jack Swarbrick for their efforts in moving toward this orderly transition. Notre Dame has been a valued member of the BIG EAST and we wish them well."
Imagine that. Instead of a nasty breakup with lawsuits or a delayed entry into a new conference, this move has the major players sending well wishes all around. While Notre Dame's early move seems to strengthen the ACC in the face of the expansionist Jim Delany and the Big Ten, many wonder if it's not over yet:
Depending upon whom you hear from, the Big Ten has made overtures to several ACC schools to leave and join the Big Ten. Nobody’s biting yet, but the uncertainty over Maryland’s $50 million exit fee has been cited as a factor. Who knows what happens if that figure is reduced? Anyway, if Delany’s strategy is to break down the ACC so that Notre Dame has to find a new home again, things could get a mite messy.
The Senator seems to rightly identify the Maryland exit fee as the crucial variable: if the $50 million fee is reduced, then it's possible several foundational ACC schools could move over to the Big Ten, undermining the conference and ultimately leading to an unstable situation for Notre Dame.
If Andy Staples is correct and Jim Delany is as smart as many believe, then I could not be more impressed with his foresight in conference realignment.
Delany could just be waiting for Notre Dame ENTER THE MATRIX. College Football Matrix is a website devoted to the statistical analysis of college football, and they recently released their 2013-14 national championship game berth model. This model is designed to whittle away teams in rounds to discover the most likely contenders for the next national championship.
The first cut is of non-AQ teams, the second is based upon conference talent rankings, while the third through sixth cuts were based upon talent rankings relative to previous years' champions, average recruiting rankings, and coaching experience.
The eleven teams to survive all six cuts are the usual suspects, like Alabama, Florida, Notre Dame, and LSU, with Ohio State as the only Big Ten representative:
Ohio State – Low attrition and Meyer in year 2. Lights out. This should be a strong favorite to the BCS title game
I don't know about "strong favorite," but anything is certainly possible under Meyer and in a weak Big Ten.
LINKS FOR YOUR TIME. We let it happen: Denard will officially be on the cover of the next NCAA video game. Sigh... Phil Steele ranks incoming frosh quarterbacks and running backs, with EzE, Dontre Wilson, and JT Barrett making appearances... Clowney's favorite Michigan tackling dummy, Vincent Smith, takes time to do a reddit AMA... Tony Gonzalez is the man... Mars could have had life?
