Wednesday Skull Session

By D.J. Byrnes on November 4, 2015 at 4:59 am
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Tuesday, Nov. 3, was a wild-ass day in Ohio State athletics history.

 ODDSMAKERS DIFFER FROM CFP COMMITTEE. Shocking: The CFP Committee's rankings are not the only subjective rankings in the world. 

R.J. Bell of Pregame.com released Vegas oddsmakers' CFB rankings. On top of that, the number gurus at 538 published their own mathematical rankings. (Formula explanation here.)

Compounded, it makes for an interesting juxtaposition. 

RANK ODDSMAKERS 538 CFP COMMITTEE
1 OHIO STATE OHIO STATE CLEMSON
2 ALABAMA CLEMSON LOUISIANA STATE
3 TEXAS CHRISTIAN ALABAMA OHIO STATE
4 BAYLOR TEXAS CHRISTIAN ALABAMA
5 CLEMSON BAYLOR NOTRE DAME
6 LOUISIANA STATE LOUISIANA STATE BAYLOR
7 MICHIGAN STATE NOTRE DAME MICHIGAN STATE
8 OKLAHOMA MICHIGAN STATE TEXAS CHRISTIAN
9 STANFORD STANFORD IOWA
10 FLORIDA FLORIDA FLORIDA

538 gazed into its crystal ball and computed contenders' chances at conferences titles, a playoff bid, and a national championship:

SCHOOL CONFERENCE TITLE PLAYOFFS CHAMPIONSHIP
OHIO STATE 47% 61% 16%
CLEMSON 56% 51% 12%
ALABAMA 14% 41% 11%
TEXAS CHRISTIAN 37% 31% 11%

The fact Ohio State leads the field with a 16 percent chance at national title speaks to just how hard it is to win a championship. (I wouldn't roll the dice on a 16 percent chance to win a million dollars if failure meant the next five years in prison.)

There is, however, one postseason matchup I crave: Urban Meyer vs. the Warlock in Miami on New Year's Eve. 

That game would either be cathartically euphoric or plunge me into a Riddler-like insanity. *slices palm open with a bowie knife* Where do I sign this request with my blood?

 MALCOLM LEADS THE WAY. I've mentioned Malcolm Jenkins' play a few times this year, but in case you thought the Philadelphia Eagles safety slipped since then:

The seventh-year vet has 43 tackles, four pass breakups, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery, and one interception in seven games thus far.

In other news: How about Kurt Coleman? He posted an interception for the Carolina Panthers on Monday Night Football, and it appears that wasn't an anomaly within his play this year.

Aside: I'm elated Will Hill is out here raking millions.

Sadly, it's unsurprising the Cleveland Browns' Donte Whitner isn't on this list. His heart is still in the game, but his athleticism isn't good enough to cover his miscues anymore. Much like the Browns, it's been tough for this Whitner fan to stomach.

 OH, THAT'S FANCY. Here's junior women's hockey forward Claudia Kepler throwing down some razzle dazzle in an intermission shootout during a men's hockey game:

 

I watched that video 15 times, and I'm still stunned by how nonchalant Kepler made that look. 

 THOSE WMDs. Elephants pulverize giant pumpkins... New twist on ransomware... Time to reclaim trolling... Author accuses 60 Minutes of stealing Ohio heroin piece... Bryan Cranston commands as blacklisted writer in Trumbo... Half the world's saiga antelopes died in two weeks.

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