Thad Matta didn't hang himself, and the men's basketball team put away Air Force on Tuesday night, 74-50. Marc Loving (18 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists) provided the highlight of the game:
Marc Loving at the buzzer... It's good! Watch Loving drill a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer! @OhioStAthletics https://t.co/BAdUnXoQyM
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 9, 2015
Full highlights:
Marc Loving scored 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 assist to help @OhioStateHoops beat Air Force, 74-50. https://t.co/sKhUvxhPOy
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) December 9, 2015
Let's hope World War III isn't fought on the hardwood.
LEE AND APPLE TO THE PROS? Once the dust settles in Glendale, the junior exodus will begin. We dine on "source" reports until then.
Multiple sources tell me Ohio State LB Darron Lee is strongly considering applying for entry into the 2016 NFL Draft.
— Rand Getlin (@Rand_Getlin) December 8, 2015
My sources in Columbus continue to say Eli Apple is leaning toward leaving early. https://t.co/gJh2A3hfI3
— Matt Miller (@nfldraftscout) December 8, 2015
The time where Darron Lee would be too small to play linebacker in the NFL is past. He'll probably fall the second round and make some team look smart for drafting him (might be the Bengals; it won't be the Browns).
Yes, Eli Apple gave up some plays this year, but that's the nature of the position given the way the rules shifted to favor offensive players. Overall I thought his play was quite becoming of the No. 1 cornerback for a revamped secondary.
REINFORCEMENTS INBOUND. People who used the loss to Michigan State to show a rotting of Ohio State were a joke for reasons like this.
From cleveland.com:
With 18 verbal commits in its 2016 class, Ohio State has the strongest-rated recruiting class in the country, and with what could be up to four or five more open spots remaining, the Buckeyes could get even stronger.
That's how national championships are won. Even though Ohio State is disappointed it didn't make the College Football Playoff for the right to defend last year's national title, Urban Meyer is getting it done behind the scenes to insure that competing for college football's biggest prize is an annual tradition.
Among the gems of Ohio State's 2016 class are five-star defensive ends Nick Bosa of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) St. Thomas Aquinas and Jonathon Cooper of Gahanna (Ohio) Lincoln; four-star wide receiver Austin Mack of Fort Wayne (Ind.) Bishop Luers; and four-star tight end Jake Hausmann of Cincinnati Archbishop Moeller.
As it turns out, championship pedigree and large swaths of available playing time make a stiff recruiting elixir.
Meyer has shown a loyalty to his older players, which makes sense because it's not fantasy football. Obviously older players were in the program first, but there's a lot of game-tested loyalty walking out the door.
Will any of the freshmen break through, unlike any were able to truly do this year? That's going to be one of about 100 storylines entering fall camp (which is only nine months away!!!!!).
SPIELMAN ON THE FIESTA MIC. The announcers for the Battletoads Fiesta Bowl—sorry, I will only call it by its proper name for $9,999.99—are set and a Buckeye we all love to know is in the booth.
No. 8 Notre Dame vs. No. 7 Ohio State TV: Sean McDonough, Chris Spielman, Todd McShay Radio: Adam Amin, Kelly Stouffer, Olivia Harlan.
— Richard Deitsch (@richarddeitsch) December 8, 2015
I could listen to Spielman all day, and I judge those who try to say he's objectively bad. It's also going to make a certain subset of Irish fans go ballistic, which is never a bad thing. (NY6 announcing team lineup.)
MICAH JORDAN WINS B1G HONORS. Micah Jordan, a redshirt freshman wrestler, is the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week.
From ohiostatebuckeyes.com:
Jordan, from Urbana, Ohio, and a four-time state champion at powerful St. Paris Graham High School, won the 141-pound weight class as the fifth seed at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational last weekend, knocking off two ranked opponents in the process. In the semifinals, he earned a 5-2 decision over top-seeded and eighth-ranked Solomon Chishkov and then followed that up with a 7-3 victory in the finals against third-seeded and 13th-ranked Todd Preston of Harvard.
Thanks to his big weekend, Jordan rose eight spots in this week’s InterMat 141-pound rankings, up from No. 16 to No. 8. In Flowrestling’s rankings, he is No. 7 (up from No. 20 last week).
At 12-0, Jordan is one of five Buckeye starters who are still undefeated this year
The Wrestlebucks are next in action Friday when they head to Columbia to take on Missouri.
SKYLINE COMETH. If sectarian strife erupted in Ohio... there's little doubt in my mind the match to the powder keg will involve a dispute over Skyline Chili. Some say it's good. Some say it's bad. I belonged in the former camp until I was swayed this summer by a mystic Skyline monk in a Cincinnati chili monastery.
No matter where you stand though, Skyline is planting its flag near Ohio State's campus.
From bizjournals.com:
Franchisee Scott Redwine will launch his second area Skyline at 2995 Olentangy River Road in Columbus next year as part of Kohr Royer Griffith Inc.’s 18,000-square-foot Shoppes on Olentangy project north of Ohio State University.
“I’m a 25-year veteran of Skyline and we’ve been looking in that area for 15 years,” Redwine told me. “We feel like it’ll be a home run for us.”
The restaurant will be 2,400 square feet, a little smaller than the typical Skyline store. It will be on the end of the center and include a drive-through window. The targeted opening is February.
I can see how the Skyline experience could go south in a hurry. But if the location is right, I'd prefer it over Canes (which dare I say is now overrated?) as a post-Schott meal. I hope this doesn't get my grandkids killed if the oncoming chili intifada breaks the wrong way.
THOSE WMDs. The creepiest things you can do on Facebook... We attended the 43rd annual Van Nationals... Dog shoots Toledo pizza delivery man... Four-year-old Sophie live tests a Volvo truck... Witness thought Art Basel stabbing was an act.... Mekka Don: Zeke! (Remix)... Bitcoin's creator Satoshi Nakamoto is probably this unknown Australian genius.
