Reliant Stadium is all set up for tonight's showdownGood morning Buckeye fans and let's welcome in another great week with your Monday morning Skull Session. The Butler has done it again, as Brad Stevens' team finds itself one win away from a national championship for the second year in a row. While Kemba Walker and the UConn Huskies have been on fire, winning every single tournament game they've played in this year (Maui, Big East, NCAA), they are certainly no 2009-2010 Duke team, and the Bulldogs are hungry to cut down the nets this season. It should be a great finale to one crazy tournament and while it still hurts not to see your Buckeyes playing this evening, I'm sure it will still be worth tuning in to later on tonight.
On another note, spring football practice has sprung across the nation and the feeling of college football is back in the air. We are just about five months away from the start of the season and it will be interesting to see how the nation's best teams look as they prepare to make a championship run in the fall. The Buckeyes are included in that group who have begun formal workouts this spring and reports are good so far from the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
It will certainly be an uphill battle with all the adversity the team is facing this year, but if they can keep their focus on the field and find servicable players to fill in some big spots through five games, 2011 has the potential to be one very special season in Columbus. If you haven't yet, be sure to check out our videos from the team's first organized practice last week.
I thought Colt McCoy was on the Brows. If you tuned in to ESPN yesterday afternoon, you saw a certain quarterback tearing it up down in Austin. If you saw McCoy on the back of his jersey, you were not imagining things. Case McCoy, the younger brother of Brown's quarterback Colt, just finished his freshman year at UT and absolutely tore it up in the school's annual spring game. Case threw for 124 yards and a touchdown playing with the second team offense against the first team defense, as he challenges front runner Garrett Gilbert for the starting job. In addition to the spring game, ESPN and Texas also debuted the logo for the new "Longhorn Network", which you can see here.
Pray for Jimbo. While we all have our feelings about certain teams on the field, sometimes it's good to take a step back from reality and realize what is really important. This is one of those times, as Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher is in need of your prayers, as he deals with a serious medical issue his youngest son Ethan is currently battling. Hate Florida State all you want, but prayers from 11W are with Coach Fisher as his family tries to overcome these tough times.
"I want to win a national championsip". Those were the words of Duron Carter as he spoke to ESPN about his commitment to Alabama this past weekend. Of course, the article centers around Carter's desire to play for the Bama coaching staff and winning tradition rather than talking about how he flunked out of OSU and couldn't get the grades at JuCo to earn his scholarship back from Jim Tressel, but what more can you expect from the WWL these days. There has been a lot of hate revolving around the younger Carter's commitment to Nick Snakeban from OSU fans the last few days, but don't hate on a guy who would come back to Columbus in a heartbeat if he had the chance. Yes, Carter screwed up and we could really use him on the field this season, but at the same time, remember that this kid is 20 years old and has a lot to learn about navigating through life. If anyone should be mad, it should be the kid who is going to be a roster casualty due to Duron's arrival in Tuscaloosa.
Battle for Columbus. In what may be one of the cooler marketing/promotions ideas I've seen in collegiate sports, the Ohio State Buckeyes baseball team will take on the Columbus Clippers in an exhibition game tomorrow night at Huntington Park. Tickets to the game are $5 for the general public and free for students, so if you are free at 6:35 tomorrow evening, I highly suggest you take the trip downtown to check out both local teams go head to head at the gorgeous stadium the Clippers now call home. It will be interesting to see how the Buckeyes (10-11, 2-1) fair against the Clippers, who will be preparing to start defending the AAA crown in the 2011 season which starts later in the week.
Big Ten bits. For some reason MVictors thinks they're funny. MGoBlog has some observations on Michigan spring pratice. Minnesota baseball gets the privelige of playing at Target Field. Michigan State may use the vertical passing game more often this season. Here are some notes from Purdue's spring scrimmage. Finally, Joe Pa decided to come out of hibernation and give the media some news about the Nittany Lions football team.
