The Sweet 16 tips off tonight, which is always an easy way to pass the time on our beloved intergalactic pebble. Here's the lowdown (do the cool cats still say that, daddio?) on today's games:
| GAME | TIME | TV | FAVORITE |
|---|---|---|---|
| No. 7 WICHITA STATE vs. No. 3 NOTRE DAME | 7:15 | CBS | WSU (-1½) |
| No. 4 NORTH CAROLINA vs. No. 1 WISCONSIN | 7:47 | TBS | WISC (-6) |
| No. 5 WEST VIRGINIA vs. No. 1 KENTUCKY | 9:45 | CBS | UK (-13) |
| No. 6 XAVIER vs. No. 2 ARIZONA | 10:17 | TBS | UA (-10½) |
Can't decide for whom to cheer? Here's my "rootability" guide. Given the cast of characters, this tournament could get insufferable REAL QUICK.
Despite a West Virginia player guaranteeing victory over Kentucky, I don't see it happening. If the Wildcats eventually lose, I hope it's to THE SHOCKERS OF WICHITA STATE.
MEYER NOT WORRIED ABOUT FOOTBALL'S FUTURE. Football is America's obsession, but as baseball proved before it: No sport is invincible to change. At the present, one of the biggest flies in the sport's ointment is new, non-NFL-funded research into the long term effects of playing football.
Urban Meyer, a man whose son plays football as freshman in high school, is not concerned.
From Marcus Hartman of FoxSports.com:
"I would imagine college football is as strong as it has ever been as far as viewership, as far as television, as far as we played in the ultimate game," Meyer said. "I can't imagine a better atmosphere than that. We were fortunate in '06 to be in it and I"m not saying 2014 was better, but there was no drop-off. That's the darn Super Bowl, man, as far as the buildup. So I think you have two different dilemmas there. There is that issue.
"The good thing is I don't see anyone, and you guys would be, I don't know if you do more research than I do, but I don't see anyone hoping it's going to go away. It's not going to go away.
"I have 28 years of experience and the game is safer than it has ever been, as far as in our world."
While I'm not sure I'm diabolical enough to afflict this world by spawning, I don't think I'd be jacked up to push my kid into football unless I knew he, like me, would suck and quit after a year.
Once your mind goes, man...
TORRANCE GIBSON WAS PROMISED NOTHING. There are a lot of commenters on this website that owe Torrance Gibson an apology.
And not because he chose Ohio State. When Gibson was being recruited, he — as teenagers are wont to do — was a bit wishy-washy. Most here handled it with understanding, but there were a few who labeled the kid a "diva," among other things.
Let's see how the dust settled on that.
From Ari Wasserman of cleveland.com:
"Nobody promised me anything," Gibson told Northeast Ohio Media Group this week. "Urban Meyer didn't promise me a thing. He told me to come in and compete, and I believe in my ability. So that was enough."
Now, I doubt Gibson would've had to work hard to gin money bags out of an SEC school with a QB roster that looks like an intramural squad compared to OSU's.
Instead, Gibson threw himself into the greatest positional battle in CFB history. Oh yeah, and the other QB in the class in some video game Athens hill legend that moonlit as an All-State basketball player.
That takes a ridiculous amount of belief in your own talent. Kudos to Gibson for making the leap. I doubt the commenters that bashed on him would do the same.
REPLACING CAM JOHNSTON. It makes me sad to think about the day in which Cam Johnston will no longer play at Ohio State. The Aussie has two years of eligibility left, but that doesn't mean Ohio State isn't looking at the next chapter.
Sadly, the next Ohio State punter might not be from Australia.
From Marc Gilver of BuckeyeGrove.com:
While Ohio State currently boasts one of the nation's best punters in junior Cameron Johnston, the search is already beginning for the heir apparent. Cincinnati (Ohio) La Salle is home to one of the top kicking specialists in the 2016 in Drue Chrisman. Chrisman made the short trip up I-71 on Wednesday afternoon to get an up close look at the Ohio State program.
[...]
"They explained to me the recruiting process and they are very interested but they have to work out some details since they have a punter now," Chrisman stated. "Greyshirt was brought up (as a possible option) but (Meyer) said he hadn't put too much thought into it yet so he needed some time to work out the details."
[..]
"An offer from OSU would be insane," he said. "We are very interested."
Cincinnati is kind of like Australia I guess. (I was going to make a joke about how they were both founded as a penal colony, but I'm trying to turn a new leaf over with the Queen City.)
IS A VOTE REALLY NEEDED? I don't respect awards other than undisputed championships, and I'm not intelligent enough to know much about about wrestling — but if Logan Stieber doesn't win this award then I will gladly join a riot already in progress over this issue.
Per a release from Ohio State:
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Four-time national champion Logan Stieber is a finalist for the Hodge Trophy, considered to be the Heisman Trophy of wrestling. The award is presented by WIN Magazine/Culture House.
For the third straight year, fans are being asked to help select the winner from the four finalists. The winner will be announced on Monday, March 30. The winner of the fan vote will earn two first-place votes among the total ballots from a group of formal voters which includes each former Hodge Trophy winner, national media, representatives of national wrestling organizations and retired former college coaches from different regions. The deadline to vote is Thursday, March 26 at noon EST.
You can vote for Logan Stieber's Wrestling Heisman candidacy over here.
Some facts to consider: Stieber is only the fourth wrestler in history to win four national titles.
This may not be pertinent to just this year but oh well:
Combined w/ 4 yrs at Monroeville High School, @_LogieBear_ went 303-4 w/ 4 state & 4 NCAA titles. #DYK #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/7eeF64Q4Km
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) March 25, 2015
A Russian #teen's botnet couldn't stop this coronation.
NEED BUCKEYE CHAMPIONSHIPS IN YOUR LIFE? Go watch Ohio State synchronized swimming (26 national titles) do their thing:
Synchronized Swimming Collegiate Nationals Thursday-Saturday! Come out to McCorkle and support your favorite water dancers!! @Brutus_Buckeye
— Jessica Giannuzzi (@JessGiannuzzi) March 25, 2015
More details over here.
OSU ACADEMIC ALL-AMERICANS. I would watch a documentary about "student-athletes" and how they balance their time between school and sport. That's no stroll through the poppy fields.
Teams in the Sweet 16 probably haven't been on campus or in normal class in two weeks. Do you know what would happen if I took two weeks off? One of my family members was going to have to (fictionally) die to explain why I needed to drop the class past the deadline.
I know they have tutors and stuff, but still. I struggled with school without the demands of a physically-taxing job. Kudos to these scholars.
From OhioStateBuckeyes.com:
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Seventy-eight Ohio State winter student-athletes have been named to the Academic All-Big Ten team, the Big Ten Conference announced Wednesday. In all, 735 winter sports student-athletes were recognized across the conference from basketball, gymnastics, men's ice hockey, swimming and diving and wrestling. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, student-athletes must be letterwinners who are in at least their second academic year at their institution and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.
For Ohio State, men's swimming and diving led the way with 21 athletes being honored. Women's swimming followed with 18 members, men's ice hockey 14, wrestling 12, women's gymnastics seven, men's gymnastics four and women's basketball two.
Wrestling's redshirt-freshman Nathan Tomasello (Education-Sport Industry) won his first individual national championship this season as well as his first Academic All-B1G honor. Women's basketball's Amy Scullion is the only student-athlete on the list to earn Academic All-B1G accolades while enrolled in medical school.
The full list of academic honorees can be found this way.
THAT TIME JAY HARBAUGH HAND-WROTE A LETTER TO A #TEEN. Jim Harbaugh is a loon, but make no mistake: He's a cunning loon. (See, for example, Michigan's invasion of Alabama via the "satellite camp" loophole.)
On the other hand, Jay Harbaugh, Jim's son and Michigan's tight ends coach, might just be a loon. Papa Harbaugh gets the shine for his insane Twitter feed, but don't sleep on his eldest son's:
@JayHarbaugh @ryanschuiling Ask Coach D.....#GoGreen
— Mitch Lyons (@mlyons85) January 23, 2015
Solid practice in the books! Guys working their tails off and competing! If it was easy the guy at the Wawa would do it..!
— Jay Harbaugh (@JayHarbaugh) March 11, 2015
(I don't know, Jay! Michigan might have done a little better if they hit some Wawas a little harder on the recruiting trail these last few years..!)
Anyway, lil' Harbaugh crossed the Rubicon the moment he sat down and decided to HAND-WRITE a recruiting letter the the (presumed) teenage girlfriend of a recruit (via Pfaff):
ichigan Love @NaseirUpshur pic.twitter.com/0ZHdJAiRaQ
— liv4ROME|liv4DANNY! (@ImSoBeautiful__) March 25, 2015
That's it, Michigan... go on and invest in one of the world's most stable commodities: Teenage love.
(I need a shower.)
THOSE WMDs. Have you met Fedor? The Raccoon internet sensation in Russia... Alabama Man in full Tide regalia shows up at a Klan rally... Here's what a 4.2 40 looks like... Rural school in China's Guangxi... This dad is too turnt... Crying Piccolo Girl explains what happens when you become a meme... France is letting 14-year-olds drive this teeny electric car... Aaron Hernandez is an Idiot, but He Still Might Get Away with Murder... Former Buckeye Faces Federal Charges In OXYwater Fraud Scheme... Meet John Calipari's right-hand man... NFL's new crisis: Millennials.
