Skull Session: Bucks Hope for Third-Time Charm Against Nitts, Holtmann's Conference Tournament Struggles, and Pedon Makes Dad Proud

By D.J. Byrnes on March 2, 2018 at 4:59 am
C.J. Jackson dishes the March 2nd 2018 Skull Session
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Ohio continues to marshal its forces for the coming cultural war. For those outside the Buckeye State, please move to safety behind LarBon Jim, our warlock king:


Clear eyes, full heart, the Kang on the throne... OHIO CAN'T LOSE.

ICYMI:

Programming note: The women's basketball team faces Rutgers in the B1G Tournament at 12 ET on BTN2GO.

Word of the Day: Rubber match.

 GET DUMPED THEN, PENN STATE. Well, well, well. Penn State beat Northwestern last night, 65-57, to advance to the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

That means the Lions face the Buckeyes tonight at 6:30 p.m. on BTN. The Buckeyes hope the third time is the charm.

From James Grega of Eleven Warriors:

Penn State was led by Tony Carr against the Wildcats, as he dropped 25 points to propel his squad to the quarterfinals in Madison Square Garden. 

The Nittany Lions were the only conference team Ohio State did not beat in 2017-18, dropping a heartbreaking 82-79 loss at home on Jan. 25 before getting thumped by 23 in State College, Pa. on Feb. 15. In those two games, Penn State's Tony Carr scored a combined 58 points, including 28 in the first contest, which ended with his buzzer-beating three-pointer to sink the Buckeyes, and hand OSU its first conference loss of the year. 

What is the Buckeye-killing secret of Penn State? It's apparently not complicated.

Somewhat amazingly, the computer algorithm college basketball fans love to know predicts a three-point Buckeye victory.

Do I believe in the third time being the charm? YES. Will I bet on it? NO.

 KRYPTONITE ALERT? Chris Holtmann has exceeded expectations in his first year at Ohio State. There is no denying that. However, if he's lacked in one area, it's conference tournaments. He will enter into uncharted territory later tonight.

He is aware of his record, and he doesn't think it matters.

From cleveland.com:

"So nice of you on a beautiful sunny morning to bring up my conference tournament record," he said a few hours before officially being named Big Ten Coach of the Year. I think he was smiling. I wasn't trying to be a jerk.

Holtmann is in his seventh season as a head coach. In his previous six years, he's 1-6 in conference tournaments, won one game at Gardner-Webb, never won one at Butler. Not a major deal, but interesting. 

"In all honestly, I’ve not put a whole lot of stock into it," Holtmann said. "We’ve had some really close games and some tough matchups, played in overtime once or twice, we won a game when I was at Gardner-Webb and then ran into a really hot team that ended up winning the league tournament in the final."

It's unfortunate Holtmann has to fight this monkey off his back while also drawing his team's nemesis.

Unfortunately that means we can't read too much into tonight's result. If Holtmann's team falls to Rutgers next year, it may be time to worry about his conference tournament acumen. 

 LOCAL DAD PROUD OF SON. Ohio State assistant head coach Ryan Pedon can rest easy knowing he made his dad proud, which is the No. 1 objective of large American adult sons.

All it took was for the Bexley native to earn a job with the local team.

From Edward Sutelan of The Lantern:

Having grown up the son of a Buckeye fan and raised as one, Ryan felt pride at the chance to be able to tell his father that he would be coaching at Ohio State. It had always been a dream of the Pedon family for Ryan to be able to return to Columbus.

The dream, unfortunately, was met with a morbid moment.

“When I told him I was coming to Ohio State — I’m sorry I’m getting choked up a little bit here,” Ryan said, “But he said, the night I told him I was coming to Ohio State, he said, ‘I can die a happy man.’”

For the rest of us mortals, the only hope our fathers have is their son growing up to blog about the local team. (I have $500 on my father being unable to resist elaborating in the comments. In fact, he didn't even read any of this. He's already typing his comment about how he truly intended to birth a Buckeye blogger. Don't believe him.)

 VOTE FOR THE DUBCAST. There are too many podcasts produced in Columbus for my liking. My only demand is you vote for the one produced by the company that signs my paychecks.

From Johnny Ginter of Eleven Warriors:

Columbus Alive!, the free newspaper detailing local events that you've all read at least once, don't even lie to me, I know you have, runs a survey of the Bests of Columbus. Usually this is an opportunity to argue about pizza, but this year, we're asking our faithful readers and listeners to make a write in vote for your favorite podcast and mine, The Eleven Dubcast.

Just hit this link, go to question 65, and write in The Eleven Dubcast as your favorite (and answer the other billion questions, if you're so inclined), and that's it!

Thanks for your help, and thanks for listening!

If the Dubcast doesn't win, they're replacing the hosts with me. Nobody wants that. It'd just be me hollering City of Kings historical nuggets into a bullhorn for three hours.

Do your part and go vote. It takes 30 seconds.

 YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT WE LIVE THIS SHIT. You might be shocked to learn Ohio State's campus doesn't give a damn for Michigan regardless of the date's proximity to The Game.

From dispatch.com:

The apparent disdain for that team up north is still prevalent on Ohio State University’s campus, 92 days after the football game against the Michigan Wolverines on Nov. 25 (which the Buckeyes won 31-20).

The tradition of crossing out the letter “M” around Ohio State’s campus before the big November game is well-known. A few days before game day, red tape pops up overnight, covering that 13th letter of the alphabet like it’s a giant stain on society. It’s not entirely known who’s responsible, but students say certain student organizations are thought to lead the charge.

And now, three months after The Game, the effects of the scarlet war on M linger. Dozens of M’s remain covered in red tape on Ohio State University’s main campus. The veiled letters show nothing if not shrewd attention to detail. It’s clear that 92 days ago, no parking, bus stop, residence hall or traffic sign was safe.

They need to make this permanent. M is a worthless letter. Our thriving society is better without it.

 THOSE WMDs. Pawn and suffering: Midmatch photos of international chess matches... Indiana lawmakers approve bill banning eyeball tattoos... Lying down in the dirt: An interview with Denis Johnson... One of the world's most irreplaceable books was used as a coaster

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