At 1 p.m., we get to hear from Ryan Day for the first time since the Fiesta Bowl loss, if you're into that kind of thing.
Word of the Day: Rove.
GOAT NAMED FOURTH-BEST. Archie Griffin is the only player to ever win the Heisman Trophy twice, but according to ESPN, he's just the fourth-best player in college football history.
ESPN ranks former Ohio State running back Archie Griffin fourth on its list of college football's all-time greatest players, behind Jim Brown, Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson.
— Dan Hope (@Dan_Hope) January 14, 2020
Herschel Walker and Bo Jackson – sure, you can have that. But Jim Brown as the best college football player of all? Give me a damn break. He finished no higher than fifth in the Heisman voting and has as many 1,000-yard rushing seasons as I do.
He's definitely in contention as the best professional football player of all-time, but I'm not sure he'd even crack my top-15 college players. Thank God we're never going to hear from the panel that made these decisions ever again.
ALL-TIME GREAT TEAM. I'm not sure how to properly appreciate this bit of info without it making me sick to my stomach about how the season ended, but according to the Sagarin Computer Ratings, Ohio State's 2019 team was one of the best teams of the past two decades.
According to Jeff Sagarin's Computer Ratings, here are the Top CFB teams of the BCS/Playoff Era (Since 1998):
— Brad Powers (@BradPowers7) January 14, 2020
2005 Texas 106.9
2001 Miami, FL 106.4
2019 LSU 104.9
2019 Ohio State 104.8
2016 Clemson 105.4
2016 Alabama 105.3
2011 Alabama 104.2
2004 USC 103.4
2018 Clemson 103.2
There have been some heartbreaking ends to seasons – 2013, 2015, and 2016 all come to mind – but this season especially hurts because at no point did this team ever look anything less than dominant, all the way until that soul-crushing interception.
All those other teams showed a few chinks in the armor along the way, but this team looked like a death machine even in the one game it lost. I'm not sure the Buckeyes would have beaten LSU, because that's a damn good team too, but I would have loved to have the doubt removed from my mind, one way or the other.
MORE THAN JUST ONE GAME. If Ohio State would have lost to Nebraska last night as a 17.5-point home favorite for its fifth-straight loss, Buckeye fans would have absolutely lost their minds.
Chris Holtmann knew that, and he knew there was a very real chance his team would take a hard L when he decided to suspend Duane Washington and Luther Muhammad for the game. But he didn't care.
Here's Chris Holtmann's full answer when asked about the message sent to Duane Washington and Luther Muhammad with their suspensions.
— Colin Hass-Hill (@chasshill) January 15, 2020
"I don't know that there's a specific message. It's just, like, I'm not coaching for just one game, ever. I'm not ever doing that." pic.twitter.com/dhXN415Fph
I don't know what I love more – the fact that he was completely prepared to lose what most considered a must-win game to send his team a message, or that they pulled out a double-digit win with two scholarship guards and an actual walk-on playing meaningful minutes.
That four-game stretch was brutal, and Holtmann has to shoulder at least some of the blame for it, but I've never doubted for a second that the Buckeyes got the right coach.
BEN VIC SHOWING UP. Tale old as time – there's an under-the-radar Ohio State receiver that's looking absolutely unguardable in his postseason draft prospects bowl practices.
Behold, Binjimen Victor:
Last 1v1 of the day.
— The Draft Network (@DraftNetworkLLC) January 14, 2020
WR @BinjimenVictor repping @OhioStateFB with the W #ShrineBowl pic.twitter.com/RvutQKf00A
Didnt take long for @OhioStateFB WR @BinjimenVictor to put that slo-mo double move to work
— The Draft Network (@DraftNetworkLLC) January 14, 2020
Another rep another reception #ShrineBowl pic.twitter.com/czpyfm76Ml
@OhioStateFB WR Binjimen Victor (@BinjimenVictor) with a route so sweet we had to slow it down for you. pic.twitter.com/qHu0OZdcob
— The Draft Network (@DraftNetworkLLC) January 14, 2020
Victor's not high on many drafts boards, but if you're a 6-foot-4 with a damn-near seven-foot wingspan and you're running routes like that, you're going to get a shot in the league.
He should just use this gif as his resume:
TOO GOOD AT THIS. I promise that at some point I will stop talking about Boston College's head coach in the Skull Session, but the truth is that I'm still coming to terms with the fact that he's gone, so it might take me a while (or at least until the Titans' Super Bowl run comes to a close, if you catch my drift).
The average college football fan probably has no idea who Jeff Hafley is, but he's so damn good in front of a camera – and at coaching football, clearly – that it's just a matter of time.
Sometimes Twitter can be kind of fun. Some of the reaction from last nights @ESPNU Coaches Film Room #WeAreBC // #Getin pic.twitter.com/67whI6ZCcg
— BC Football (@BCFootball) January 15, 2020
"Gundy didn't even know who Hafley was"
"He will soon."
Dabo's in trouble for the next few years.
NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. A man requests a trial by combat with his ex-wife and lawyer to settle a legal dispute... A stolen therapy goat is found and reunited with a depressed cow... Study finds that we're at our most miserable at age 47... Drinking hits a 30-year high in the U.S. as the average person has 500 drinks a year... The Navy says releasing top-secret UFO files could "gravely damage" U.S. national security.
