Skull Session: Ohio State's Losing the Big Ten Tournament Double Bye, Brian Hartline Made Plays on Special Teams, and Jordan Hancock Unleashes a Monster Dunk

By Kevin Harrish on March 1, 2021 at 5:08 am
Chris Holtmann is squatting in today's skull session.
68 Comments

Folks,

Word of the Day: Tenet.

 DOUBLE BYE GONE BYE BYE. A week ago, Ohio State had an outside shot at winning the Big Ten regular season championship. Three losses later, it's looking like they choked away even a double-bye.

The funniest thing is, Ohio State's actually still in decent shape to get a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament because everyone behind them keeps losing, too. We'll see what the bracketologists have to say, but a win against Illinois and then a win or two in the Big Ten Tournament could still lock that up.

So realistically, the Buckeyes have a way better chance of earning a No. 1 seed in the national tournament than they do a top-four seed in the conference tournament. Sports!

 A GOOD OMEN! I hate to be the bearer of bad news on a Monday morning, but this ain't exactly a good sign.

The counterpoint here is that no Ohio State team has ever beaten three straight top-15 teams on the road, either, and the Buckeyes did that earlier this year.

It's pretty clear that Ohio State can compete with any team in the country at its best. Let's just pray they're at their best for six or so games in March!

 SPECIAL TEAMS HERO. Brian Hartline isn't the type of guy who's going to ask his players to do something he wouldn't have been willing to do, and that includes laying folks out on kickoff coverage.

It's nice that Hartline can just have this clip handy whenever he asks the No. 1 high school receiver in the country to go make a play on special teams.

And he certainly ain't the first Ohio State player to cut his teeth on special teams before becoming a Buckeye football star and then starting in the NFL.

Zeke!

The whole "tip of the spear" thing about special teams isn't new, it isn't just a hollow phrase and nobody is exempt. Also, it clearly works.

 POSTERIZE HIM! At least somebody with Buckeye ties is doing cool and good things on the hardwood. Behold, four-star cornerback signee Jordan Hancock.

It's a shame he didn't enroll early or Ryan Day could have lent him to Chris Holtmann to provide a much-needed spark. Oh well, Dawand Jones will just have to do.

 SONG OF THE DAY. "The Middle" by Jimmy Eat World.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Divers steal beer being aged in a sunken ship off the coast of Argentina... DNA from a Vanilla Coke can ties a man to a cold case... Mexican cartels might be trying to make their own cocaine... A man wins a $500,000 Powerball prize with fortune cookie numbers...

68 Comments
View 68 Comments