Buckeye Blogger NetworkWhile the details are still coming out, I can’t stop thinking about how amazing the situation in Cleveland was yesterday. We need more folks like Charles Ramsey who would be willing to get involved when it’s easier to just mind their own business. Only one soundtrack possibility today, then.
Silver Dollar Pancakes- Exquisite!
Buckeye 411
Ridiculously Happy Valley
Heading into the final week of the season we still do not have a clear cut favorite to win the National Championship. That, my friends, is exciting news! This past week continued to be just like the many weeks before. There were more Top 25 losses, more new additions, and more shocking developments. This week’s “biggest loser” award goes to the Michigan Wolverines. Apparently, they thought because Penn State had not won in the Big Ten yet, that this would be a cakewalk! Well, after blowing a huge lead, they left Happy Valley losers and the Nittany Lions celebrated their first conference win. If a season like this has not heightened your love for college basketball, nothing will. Well, enough of me of me celebrating a Michigan loss……..lets’ dive in shall we?
Here’s a look at the Top 25 Week Ahead and Week in Review:
1. Indiana (25-4, 13-3) Previous Rank: 1
Past Week: 2/26 @ Minnesota, L 73-77 & 3/2 Iowa, W 73-60
Upcoming: 3/5 (16) Ohio State
Apparently Indiana thought a couple of weeks at Number One were long enough so they decided to lose on the road to Minnesota. This week they will host Ohio State in a late season battle.
2. Gonzaga (29-2, 16-0) Previous Rank: 3
Past Week: 2/28 @ BYU, W 70-65 & 3/2 Portland, W 81-52
Upcoming: Regular Season is complete
As much as I think the voters hate this, I don’t think they have a choice at putting Gonzaga number one after this week’s shenanigans. The Bulldogs finished their regular season with two more wins and will now wait for their conference tournament.
3. Duke (25-4, 12-4) Previous Rank: 6
Past Week: 2/24 Boston College, W 89-68 & 2/28 @ Virginia, L 68-73 & 3/2 (5) Miami (FL),W 79-76
Upcoming: 3/9 Virginia Tech
The Blue Devils most likely lost their shot at the top spot this week by losing to Virginia. A strong win against Miami (FL) helped them rebound though. They host the Hokies in their final regular season game.
4. Michigan (23-5, 10-5) Previous Rank: 7
Past Week: 2/24 Illinois, W 71-58 & 2/27 @ Penn State, L 78-84
Upcoming: 3/3 (9) Michigan State & 3/6 @ Purdue
Someone forgot to tell Michigan that just because you are up by 15+ points the game isn’t over. A huge comeback by Penn State shocked the Wolverines. Michigan is now 3-4 in their last 7 games. They don’t have time to think about that though as Michigan State comes to town.
5. Miami (FL) (23-5, 14-2) Previous Rank: 2
Past Week: 2/27 Virginia Tech, W 76-58 & 3/2 @ (3) Duke, L 76-79
Upcoming: 3/6 Georgia Tech & 3/9 Clemson
After embarrassing Duke in the first game, the Hurricanes fell to them in the rematch. Two home games to close out the regular season before the ACC tournament starts. Read More
B1G! B1G!
The college basketball season is winding down but that doesn’t mean that the excitement is too. More over time games, more losses, and more surprises continue to be story of the season. Duke kept the streak of Top 5 teams losing by dropping their game to Maryland. The Miami Hurricanes continue to turn heads and move up the polls and will most likely do the same this week after beating Florida State. The Big East and Big Ten are proving to be the two best conferences in the nation as they continue to beat up on each other. The week of games are becoming too much for me to wrap up in a paragraph so I will stop rambling so you can see how everyone did last week.
Here’s a look at the Top 25 Week Ahead and Week in Review:
1. Indiana (23-3, 11-2) Previous Rank: 1
Past Week: 2/10 @ (13) Ohio State, W 81-68 & 2/13 Nebraska, W 76-47 & 2/16 Purdue, W 83-55
Upcoming: 2/19 @ (8) Michigan State
So the Hoosiers lose and stayed number one this past week……No love to the Hurricanes. After knocking off Ohio State in Columbus they now travel to East Lansing to face a scorching hot Michigan State team.
2. Duke (22-3, 9-3) Previous Rank: 4
Past Week: 2/10 @ Boston College, W 62-61 & 2/13 North Carolina, W 73-68 & 2/16 @ Maryland, L 81-83
Upcoming: 2/21 @ Virginia Tech
Duke held their own on home court in college basketball’s biggest rivalry after beating North Carolina. They followed it up with a disappointing loss at Maryland. They hope to bounce back when they face Virginia Tech on the road. Read More
We Blew It!
The revolving door that is known as the Top 25 continued to revolve this week. 4 of the 5 Top 5 teams all loss, including Kansas who has now lost three in a row. In addition to the top 5 teams laying an egg, 14 of the 25 teams lost at least one game this week, with 5 of them not even picking up a single win. All was not bad though in the Top 25 world. There were several great games and several overtime games, including a stunning 5 overtime in the Big East. The Miami Hurricanes continued to come on like gang-busters and very well could be in the Top 5 when all is said is done with the polls this week. This week doesn’t look like it will let us down as there are quite a few Top 25 matchups and tough games against un-ranked opponents. Only time will tell how this week will end up but in the meantime, I am just going to sit back and enjoy one of the most exciting college basketball seasons that I can remember.
Here’s a look at the Top 25 Week Ahead and Week in Review
1. Indiana (20-3, 8-2) Previous Rank: 3
Past Week: 2/7 @ Illinois, L 72-74
Upcoming: 2/10 @ (10) Ohio State & 2/13 Nebraska & 2/16 Purdue
The Hoosiers were the latest Number One team to fall. A beautifully ran inbounds play by Illinois sunk Indiana. It doesn’t get any easier this week as they travel to Columbus to face the Buckeyes.
2. Florida (19-3, 9-1) Previous Rank: 4
Past Week: 2/5 @ Arkansas, L 69-80 & 2/9 Mississippi State, W 83-58
Upcoming: 2/12 Kentucky & 2/16 @ Auburn
Florida lost its chance to be the top ranked team with a loss to Arkansas earlier this week. A trip to Lexington to face Kentucky could spell out another loss this week. Read More
#Swish #Swoon
A bit of a different look at things this Wednesday, as I was fortunate to join Jim, JoeL, and Janelle in attending Ohio State’s win against Iowa in the hoops of shootyness. So, here’s your musical interlude for this festive event.
Buckeye Hoops Thoughts
It’s a relatively quiet week for Ohio State sports (*knocks on wood*); coaches are recruiting, hoops is preparing for an attempt to sweep That State Up North, and all the students are above average. So, let’s dig around the ol’ interwebs and see what we can find to chat about today, shall we? Oh, and I’m enjoying this at the moment.
Nothing is free
Buckeye 411
Hope you’re not too hungover from Homecoming… Not that there’d be anything wrong with that. This weeks’ TWTW is being composed with this concert in the background- say goodbye to your Pandora station for the next hour and 45 minutes.
This has been identified as the first “Shakedown Saturday” of the season, and we knew early on that this would be a heck of a week for college football. While #1 Alabama sat idle, the rest of the top 10 was involved in contests amongst themselves… where commentators chose to ignore the fact that this was destined to happen when you put all the teams in one conference in the top ten because they’re in that conference. But I digress..
Also Urban's Fault
Let’s start with the state of Florida, which went 1-2 on the weekend, and saw two “they’re back!!!” programs fall by the wayside. The exception to this, of course, are those poor souls in Gainesville, which were gutted and pillaged by the Evil Urban Meyer on his way to the greener pastures in Columbus. A miracle, then, that they managed to host the number four team in the nation and managed to pull together a 14-6 win, in spite of the fact that LSU is one of the greatest teams of all time and forever (note, applies to SEC teams but especially ones from the SEC West). It seems as if the Mad Hatter finally had the injuries that have plagued his team catch up with them… although, like many people, I wasn’t sure that they were ranked properly with a number of “close” calls and a “quality” win over Washington bolstering their resume. Hear me correctly- I think Coach Muschamp is doing solid things at Florida, in spite of the fact that Urban burned down every building and shot all the coaching staff on his way out… I just am not all that impressed with a win over an LSU team that might have more issues than their SECW status would allow anyone to talk about. Ah well.
In Chicago, we were given the chance to witness a game that would have been really interesting in the late 80′s… although, this version had a bit of intrigue as well. A resurgent Notre Dame team chose to play in Soldier Field in front of it’s biggest alumni base and revisit the good times that were the “Catholics -vs- Criminals” matchups that created must see TV when I was in high school and college. Even though it was a neutral site game, you’ve got to know that Miami felt daunted playing a) this far north and b) in front of more fans than they’d seen all season (and that’s just on the Loop driving into the game). The 41-3 Irish win came in spite of the fact that Notre Dame’s quarterback began the game on the bench for a violation of “team rules”. Huh. Perhaps he was found to be responsible for the horrible helmet design that they chose to wear this week. Again, I think that Coach Golden is doing good things in Coral Gables, and haven’t yet figured out how Urban Meyer is at fault for his struggles. But I will persevere on the case… be assured the truth is out there.
Man-zier Salesman
In our biggest upset of the week, third ranked Florida State (anointed by this very author as a solid candidate to play for the pretend championship) fell to a North Carolina State team that’s struggled to get out of their own way for the most part of this season, and who lost to ‘Da U just last week. It took a late touchdown to achieve the glorious victory for the Wolfpack, but it certainly was exciting enough that this young person chose to disregard what his parents taught him and rejoice in the moment.
While Notre Dame’s “wardrobe malfunctions” were the highlight of the week, no conversation about crazy outfits is complete without mention of the latest in the “Duck You” line from the good folks in Eugene. This week, in the blowout win against Washington, we saw a return of their “John Deer” look- a throwback of sorts to their green and yellow heritage, with a twist. In addition to the mirrored ball helmet wings that we’ve seen before, they decided to add a yellow and chrome facemask to the the ensemble, giving them sort of a “Bane Of The Northwest” appearance. As always, the Ducks are rolling up huge chunks of yardage and points, but have yet to face a defense with the size and speed up front to disrupt their schemes… and, looking across the PAC12, I don’t see that kind of challenge coming anytime soon. Read More
Monday’s melange of morning mayhem looks back at an amazing weekend of college football… Just promise to wait until the end of the article to rush the field, OK? Given the news on Campus from Sunday Night, here’s your soundtrack for our special time together.
Classy, Even When Vanquished
It was a great weekend to be an Angry Bird, particularly if you were a Cardinal. Let’s start in Palo Alto.
In what’s become an annual tradition, a highly ranked Southern Cal team derped a game that many expected them to win. While it seemed to have always been the Beavers of Oregon State under the previous administration, the past four years have found a Cardinal thorn in the Trojans’ armor… as unbelievable as it is, September Heisman candidate Matt Barkley has never beaten Stanford in his career. The nice thing, though, is that Chad Henne and Mike Hart have a great support group that will welcome him with open arms.
Saturday we saw the real “teeth” of the NCAA’s sanctions for all things Reggie Bush-esque: While the Bowl Ban was significant in terms of financial benefits and being able to compete for make believe championships and other post-season swag, the real kick of what the folks in Indianapolis handed to Southern Cal as a parting gift is the inability to field a full squad of 85 for the coming several seasons- which creates issues at depth when the offensive line gets banged up (as it did in Palo Alto). Granted, Barkley still is incredibly talented and has amazing weapons- however, without the time to find them it’s essentially a moot point. And once he’s gone, well… we may just get to see how good of a coach the man is, as a number of folks could be successful with the talent depth that they experienced over the past decade. Read More
