Buckeye Blogger Network
Prepared?
Time for Wednesday’s wander through the wonderment of college sports, brought to you by music appropriate for this week
Buckeye 411
@SammySilv, Excellent As Always
O’Brien The Lion- In today’s B1G conference call, coach O’Brien commented that they are preparing for Braxton to be healthy and leading the Ohio State offense. He spoke highly of his senior quarterback, Matt McGloin, calling him smart and tough and the reason that they’ve been so successful this season. Penn State’s “NASCAR” offense, which has been averaging 90 plays a game in conference play, is reliant on execution and communication, and O’Brien believes that his senior leadership has bought in totally- no “doom and gloom” in what could be a very dour locker-room, considering the off season events and team transfers.
Scheduling News
“Oregon has developed into one of the premier football programs in the FBS.We are excited to add them to our future slate of games.”
Unspoken, but inferred- “Plus, we’ve sold our soul to Nike anyway with our ‘one time tribute’ jerseys and such that this move only makes sense.” Read More
In an effort to clean up my act in regards to the weekly weak picks, I am going with games this week that will assure me success (yeah right) As it stands, I am a paltry 3 and 7 on the season having gone 1 and 4 this week. Here are the results of last weeks picks.
Safe Bet. USC over ‘Cuse 42 to 29; Prediction Wrong USC 51 to 9
Points Plus. Nerdwestern over Vandy 23 to 13; Prediction Wrong Vandy 44 to 38
Defensive Struggle. Wake Forrest over UNC 28 to 27; Prediction Wrong UNC 13 to 7
Best Match-up. Florida over Texas A&M 20 to 17; Prediction RIGHT ON! Florida 23 to 17
Best B1G Game. Notre Lame over Purdue 20 to 17; Prediction WAYYYY OFF Purdue 37 to 34
The week that was is looooong gone thank goodness and I get an opportunity to make up for my pitiful attempts by selecting some easy ones! Ha! Anyway here are the picks and good luck to everybody else!!!
Fat Urkel will be stinging again after this weekend.
Safe Bet. Virginia Tech has played relatively well in it’s first two games and Mark Mays PITT Panthers have been, well . . , let’s just say they have been a lot like the team John Cooper beat. The Hokies will go ahead and welcome the Panthers to the ACC in grand fashion a year early because things aren’t getting better for them right now. This is the easiest safe bet of the season so far. VTU 31 to 6
Points Plus. Missouri had to open their new conference against Georgia last weekend and the offense looked pretty decent until Mark Richt’s bunch figured it out. Arizona State has a high flying bunch that will put some points on the board. This looks like a safe bet for basketball on grass this week, defaulting to the home team here. Mizzou 43 to 39
Defensive Struggle. This will honestly be more about lack of offense than stout defense. Penn State has no offense and NAVY is trying to regroup there triple option which can always be a great equalizer in these type games. I picked the Middies against ND because I am a former sailor myself and didn’t learn my lesson. Go Middies! Navy 9 to 7 Read More
In the calm before the storm… it’s midweek mayhem.
Really? No... Really??
The rest of the week will be dedicated to hoops, particularly the matchup with folks from Cincy, but I thought I’d drop a little mascot knowledge on you. While that thing above may technically be a “bearcat”, I’m still convinced that the official team name should be “UChickFilAs.” According to some, it’s a version of a wolverine found in Asia, so strike two. And finally, the pajamas… with stripes… like the Bengals, but not like a bearcat. Ah well- if you want good UC coverage, you’ll need to go to the source.
The Scoops In Hoops
All of this pain, it multiples by 50 when you see a player like Robbie Hummel break down.
His career, his unbelievable and shining career at Purdue has come to an end. All of those clutch shots, all of those hustle plays, they’re all memories from now on.
But those memories have left a legacy on a program that needed something. Purdue Basketball NEEDED something to re-energize it.We were blessed to have #4 for FIVE years. We didn’t make it to any Final Fours, we didn’t win any National Championships…but we didn’t have to.
We won SO MUCH more than a trophy in the last five years at Purdue. We won excitement, memories, moments. Those stand the test of time, you can’t put that on a trophy.
I’ll be honest… it’s been so great to relive the huge Buckeye win over Wisconsin, I’ve had to dig a bit to find motivation to even think about the other games from this week. However, my search for a soundtrack that would be appropriate for Halloween Weekend, I found this gem that helped me keep my focus…
Digging The Soundtrack
The story this week was big upsets, both with teams falling from the ranks of the undefeated and teams rising to the occasion against expectations. So let’s start in that vein, and with a little “howdy do” to our newest BFFs from the Iowa State contingency, who turned the tables on a Texas Tech team coming off a huge upset on their own. And it wasn’t just a “win” against the #20 Red Raiders, but a 41-7 demolition of Tommy Tuberville’s squadron… must have been a bit presumptuous to start the “Mike Leach Who?” talk, huh? No wonder the folks in Lubbock were chippy.
But the Cyclone satisfaction didn’t stop there, as cross state rivals Iowa also fell in a surprising factor, to a Minnesota team that’s been disappointing both for their coach and for their conference. But, in a week where the new guy got a huge “Vote Of Confidence“, his Gophers responded with a one point victory in Iowa City to the perennial B1G Coach Of The Year. They get Floyd back in Minneapolis, which is always a good thing. Yup, just another week of pride for the folks at ISU… enjoy your moment. Read More
In the spirit of Homecoming, here’s this week’s musical selection. Congrats to Ohio State’s new royalty- I apologize if your reign is rudely interrupted.
Columbus wasn’t the only college town named after Spanish explorers that was celebrating “Fleecing Forgetful Alumni Weekend” (so named by a friend who works in alumni relations- it’s amazing how the school that everyone complained about is the greatest place ever four years removed); we also were privy to the celebrations in Columbia Missouri as well. And, as you’ve probably had shoved down your throat all day, for the third straight week the number one team in the nation lost on the road. Congrats to the Mizzou Tigers and their potent “Ok, everyone go out and turn around” offense, yet another incarnation of the “basketball on grass” trends we’ve been seeing for the past few years. Given that Oklahoma was also running a similar scheme, it made for a long television experience. To be honest, when IOU was running their last gasp version of the Cal kickoff return, it was difficult for me to differentiate from the rest of the offensive snaps.
That’s not intended to take away from what the Tigers accomplished- it’s great that they have s significant moment that doesn’t involve kicking or getting obliterated. In several years, when the advancement office is calling them asking for money, they’ll be able to look back on this and remember the excitement, the glory, the awkward haircuts, and the complete disregard for others’ personal space.
Question of the day? Will Oklahoma get the same level of “respect” that Ohio State seems to get? Remember, they’ve got a worse BCS record and a worse record in big games. Now that they’ve put the “choke” back into their name, I’m looking forward to hearing about Stoops’ “issues” nonstop from the experts. Read More
