Hi, hello and welcome, this is your Sunday Skull Session. I hope everyone's weekend has been great and all bounties on Michigan recruits have been called off in the last few days.
The last week was actually exciting with the Reds going on a mini-tear capturing sole possession of first place (for now), the NBA in mid-series of each conference's final, the Stanley Cup Finals in full throttle as well (that's the NHL championship for those wondering) and the Indians have begun their inevitable downfall out of contention.
We even have the Olympics on the horizon. In fact, a co-worker of mine overheard me talking about how USA Basketball is rather unstoppable and decided to place a bet on team USA not winning the gold. He even gave me 2 to 1 odds since he's taking the field to win. In Vegas, the odds are 1 to 18 in that the US wins it all (bet $18 to win $1). How can anyone stop Lebron, Durant, Paul, Westbrook, Wade, Kobe, Carmelo, Love and crew? I guess there is always a chance.
Let the good times roll to especially keep us busy while we wait, wait, and wait for Buckeye football.
WHERE IN THE WORLD WILL SULLY LAND? The NBA Lottery is official and every team now knows where they will be drafting which allows analysts to make better predications on where players will land. With each team's specific position needs out on the table, it's much easier to predict where Jared Sullinger will be taken.
Prior to the lottery on Wednesday, Sullinger seemed to be projected just outside the lottery, falling around 17-20th overall. However, things have changed and he seems to be back within the top 10. DraftExpress has him at 6th to the Portland Trailblazers (was 17th before the lottery and is still lower than elsewhere in this respected mock).
Here's a blurb from ESPN's mock draft ($):
DID YOU KNOW? According to the Louisville Courier-Journal, Columbus was a top five market for ESPN college basketball in the United States. Surprised? Buckeye fans usually get a bad rep for having a great basketball program and not caring enough about their team due to the the ridiculous shadow casted by the football program.
Well, take a look at these viewership ranks from the paper from ESPN College Basketball:
1. Louisville 4.5
2. Greensboro-High Point 3.5
3. Kansas City 2.8
4. Columbus 2.7
….Raleigh-Durham 2.7
Cincinnati and Dayton also came in at 7 and 8 respectively, showing that Ohio really does love their college hoops to go along with the rich football tradition. So, fans may not fill up the Schott for every game but they sure are watching the game on the tube.
YOU'D THINK THEY GOT THE MEMO. ESPN is doing a countdown of the twenty teams they believe have a shot at winning the BCS National Championship.
Ohio State comes in at #9 and Michigan is no where to be found (tears from laughter and joy running down my face).
As ESPN has been releasing a preview for each team on a different day, I've been monitoring the page, waiting for the OSU preview to be posted, anxious as ever to see what they say about the Buckeyes winning it all (since we know they're ineligible). The preview has still not been released but ESPN recently added a note on the landing page stating that the Buckeyes aren't eligible to win it all, but they come in at #9.
It will be beyond unfortunate, unfathombale, sad and painful if the Buckeyes are legitametly in BCS contention this year and can't play.
THE FUTURE. 2013 Ohio State commit QB J.T. Barrett attended ESPN's Elite 11 camp in Dallas.
The staff mention that he is not big like Cam Newton and won't run over players, but has a one of the better arms of the dual-threat prospects and thrives on making tacklers miss on the run.Luckily, they did a pretty nice video profile on the future Buckeye and it is great to see him in action. The Elite 11 staff seemed very excited about his potential mentioning his great speed, his superior athletic ability, and how he is the ultimate "dual-threat".
Barrett mentions that he wants people to recognize him as a quarterback because he can throw the ball and doesn't only rely on running. He also talks about how he didn't get recruited by his home-state school Texas and that gives him an extra chip on his shoulder.
Check out the full video here.
SOME EXTRA ENTERTAINMENT. ESPN's B1G Blogger Adam Rittenberg had some words for the SEC and their opinion on the B1G's playoff proposal. ESPN's SEC blogger Chris Low had a rebuttal for Rittenberg, calling the Big Ten "scared". Mississippi basketball transfer Rodney Hood is currently on his visit in Columbus (down to OSU and Duke, supposedly). Another ESPN article discussing the non-conference basketball games that could have been big hits this coming season. It gets worse for Illinois basketball as their transfer and only incoming player decommits. Middletown commit Jalin Marshall won the Ohio long jump championship this weekend.
Have a great Sunday..I'll leave you with this heart-melting tweet:
