Happy Tuesday everyone, and welcome to your morning Skull Session. Consistent greatness is probably the most difficult thing to attain in collegiate sports, especially in NCAA basketball. The huge field of competitors means the potential for more parity (as evidenced by the utter rarity of teams managing to go undefeated throughout an entire regular season), but another factor is the high attrition in terms of the best players jumping for the NBA after one year. For teams like Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, and so on, these obstacles are a lot easier to overcome due to their stature in the game, but it also makes any sort of stumble all the more shocking due to their seemingly iron grips on the precious ambergris that is consistent winning in NCAA basketball.
I'm not sure if Ohio State has attained that level or not yet. The past seven seasons have been amazing, and with a coach like Matta and the resources at his disposal, it's hard to ever imagine the Buckeyes ever being anything worse than mediocre. But the bigger question for me is, will OSU attain the kind of reputation in hoops that those other schools enjoy? Is it even possible to comprehend an OSU b-ball team with the same kind of consistent success and expectations for winning that come with the OSU football team? And if so, how long does OSU need to be a force in college basketball for that to happen?
I don't have the answers to any of these questions, but I will say that watching a Michigan State Spartan basketball program, a program I had always considered possibly the class of the Big Ten, completely implode is a pretty stark reminder of just how difficult it is to maintain success. Don't believe me? Don't think it's gotten that bad for Sparty? Well...
Corinth, 146 BC We all have bad days at work, home, the back alley behind a shady looking Applebees, whatever. And sometimes, if we're lucky, there will be someone there to pick us up and put us back on our feet. Tom Izzo has that someone. Unfortunately, that someone is Cleveland Cavaliers (losers of 25 straight games) owner Dan Gilbert. Look, if you're on death row, I'm sure you'd take comfort wherever you find it. On the other hand, if the guy sitting in the electric chair is the one shouting words of encouragement to you, it might be time to reevaluate the company you keep.
Unanimous Again In stark contrast to the chaos in Lansing, Ohio State finds itself sitting pretty for a second week at the top of both major polls. I still keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but if the Buckeyes can pull of a win against the Badgers in Madison, I'm going to soak one of my favorite childhood blankies in tepid springwater and then symbolically rip it in half as a sign that I am done doubting the chances of this team to win out in the regular season. There are a number of difficult games after the one on the 12th, but this team just seems to rise to every challenge that has been given to them and comes out looking even better than they did before.
Badgers? BADGERS?!? WE DON'T NEED NO STINKING BADGERS Though the Buckeyes are rolling right now, we would be foolish to overlook as good a team as the Badgers, and to get some statistical reasoning for this we once again turn to Mr. John Gasaway for some interesting Big Ten basketball perspective. Turns out that if you look at PPP, or Points per Possession, Bucky is a monster. Per Gasaway:
Wisconsin’s D in conference play has been more or less the same at the Kohl Center or on an opponent’s home floor — very good but not Alabama-good by any means. But it’s the Badger offense that really changes depending on the venue. They’re no slouch on the road, mind you (1.13 points per trip) but in Madison they’ve been simply invincible (1.24).
OSU averages 1.14 PPP, which is pretty decent, but also shows that they will have to be very sharp on D to put away Wisconsin in Madison.
Why Do Kids Love This Guy? Nick Saban offered up a pretty interesting and hilariously flimsy defense of oversigning in a recent press conference. SI's Stewart Mandel does a pretty good job at ripping up Saban's argument here, and easily my favorite part is when Saban claims that "...we have never gotten rid of a player because of his physical ability." As Mandel points out, this is pretty rich coming from a guy who in four years has had 12 students apply for medical hardship status, eventually costing them their spot on the team. What bothers me is a quote from a former Alabama player who says "It's a business" and seemingly accepts oversigning as part of the game.
Guess what, potential recruits? It isn't. The Big Ten has more or less eliminated it from their culture, and if you don't want to get burned in this way, there are other options. Just saying.
Waiting For (Spring In) Columbus Speaking of recruits, some of the early enrollees from the 2011 signing class are from the great(?) state of Florida, and Tim May caught up with some of them to see how they were handling their first Ohio winter.
"High 30s, that's not even cold to me anymore," Shazier said, laughing.
Ah yes. You learn quickly, my friend. Next thing you know, you'll be out in shorts for the first 50+ degree day of the year. Godspeed, young nanook.
