This.Good Monday Dubskateers. Your morning Skull Session is upon you. Today's breakfast special: a heaping bowl of win topped with extra win and a side of win. No matter how subscribed you were to the frustration with falling prey to Wisconsin the last 5 months, rest assured: catharsis in spades is upon us (though I'll gladly take a second heaping serving for dessert, oh I don't know, in around 7 months or so).
Ohio State actually double fisted victory Sunday afternoon with not only the men backing up the pain dumptruck over the Badgers, going back over them, backing up again, and proceeding the same song and dance for 40 minutes to the tune of 93-65, but the ladies also breaking out the whooping stick en route to a 84-70 victory over the Lady Nittany Lions to win the Big Ten Tournament Championship. While I heard wrestling didn't quite have the same fortuitious afternoon their peers on the hardwood did, I'll delusionally tip my hat and pretend they did since this DJ Khaled mindstate has certainly taken on a life of its own. While it's always a great day to be a Buckeye, the honey was aflowing like it rarely is on Sunday, though perhaps Sunday's bounty was but the lynchpin. But hey, don't take my word for it:
You can't have the sweet without the sour, but you also can't have the really sweet without the sweetness boosters getting you 146,000 feet up first.
Record Setting Win. Sure, Ohio State putting the hurt on Wisconsin was glorious. But it wouldn't be the extra obnoxious full Ohio State fan experience without it being some kind of record setting burden of wealth:
Ohio State, a team that entered the day shooting the 3-pointer at 40.5 percent, made 14 straight 3-pointers this afternoon. If you wanted to look at what the chances of the Buckeyes making 14 consecutive 3s are (not taking into account the opponent they were playing), you could use the following approach ...
The chances of an event with a probability of 40.5 percent happening in 14 straight instances is roughly 2.68 in a million (or 1 in approximately 373,000).
The Buckeyes' 14-15 afternoon from beyond the arch (that's 93%. NINENTY THREE!1!) against Wisconsin will go down as the single game best in Division 1 basketball history. And that's to say nothing of the fact that it came against a top 10, elite class defensive side at that. Simply mind boggling (and surely frightening to the next 7 some odd teams standing between Ohio State and the kind of special that could be half a century in the making).
November Night Win. While Ohio State's surreal collective marksmanship was certainly one of the most notable aspects of most of our weekends, perhaps something that went a little under the radar but none the less potentially just as huge broke Saturday afternoon. Media sources are reporting the Big Ten is using the league's first addition in 20 years as grounds to discuss wide sweeping changes in their contract with ABC/ESPN. Most noteworthy amongst them:
- More telecast opportunities for ABC/ESPN. Currently up to 17 games on ABC, 24 on ESPN/ESPN2.
- Big Ten Network could drop its ability to either
- Jump ESPN/ESPN2 at times during the season
- Require all teams to have a conference game on the Big Ten Network
- Flexibility in selecting games for prime time games
- I have doubts about this one with many stadiums not having permanent lighting
- Night games in the month of November
- Possibility for games on non-traditional days during the season, such as Black Friday or Thursday nights
Part of the conditions allegedly necessary to swing the dominos of change in motion could involve the Big Ten Network adding the ability to simultaneously showcase games as ABC does. While that presently happens only once a year, I can't profess to immediately see the advantages there of (aside from those hypothetical extra sets of eyeballs living geographically outside of their home team's broadcast while also lacking access to a spill over feed or ESPN3). Perhaps most intriguingly come rumors of a push for night games in the month of November, something long said to be pushed back upon by the league. While temperatures could unquestionably make such a proposal an interesting one to the say the least, I think you'd fine few fan bases in the conference openly opposed to such a scenario. As Matt Sarzyniak (who collected the information from the report) noted, the greater challenge would likely be those facilities still lacking permanent lighting. The very idea of playing prime time games with potential dvisional championship on the line however does seem like something that could be beneficially for the league as a whole.
Seeding Win. Pending a monumental collapse in Ohio State's opening contest Friday afternoon, it appears the Buckeyes are a near certainty to finish with the tournament's top overall seed. As is often the case, the Buckeyes will benefit in the form of drawing one of the First Four, likely two of the bottom four sides who'll have to play there way into the matchup in Cleveland with the Bucks. Regardless of which set of projections you're looking at, the consensus does seem to be the Buckeyes appear bound for the East bracket and a regional date with scenic Newark, New Jersey. While certainly not San Antonio or New Orleans, it could make travel for many of you NYC and surrounding area Buckeyes far more palatable. Speculation on the specific opponents the Buckeyes will draw remains all but fruitless with so many complicating variables still out there. I imagine I speak for just about everyone, however, when I openly plead for any #2 seed but Duke. C'mon Gene. You're heading the committee. You have the power. On the other hand, I suppose sometimes you have to dethrone the champs in order to claim the crown for yourself.
Other Miscellaneous Win. How to protest someone parking in front of your driveway without resorting to letting wreckers benefit financially. OSU's seniors are honored before the game. Desperate times call for desperate measures. The lulz are universal regardless of language. Since computers can now crush us at Jeopardy, it's only natural they next move to our most beloved sport: rock paper scissors.
