Good morning Buckeye faithful and welcome to your Sunday Skull Session.
I wanted to wish all those Buckeye (non-Buckeye too) mothers a happy Mother's Day as well. I sure am grateful to have the mother that I do, who has put up with my Buckeye craziness for the last few years, allowing me to work around family events to watch football and basketball games, that doesn't get too upset when I choose the 'Shoe over a holiday or birthday, and is always there to make sure I'm "okay" following a dramatic Buckeye loss. Wow, I sound like a bad son. I also sound a bit nutty (no pun intended). But anyway, here's to my mom as well as the mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers out there.
The last week in general has been an interesting one, to say the least, and there has been plenty of news. I know from experience that everyone is digging around the internet trying to find a scoop on something exciting that's going to happen (that's what usually happens during the post-spring, pre-summer segment of the football year), but we'll keep you entertained.
Like Johnny said in yesterday's Skull Session, "we have a cool coach", and that has made this offseason more exciting than I can recall. I do not think most people were this excited for Buckeye football post-national championship ('02-'03) and we aren't even eligible for a bowl.
So remember, Ohio State has a rock star coach.
THE ROCK STAR. Coach Urban Meyer has been the centerpiece of a large portion of college football news this off season. Think about it: when Meyer was hired in late November, the Buckeye nation emotion-meter went (on a scale of 0-100, 0 saddest 100 happiest) from about -50 to well over 100. He made a huge splash with the Ohio State community and the Big Ten. The hire jump started the program instantaneously, following a smack down from the NCAA in penalties. A trend of new stories made the off-season even more interesting ranging from dominating National Signing Day, to Bielema and Dantonio crying, to a major bump in workouts, to Florida fans steaming over Urban leaving.
Sporting News has decided to rank all division 1-A coaches both nationally and by conference. The results were favorable.
Meyer ranked first in the Big Ten (obviously, who's better?) and third in the nation, behind Alabama's Nick Saban and Boise State's Chris Peterson. Honestly, it would probably take two National Championship wins in the next 6 years for Urban to pass up Saban on the list.
According to the video and some of the comments, a few readers are angry that Meyer is ranked that highly without even coaching last season. Well, when you're coach is a rock star, there is no explanation necessary.
Fun Fact: Brady Hoke is 4th in the Big Ten, 24th overall.
THE BIG LEAST. Everything could always be worse. Our beloved football program could be in a conference like the Big East. Imagine being a Rutgers fan, or a Cincinnati fan, or a Louisville fan.
It's hard to think about but what if the Big Ten was falling apart and we didn't know if we'd have a conference to call home next season. Instead of worrying about getting a five-star prospect over that four-star guy, we'd be reading articles about conference deficits, what schools are replacing the conference's historic programs, and what programs are backing out of their commitments to the conference.
Luckily, Ohio State won't have those problems and the Big Ten is run like a Fortune-500 corporation. For the Big East, things are still not looking great.
Boise State is having some cognitive dissonance about joining the Big East and Louisville wants out. The never-ending conference drama continues and we're all anxious to see what happens.
It's good to not be in the Big East.
Delany wants conference champions in the playoffsCOMMISH DOES NOT LIKE 'BAMA. Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany is certainly trying to get the nation fired up for the Michigan vs. Alabama showdown in Dallas at the start of the season.
In fact, he openly expressed his feeling towards Alabama in an interview with the Associated Press:
“I don’t have a lot of regard for that team. I certainly wouldn’t have as much regard for that team as I would for someone who played nine conference games in a tough conference and played a couple out-of-conference games on the road against really good opponents.
“If a poll doesn’t honor those teams and they’re conference champions, I do.”
These quotes did come, however, after Nick Saban blatantly disagreed with Jim Delany's opinion on a BCS playoff system. Obviously, Delany's conference champion playoff system would have not benefited Alabama this past season.
Now that Delany has poured his heart out and expressed his dislike for Alabama and last year's BCS Championship situation, how do Buckeye fans feel about the Michigan vs. Alabama game at the start of the season? Do OSU fans represent the B1G or..
A TID BIT OF RECRUITING. North Carolina Hillside High School TE Josh McNeil (6-5/240) has long been a Buckeye target. After the Spring Game, McNeil, a consensus top-10 TE in the nation, seemed to be losing momentum with the Ohio State staff before Mike Heuerman opted for Notre Dame. Since, Heuerman chose Notre Dame, it seems the interest level in McNeil has increased drastically for the Buckeyes.
Unlike many recruits, who announce they will be trimming their lists for ten or fifteen schools down to three or four, McNeil has opted to trim his list down to twelve with OSU making the cut.
The coaching staff has made it pretty clear that they would like to take two tight ends. With CA TE Marcus Baugh already committed, McNeil looks like he could be that guy, despite the current competition for his services.
McNeil was just selected to play in the Under Armour All-American Game and will make his announcement over the summer at Nike's "The Opening".
Here was Alex's interview with McNeil from back at the end of February.
IT'S CLICKY! A GREAT look at what the playoffs would have looked like since the BCS started. A look inside the life of 2013 Ohio State Basketball target and #1 ranked prospect Jabari Parker. An interesting snapshot of graduation rates for top athletic programs across the country. Many fan's top play from 2012 (LAUGHS: Tajh Boyd). A letter from Paul Bear Bryant to an incoming Freshman (re: I want to love you). Tim Miles is making bank in his first year at Nebraska. South Carolina will supposedly have the best defense in the SEC. How long do they hold that title? Buckeye basketball had the 8th highest attendance this season.
