Good morning, Buckeye fans. Got that quad grande americano in hand? Good, me too.
Did any of you catch the basketball Buckeyes' game against Winthrop last night? Turned out to be a bit tighter than expected in a classic case of looking ahead.
At least, let's hope that's all it was. The alternative, according to Craft (swoon), isn't pretty:
"If we need a wake up call for our upcoming game this weekend then we shouldn’t be playing at all,” Craft said. “Every team we play we take it one game at a time. If we are not sure we are ready to play Kansas with what is at stake then we need to reevaluate ourselves as a team.”
I'm hoping that's not the case and that the team just heard me talking about how much of a cupcake Winthrop was before the game.
MR. ANDERSEN. Multiple sources – including the Big Ten Network – reported last night that Utah State head coach Gary Andersen is set to be announced as Wisconsin's newest head football coach (though the deal apparently isn't done yet).
Andersen has had a long, full career within the state of Utah, having played at Ricks Junior College and Utah, coached defensive line at Utah, been the head coach at Southern Utah, the defensive coordinator at Utah, and finally the head coach at Utah State. Whew.
Andersen leaves a 26-24 record at Utah State, but Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez must have been impressed by Utah State's near upset of the Badgers on Sept. 15 – the Aggies lost at the last second due to a missed field goal.
Bruce Feldman seems impressed by the hire:
Gary Andersen took over a Utah St program that won 9 games in 4 yrs. In his 4th yr at USU, he got em to 11-2. Impressive.
— Bruce Feldman (@BFeldmanCBS) December 19, 2012
But I'll only be impressed if he can manage to provoke the same hate (reserved for TSUN) disgust that we reserved for Mr. Bielema. Really, that is Wisconsin's place in the Big Ten order: annoying, sometimes problematic, ugly.
The Big Ten Network notes that Andersen is a defense guy like Bielema and Alvarez before him. Further, he runs a similar type of offense:
His Utah State teams often were built along the lines of Wisconsin’s squads, playing tough, physical football. The Aggies rank No. 25 in the nation in rushing this season (204.1 ypg). The USU defense is No. 15 in the nation (322.1 ypg).
While it may not have been a glamorous hire (come on, is Gruden really glamorous anymore?), he certainly seems to fit the Wisconsin playing style. Here's to Andersen not making Wisconsin irrelevant in out-of-conference games while getting an annual beatdown by the Buckeyes. Welcome to the Big Ten!
THE B1G IS HURTIN' FOR WINS... in bowl games, that is. BTN's Gerry DiNardo and Howard Griffith debate which B1G team needs a bowl game win the most, with DiNardo taking Wisconsin and Griffith selecting Michigan State:
When asked for one team, DiNardo listed three: Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Nebraska. Pressed to choose one, he takes Wisconsin, but DiNardo added, “Those other two are right behind them.” Griffith says it’s Michigan State. “They need to go into spring ball on a high note,” Griffith said.
I completely agree that Michigan State needs this more. Even though so many of their losses were close this season (five of their six losses were by a combined 13 points!), Michigan State had to have been disappointed with their 6-6 record after making the inaugural Big Ten Championship Game in 2011.
Bielema: "You related to Pam Anderson?"Dantonio and MSU have to be worried about Sparty Spartying right back to mediocrity instead of assuming a place at the B1G kids' table.
Wisconsin, on the other hand, is undergoing a head coaching change and is facing an extremely stout Stanford team in the Rose Bowl, i.e. it's more excusable if Wisco blows it.
While Vegas has both teams as underdogs in their bowl games, MSU has the better shot at just +2.5 to TCU, compared to +6.5/7 for Wisconsin.
KANSAS IS GOOD AT BASKETBALL. Kansas beat the tar out of Richmond last night, 87-59, further reinforcing the fact that Kansas will be a big challenge for the Buckeyes this Saturday.
Their usual studs did work:
Jeff Withey had 17 points and 13 rebounds, Ben McLemore added 14 points and No. 9 Kansas used another big first-half run to help put away Richmond, 87-59 on Tuesday night.
While some other hotshots made noise as well:
Travis Releford and Naadir Tharpe each added 11 points, and Elijah Johnson had seven assists for the Jayhawks (9-1), who will ride an eight-game win streak into Saturday's showdown at No. 7 Ohio State - a rematch of last year's national semifinal won by Kansas.
It's not like Richmond was garbage either, with their only other losses coming to Ohio and Minnesota. After a string of warmups outside of Duke, this game will certainly show what Matta's squad is made of.
SABAN LIKELY NOT IN CLEVELAND. Not sure this classifies as news anymore since new rumors seem to come out every day saying the same things, but it's likely that Nick Saban will not move to Cleveland to coach the Browns next season.
Despite the fact that Saban appears to be Haslam's first choice, Saban might want to just enjoy his dynasty at Alabama or wait for attractive NFL offers in the South:
I have now have had three credible sources – two in the NFL and one in the college ranks – swear to me that Saban has no attraction whatsoever to Lombardi. One insisted Saban wouldn’t work with Lombardi “in a thousand years.” Another on Monday said there is “zero chance” Saban would leave Alabama to work alongside Lombardi in Cleveland. There is one rumor that Haslam is prepared to offer Saban a $100 million deal over 10 years to coach the Browns.
That's a good deal of money.
LINK, THE LEGEND OF ZELDA. Nick Montana transfers yet again (and not to Michigan)... Can someone explain how Alabama – which churns out game manager QBs – has 3 committed for 2013?... Ooooooh, Denard is in (not serious at all) trouble... Consensus All-Americans... UM gets new uniforms for the bowl game/we are bored... These be some true American helmets. Stanzi the Manzi would be so proud... One of the bowl games I'm looking forward to the most gets completely broken down.
