Thursday Skull Session

As if I couldn't be more disinterested with the beginning of tonight's NFL Draft, the cold hard facts suggest a B1G player won't be selected in the first round for the first time in 60 years.

As it stands, the conference will be lucky to even land a second-round choice, which would likely come in the form of DE Kawann Short out of Purdue or else Buckeye defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins.

Meanwhile, the SEC is projected to have roughly a dozen first-round picks.

Though it's a virtual lock none of the Buckeyes from last year's squad will hear their name tonight, here's a list of those hoping to be drafted over the weekend with both Hankins and John Simon projected to be scooped up sometime Friday night:

Hankins, Simon, Reid Fragel, Jake Stoneburner, Nathan Williams, Zach Boren, Etienne Sabino, Ben Buchanan, Storm Klein, Orhian Johnson, Garrett Goebel, Travis Howard and Zach Domicone.

The expectation is a majority of these guys go undrafted while Fragel, Stoneburner and Williams are most often mentioned as Buckeyes to hear their name called from the podium.

Who is your sleeper to go undrafted but stick with a roster? I'll go way out there and take Domicone. I can see him possibly carving out a Donnie Nickey-ish special teams role for a few seasons.

IT'S NOT A TOOMER. I know none of us north of the Mason-Dixon have a bleeding heart for the SEC but being astute college football fans, we do know how to appreciate and celebrate tradition.

Sadly, one such tradition came to a temporary halt Tuesday when the oak trees comprising Toomer's Corner were cut down following the fanatical poisoning bestowed upon them by Alabama fan Harvey Updyke Jr., who recently plead guilty to one count of violation of crops, earning a few months in the hole for his exploits.

As you'd expect, Auburn at least plans to capitalize off the tree-gedy:

"The university is going to market a lot of it, mementoes available to Auburn fans," said Gary Keever, an Auburn University horticulturalist. "Some of it's going to be used to make museum-quality bowls."

Auburn is also planning to sell framed memorabilia featuring twigs, leaves and other parts of the oak trees, jewelry, and other items, said school spokesman Mike Clardy.

"It's an attempt to get pieces of the trees in to the hands of our fans," Clardy said, adding that royalties merchants pay from selling the memorabilia will be used to fund scholarship programs. "That's the one good thing that's gonna come out of this. "

In all seriousness, though the plan to get through this year by hanging wires attached to concrete pillars so fans can still "roll" seems a tad bit lame, it's good to know the school plans to plant replacements early next year.

Traditions are just one of the many things that make college football so much better than the NFL so I say props to Auburn for doing what they can to ensure the tradition of Toomer's Corner stays just as strong as the odor of Spice in the Tigers' locker room.

WE'RE NEVER GONNA SCORE. Though we're used to seeing this sort of thing in the rugged B1G, it's clear the rest of the college basketball landscape has also fallen victim to rough and tumble play and a lack of overall offensive skills, among other factors, after a report released by the NCAA confirmed scoring this past season (Division I) came in at its lowest point since the 1951-52 season.

Other statistical items of note include:

Team three-point shooting came in at 34.1%, the lowest percentage since the three-point shot was introduced back in 1986-87.
Assists per game, per team, dropped for the sixth straight season to 12.82 per game.

Many, including Rick Pitino, believe physical defensive play going uncalled on the perimeter is largely to blame while others point to a general lack of fundamentally sound players.

The rules committee is likely to discuss the topic during a May session but it's doubtful a magic bullet is forthcoming. Personally, I like the physical play out top – at least for as long as Aaron Craft is in Columbus. If anything, I'd prefer to see the shot clock lowered to around 28-30 seconds.

Simon should be the first Buckeye taken in the NFL Draft

LEGGO MY LOGO. Upon announcing the new college football playoff will be called the College Football Playoff, the group formerly known as the BCS published four potential logos and asked fans to vote on the one that most tickles their fancy.

Not surprisingly, the logo choices are about as exciting as the name but the contest did receive a bump in flavor after it was discovered the poll was hacked and 50k votes were given to logo four.

The crack staff at CFP headquarters did catch the shenanigans and thus removed the 50k hack-votes that had vaulted logo four into the overall lead.

The hacked logo isn't too bad but I'll still take option #1 because, well, Murica!

Which one gets you all jacked up for some football?

ALL CLASS. Sam Thompson, LaQuinton Ross, Lenzelle Smith Jr., Shannon Scott and Greg Paulus, among others, stopped by Nationwide Children's Hospital yesterday to hang out with the kids. They all seem like really good guys but man is Thompson an impressive cat. He's always a deep thinker when answering postgame questions and you can really see and hear just how much he has matured over the years.