Last night was one of the worst nights of my life: The Office aired its final episode.
Sure, things have been a little different since Michael Scott punched out for the last time (Will Ferrell - not exactly the right fit), but The Office has been with me for a long time.
It was even one of the first things my future in-laws and I bonded over.
But enough of my Office eulogy. I hope other Scranton fans enjoyed last night's episode, because now it's time to get down to some Buckeye news.
NEW FRIENDS. 2014 is going to be a big year. Besides being the trial run for the new College Football Playoff, the Buckeyes play Virginia Tech and Cincinnati, and the Big Ten receives some new friends in Maryland and Rutgers.
The Big Ten released the 2014-15 football schedule yesterday, which includes new Big Ten punching bags valuable conference members Maryland and Rutgers.
The Buckeyes get to visit Maryland first on October 4, which will definitely be a treat for you D.C.-based Buckeye folks. Rutgers brings some New York attitude (I actually have no idea if that's true) to Columbus two weeks later on October 18.
D.C. Buckeyes actually get all of the fun next year, as the Buckeyes will also play Navy in the August 30 opener at the Ravens' M&T Stadium in Baltimore. You lucky dogs.
LEGENDS AND LEADERS TRYING TO GET A COOLNESS UPGRADE. So apparently the Big Ten isn't seen as being very cool, hip, swag, or whatever the kids are saying these days.
Dwight was always (maybe) a Buckeye fan at heart. At least that's the case according to Michigan State's AD Mark Hollis:
"Part of that is to make the league be perceived in reality what it is, and that's a little bit more hip, a little bit more cool...It's not your grandfather's conference any more. There's so much greatness and so much tradition that needs to be continued and talked about, but also try to add a little unique freshness that's unique to young kids."
Dr. Saturday thinks that maybe some good uniform changes might be useful, but understands that it's a hard balance between tradition and cool.
However, Frank isn't really right when he says that, "Rich Rodriguez tried bringing his own spread offense to Michigan, and he was pretty quickly run out of town when it didn't work." As Three and Out made clear, it was the defense and lack of administration support that doomed RichRod, not his spread offense.
It's not that the Big Ten doesn't have innovative and interesting offenses, good uniforms, or exciting players. The Big Ten "isn't cool" because it hasn't won as many out of conference games as the SEC.
Oregon is cool because of its uniforms, USC is cool because of LA and movie stars, Alabama is cool because it wins championships, but Big Ten teams need both tradition and winning.
Tradition is a cool thing, but the Big Ten sure could use some more victories over the SEC.
QUIETLY DOMINANT. The Buckeyes baseball team has been quietly excellent this season, just defeating Indiana 2-1 to move in to a tie with the Hoosiers for first place in the conference.
They improved to 34-19 and 15-7 in conference play with only two games left in the regular season.
If you're looking to catch some of that final baseball action, the Buckeyes and Hoosiers play their second game of three at 6:35 this coming Friday night (BTN).
NOTRE DAME IS SOLID. Whether we like it or not (I'm almost positive that you don't), all indications are that Notre Dame is at least somewhat "back" in college football.
The Domers got hammered by Alabama in the national championship, but their statistical performances over the past few years show signs of steady growth in all of the right areas - a defense that limits big plays, an offense led by a multi-year starter at quarterback, and fantastic talent at key skill positions. Just take a look at this depth:
The Irish have just so damn many blue-chippers at this point. Of the five returning or incoming running backs above, three are former four-star recruits and one is a former five-star. Of the nine returning or incoming receivers and tight ends above, five are former four-star recruits.
Why am I telling you this? Because it affects Buckeye recruiting in the Midwest. Charlie Weis's teams and Brian Kelly's early teams could recruit offensive skill guys just fine - it was the defense that was always suspect.
However, according to Bill Connelly, Notre Dame's front seven depth chart includes 4 former 5-star recruits and 10 former 4-star recruits. That includes longtime Buckeye target and brother of Rod, Jaylon Smith. Buckeye fans don't really have an incentive to want Notre Dame to regain any kind of traditional power that I can think of, because it just means losing more players like Jaylon.
CLOSING LINKS. To invade your Brazilian nightmares... LOVE this Patriots uniform redesign... LSUFreek is back with some more Hair Swaps: Rivalry Edition (spoiler, Mark Richt has lost control of his bro hair)...Some NFL RB stats for you... QB recruit Brandon Harris has a top 7... Lost city in the Amazon?... Who are Ohio State's peers?
