Thad Matta's basketball Buckeyes put together their fourth straight dominating performance – albeit against janky competition – with a 38-point spanking of the Bryant Bulldogs in front of a bunch of people disguised as empty seats last night in the Schott.
During the four game stretch in which the Buckeyes have looked every bit the part of a top five team, they've been led in scoring by three different players while carrying out the typical Matta mantra of playing lights out defense coupled with efficient offense at the other end of the floor.
Over the last four games, the defense is holding opponents to 37.5% from the floor with 17.8 turnovers, yielding an average of a meager 57 points per game.
Meanwhile, at the offensive end, the Buckeyes are shooting a scorching 56.5% from the field while turning it over just 10.5 times per night, producing 83.8 points per game.
Again, the sorry competition can't be ignored but you have to love the perimeter ball pressure, offensive ball movement against an increasing amount of zone, and the emergence of Amir Williams, among other happenings, as Ohio State has just four more games before beginning conference play New Year's Eve against Purdue.
Bonus: how about the accompanying emergence of Amir's media skills?
MACK THE KNIFED. With the official resignation of Mack Brown reportedly just hours to a day away, the real story lies within who will replace the second-winningest coach in school history.
The early report indicating Nick Saban would take over in Austin grew legs over the last few days as reports of an anxious Alabama surfaced but now things seem to have cooled a bit on that front. It sounds as if Alabama is interested in throwing even more cash and years at Saban in an effort to keep Tusca-Lucifer in Tuscaloosa and quarterback A.J. McCarron sounds confident Saban will stay.
Mike Farrell over at Rivals tweeted a take courtesy of a mentor looking after a blue chip recruit Saban is targeting:
According to mentor of one high level recruit, Saban told said recruit he wasn't going anywhere and was looking for bigger deal from #Bama
— Mike Farrell (@rivalsmike) December 11, 2013
Yep. That sounds like complete ridiculousness to me too. He could very well stay but I have a hard time believing even Nick Saban would discuss with a recruit's mentor his intentions to shake down the university. That feels like a deleted scene from Blue Chips or something.
If Saban to Texas does fall through, names like Jim Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin are already being bandied about, which will only be outdone in the absurd department the moment Jon Gruden's name comes up. Or Jim Bollman's. Yeah, Texas is a great gig but unless you're on the hottest of seats, are you seriously leaving the 49ers or Steelers to take the wheel at a collegiate program?
YOU SERIOUS, CLARK? Ohio State freshman wide receiver James Clark posted some good news when he revealed the two huge screws inserted into his jacked ankle have been removed:
These 2 are out of my ankle now pic.twitter.com/ixg8q3PmXs
— James Clark (@Jamesclark_94) December 11, 2013
If you'll recall, Clark was injured early in the 2nd half of the Florida A&M curb-stomping and therefore is in line for a medical redshirt. The speedster from the sunshine state was a late get for Urban Meyer as the wide receiver spurned Florida and Will Muschump for a chance to play in Columbus. Mmmm, Gator tears.
Anyhoo, congrats to James for clearing this early hurdle in the rehab process.
I KNOW YOU ARE BUT WHAT AM I? With Mark Emmert and other bigwigs in New York City to attend the IMG Intercollegiate Athletics Forum, the president of the NCAA responded to the heaping helping of criticism ESPN analyst and attorney Jay Bilas lobs Emmert's way on a weekly basis saying, "I dare say I know more about running complex organizations than him & he knows more about basketball."
After Bruce Feldman tweeted Emmert's comments, Bilas was quick to respond offering:
@BFeldmanCBS He's absolutely correct on the latter. The former, perhaps not so much.
— Jay Bilas (@JayBilas) December 11, 2013
Bilas rubs some people the wrong way with what can be an abrasive approach combined with his Duke lineage but I enjoy his rants on Emmert as well as his color commentary when calling a game though it's not the same now that the great Bill Raftery has moved on.
When he wasn't standing up to the school yard bully, Emmert also discussed stipends and pay for play.
As long rumored, the NCAA continues to look for ways to modify the existing outdated structure in a way that would give the five power conferences permission to pay for certain expenses student-athletes incur, something that is currently a no-go. Getting the lesser schools on board with such a plan is where things could get dicey as the theoretical proposal would only create more separation between the collegiate athletics haves and have nots. That said, the power conferences have an ace up their sleeve in the form of a potential threat to branch off from what is known as the current NCAA Division I if they don't get what they want.
(In other news, Cash Rules Everything Around Me, C.R.E.A.M. Get that money. Dollar, dollar bill y'all.)
A DIFFERENT TAKE ON THE INFAMOUS GATOR BOWL. Whenever the topic of the 1978 Gator Bowl is broached, the conversation almost immediately converges on The Punch.
Many do not realize that the opposing coach that night was a 30-year old Danny Ford, who was actually serving as the interim head coach after Charley Pell suddenly quit. The win was Clemson's first in a bowl game in 19 years and Ford would lead the Tigers to the national championship just three years later.
With the Buckeyes and Tigers set to square off for the first time since the infamous matchup, Ford met with the media yesterday and put in a good word for Woody:
"Some things people probably don't realize: (Hayes) called after that and got Charlie Bauman's telephone number. It was on a Sunday. He called and asked me, could he speak with him? I said, 'Certainly, but he was at study hall.' He said, 'Well, we don't have study hall on Sunday night. We just have study hall on Monday through Thursday. I think I'll go back and put that in.' He did visit with him."
Good on you, Coach Ford. Nobody denies Woody screwed up big time just as any intelligent person knows Woody agonized over his actions and not just because it cost him his job.
QUICK CLICKS. Laundry!... A gift for that punk nephew or yours... I didn't realize Santa was a Pall-Mall guy. That's gangster... I call the cranium... College Coach Accused Of Receiving Payment... Do you even lift, bro?... Dude dunks on his woman (Pro-Tip: sound on)... The Planning of Pearl Harbor... I must be in the front row... Jesse's gold medal goes for $1.4 million... Things people say when I write with my left hand.
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