Around the Oval: Women's Basketball Announces Tournament, Track Teams Conclude Season at NCAA Championships & a Possible Rule Change for College Hockey

At it Again

The Ohio State women's basketball team had perhaps the most difficult regular season slate of any team in the country last season. The Buckeyes played all four of the previous season's final four teams, including back-to-back games against the nation's No. 1 and No. 2 teams.

Ohio State head coach Kevin McGuff likes to challenge his team during the regular season to expose areas that need improvement by the end of the season. McGuff's goal is not to win games in November, but to have his team playing its best when it counts in March.

The 2016-17 season will be no different, as the is already on its way to another trying regular season slate. Ohio State announced it will be participating in the 2016 Gulf Coast Showcase, joining a strong group of teams. Of the eight teams in the tournament field, four of them finished the season ranked inside the top-25 (Ohio State, Baylor, DePaul, Syracuse).

“This is the deepest and most experienced top-to-bottom field in the four-year history of the Gulf Coast Showcase,” said Debbie Antonelli, ESPN analyst and Women’s Tournament Director in an Ohio State release. “The quality of the teams and the level of coaching is like an NCAA Regional. We have two top-five programs, four of the eight have been to the Final Four and Baylor has won two national championships in recent years.

The tournament will take place in Estero, Florida, Nov. 25-27, 2016 and will help kick off a hyped season for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State enters 2016 as a national title favorite, returning a national player of the year favorite in Kelsey Mitchell and adding three big transfers in Sierra Calhoun, Stephanie Mavunga and Linnae Harper. In addition, the Buckeyes are adding three five-star freshmen – Tori McCoy, Kiara Lewis and Jensen Caretti – who hope to contribute immediately.

That's a Wrap

The Ohio State track and field teams concluded their seasons at the NCAA Championships this week.

On the men's side, freshman Nick Gray took home first-team All-America honors after finishing seventh in the 200-meter dash. Gray became the first Buckeye to claim All-America honors in the outdoor 200 since Chris Nelloms in 1995.

Gray also joined teammates Antonio Blanks, Jerry Jackson and Champ Page to finish seventh in the 4x400 meter relay, also earning first team All-America honors.  

Sophomore Zack Bazile also earned First Team All-America honors in the long jump, finishing in eighth place with a jump of 7.58 meters.

As a team, Ohio State finished in a 10-team tie for 47th place with a total of five points.

On the women's side, seniors SoSo Walker, Alexis Franklin, Aisha Cavin and Alyssa Gary each received honorable mention All-America honors in their respective events.

The 4x400-meter relay team made up of freshman Karrington Winters, Cavin, Walker and Franklin earned second team All-America honors with a 16th place finish with a time of 3:35.38.

The event concludes not only the track and field season, but the Ohio State 2016-17 athletic season.

Rules Changes?

A big, exciting rules change could be coming to men and women's college hockey this upcoming season.

Possible MAJOR change: NCAA Rules Comm. has recommended changing overtime to 4-on-4 for five minutes instead of the current 5-on-5 system.

— Brad E. Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) June 10, 2016

A 4-on-4 overtime period means more open ice often leading to more exciting offensive play and more goals. 

From Greg Johnson at NCAA.com:

During its meeting June 7-9 in Indianapolis, Indiana, the committee recommended that all NCAA regular-season games be played with an overtime format featuring four-on-four play for five minutes.

If a game still is still tied after the overtime period, the committee also approved an experimental rule in which teams would skate three-on-three for five minutes and then use a sudden-death shootout to determine a winner. Conferences can choose whether or not they want to implement the experimental rule.

The proposal will not impact postseason tournament games, including conference and NCAA championships, which will continue to use a five-on-five, sudden-death format played in 20-minute periods.

According to Tom Anastos, chair of the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Ice Hockey Rules Committee, the proposed change is in response to the apparent downward trend of scoring in college hockey.

“After a thorough discussion of the overtime process, and seeing the success experienced by the National Hockey League and others using four-on-four, we believe this change will be a positive step for NCAA hockey," Anastos said.

The rules change will not become official until it is approved NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel when it meets on July 20.

2015-16 Title Count: 2

• Pistol
• Men's Volleyball