Own the group chat with The Weekender, highlighting the biggest stories in college sports, standout writing from Eleven Warriors, and a glance at what's next.
Women’s basketball Buckeyes keep rolling
Eighteen games into the 2022-23 season, Ohio State women’s basketball still hasn’t lost this year.
The Buckeyes’ best-ever start in program history continued Saturday as the Buckeyes improved to 18-0 with a 76-67 win at Nebraska. Ohio State jumped out to a 25-12 lead in the first quarter and never trailed the rest of the way. Nebraska made things interesting by cutting Ohio State’s lead to three points with a 7-0 run to start the third quarter, but the Buckeyes pulled back away over the course of the second half, taking an 18-point lead in the fourth quarter before ultimately winning by nine.
18 and pic.twitter.com/Omqtfz6CCe
— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) January 14, 2023
Rebeka Mikulasikova led the Buckeyes to victory with 25 points and seven rebounds.
We just dont want to lose pic.twitter.com/J80om3LnVe
— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) January 14, 2023
Ohio State women’s basketball will return home for its next two games against Northwestern (Thursday, 6:30 p.m., BTN) and Iowa (Monday, 7 p.m., ESPN2) as the third-ranked Buckeyes chase a 20-0 start for the first time ever.
NCAA approves Transformation Committee recommendations
The NCAA held its annual convention this past week, and the main order of business for the organization was reviewing the recommendations made by the Division I Transformation Committee, a group of leaders throughout college sports who were tasked with modernizing NCAA policies.
After the Transformation Committee released its recommended changes two weeks ago, the Division I Board of Directors approved those recommendations Thursday. Many of the recommended changes are expected to go into effect within the next year, as Division I committees have now been tasked with turning those recommendations into legislation.
The recommendation that drew the most attention was one that called for team sports sponsored by more than 200 schools to expand their postseason tournaments to include 25% of active Division I members – which would mean expanding the NCAA basketball tournaments to upwards of 90 teams. Those decisions, however, will be made at the sport-specific level; per The Athletic, the men’s basketball oversight committee will review the possibility of tournament expansion later this year and make a recommendation next January if any changes are agreed upon.
Other recommendations made by the Transformation Committee, among many, include guaranteeing medical coverage to injured athletes for at least two years after their college careers end, requiring all Division I schools to offer mental health services to athletes, removing the minimum football attendance standard from the criteria required to be a Football Bowl Subdivision member and creating “a more precise and concrete charging standard as to when enforcement staff should bring allegations” against schools for rule violations.
The Transformation Committee’s full list of recommendations can be found in its final report on the NCAA’s official website.
Clemson makes a big hire
After missing the College Football Playoff in back-to-back seasons largely due to an underperforming offense, Clemson made a big change to its offensive coaching staff on Thursday.
Dabo Swinney fired former Clemson quarterback Brandon Streeter just one year after promoting him to offensive coordinator and replaced him with TCU offensive coordinator Garrett Riley, who won the 2022 Broyles Award as college football’s top assistant coach. The younger brother of Lincoln Riley, Garrett Riley has established himself in his own right as one of college football’s top offensive minds, leading offenses that ranked in the top 15 nationally in points scored per game in each of the past three seasons between one year at TCU and two years at SMU.
All three offenses coordinated by Garrett Riley have finished in the top 15 in scoring offense, and his units as coordinator at SMU and TCU from 2020-22 combined would rank third in the nation in points per game in that span. pic.twitter.com/G84V0oaMLZ
— Ross Taylor (@ClemsonFBRoss) January 13, 2023
With Riley guiding an offense that will be quarterbacked by sophomore Cade Klubnik following DJ Uiagalelei’s transfer to Oregon State, Clemson hopes to re-emerge as a national championship contender in 2023 after back-to-back disappointing seasons.
ICYMI
Ohio State Promotes Brian Hartline to Offensive Coordinator
Hartline’s rapid rise up the coaching ladder continued on Friday when the Ohio State wide receivers coach was promoted to offensive coordinator. Ryan Day said Hartline is “more than ready” for the opportunity and that he’ll now be recruiting for the entire offense, which Day believes “is something that will be really positive for our program.”
Patience, Belief in Ohio State Paying Off for New Tight Ends Coach Keenan Bailey
We caught up with Ohio State’s new tight ends coach before the Peach Bowl to talk to him about what it means to be a full-time position coach for the first time in his career. While he could have been a full-time coach sooner had he left Ohio State, he stayed with the Buckeyes because he values “people over places,” and he says he wouldn’t trade his seven years of paying his dues at OSU “for anything.”
Breaking Down Ohio State’s 11 Early Enrollees As They Begin Their First Semester As Buckeyes
More than half of Ohio State’s signees in the 2023 recruiting class began their careers as Buckeyes this past week. Garrick Hodge analyzed what the future could hold for each of those 11 freshmen who are now on campus.
What’s Next
- Men’s Basketball: at Rutgers, 2:15 p.m. Sunday (BTN)
- Women’s Basketball: vs. Northwestern, 6:30 p.m. Thursday (BTN)
- Women’s Hockey: at St. Cloud State, 4 p.m. Friday
- Men’s Hockey: at Wisconsin, 8 p.m. Friday (Bally Sports Great Lakes/Wisconsin)
