Shoutout to our Eric Seger, who, along with Gene Smith, drove a stake through the heart of the "Braxton Miller weighing transfer" brouhaha. It will not be missed.
ONLY 11 WINS? A former Las Vegas bookmaker speculates Ohio State's 2015 Total Win Over/Under will be set at 11. (Ohio State plays 12 regular season games.)
From Micah Roberts of SportingNews.com:
Ohio State is always one of the most popular public teams, and the buzz is even stronger this year as the Buckeyes come off a national championship. Andrews set their win total at 11, a full game higher than the five teams set at 10 wins. The Buckeyes have 12 games on the schedule, beginning with a Monday night game on Sept. 7 at Virginia Tech, the only team to beat Ohio State last season.
The Buckeyes have an easy non-conference schedule, and their toughest games are their last two – home against Michigan State and at Michigan. Andrews had no trouble posting the Ohio State number, but it’s their biggest rival – Michigan – that had one of the most wide-ranging win variables of all the teams.
Last year, I said—barring something calamitous like Braxton Miller breaking his leg, of course—that Ohio State was a lock to win more than 10 games. We now know Ohio State's powers run deeper than a single game-changing quarterback, so the question becomes: Would I bet my next rent payment on Ohio State running the regular season table?
Yes, if I were forced to make a bet, but I'm not sure I'd place it on my own free will. Winning 12 consecutive games is tough as it is, and Ohio State always gets its opponent's best shot, but a title defense magnifies everything.
Not that winning a title is a cakewalk, but repeating is harder.
Losing a game before November might not be the worst thing for the team, either. Not that I'm rooting for a loss, but losses sharpen swords in ways wins can't. Better that a loss comes in primetime at Rutgers (could you imagine?) than in the semifinals.
The much easier bet, in my mind, is betting the under on Michigan:
“Michigan was a difficult number to make because you have the effect of Jim Harbaugh coming in with players that didn’t perform well under Brady Hoke,” said Andrews, who settled on 7.5 wins for the Wolverines. “But Hoke did recruit well, so the talent is there. I think Harbaugh should be able to get the most out of the existing players as well as his new QB who transferred from Iowa.“
Harbaugh will win a lot of games for Michigan; there's no doubting that, but his first season won't be short on comedy. (I can't wait for the shots of a distressed Harbaugh when his team, trailing Utah by 10 points with two minutes left, gives up a back-breaking first down.)
Please, Warren G. Harding, deliver unto me an 0-1 Michigan team.
I'M NOT SURE I BELIEVE THAT, SILK. The NBA Draft Lottery is tonight at 8:30 on ESPN. Given how these things have gone the last few years, I expect it to end with an ecstatic Nick Gilbert smiling before the cameras as incredulous commenters erupt because, "This wasn't supposed to happen again this year, damnit!"
Sadly, Salty Bill Simmons, will only be there in spirit.
While the Lottery makes for entertaining theatre, we sometimes forget players literally have millions of dollars riding on ping pong balls. One of those players is former Ohio State star, D'Angelo Russell, who said some things this weekend at the NBA Combine.
From Chris Mannix of SI.com:
“I unpacked my bags [at Ohio State] and figured I would be there for a long time,” Russell said at last week's NBA draft combine. “I was always a guy who was overshadowed by great players. I honestly thought I would be a four-year player. I didn’t think my body would be right. I didn’t think I had the skill or the knowledge.”
[...]
“What I’ve heard is ‘Is he athletic enough to play in the NBA?’ not just point guard,” Russell said. “I can give you numerous guys who aren’t athletic who are successful. We’ll just have to see.”
[...]
"I don't want to sound like I'm overdoing it since [Stephen Curry is] the MVP of the league," Russell said. "But when I watch his game, I see myself. The plays he makes, the shots he takes, and passes he makes, I see it before it even happens. I feel like that's what separates me from a lot.”
It bemuses me to watch elite players walk the "I'm the best player in the draft!" / "Nobody believed in me!" line. Russell was too good too early in the season for me to believe he ever seriously entertained staying in Columbus for four years.
It also bemuses me that anyone could be in the NBA and be considered "unathletic." (It's not like they can stick these guys on a pitcher's mound, after all.)
But when I compare Russell to Curry... the first thing that jumps out to me are their lightning-quick releases. Silk, however, stands at 6'5" (with an 8'6" reach) compared to Curry's 6'3".
Who wouldn't want a bigger Steph Curry on their team? Especially when you consider his game doesn't rely on athleticism, so he can add some lean muscle and bulk up a bit at the next level without fear of losing the explosiveness on which his shot and game relies.
I'D SAY OSU WON THAT ROUND. It's always wild to go back and look at blue-chip recruiting rankings. Most of the time I'm like, "Who!?"
Here's 247's composite of the top pro-styled QBs in the 2011 class:
Woof. If I had to choose somebody on that list (outside of Cardale) to lead the Buckeyes and "death" wasn't an option... I guess give me Everett Golson?
It's ironic now, but Cardale opted for a year at Fork Union Military Academy (where he roomed with Michael Thomas) to put separation between himself and the the No. 2 dual-threat QB in the 2011 class. (Bonus: Jeff Driskel(!!!) was the No. 1 overall dual-threat QB that year.)
I'll always respect the hell out of every member of that 2011 class. Those That Stay Will Actually For Real Be Champions... am i right or am I right?
AND I THOUGHT I WAS IN DEBT. Are you, like most Americans, in debt? Be thankful that debt doesn't include two commas.
From Collin Blinkley of Dispatch.com:
The College of Arts and Sciences is projected to have a $10 million budget gap in the coming school year, following a $4.6 million deficit that the school plugged with cash savings last year. Spending has outpaced revenue each year since 2013, eroding cash reserves to almost nothing.
The $10 million deficit amounts to 3.75 percent of the college’s annual budget.
To cut spending, the college will hire fewer graduate students and lecturers to teach over the next year, and faculty members will teach more. Other cuts have yet to be planned.
A lot of people seem to have explanations for this, and none of it is, "This is my fault, actually."
To me, the answer is clear: Just go out and win a national title in something, College of Arts and Sciences. It's 2015 and this is Ohio State, isn't it? Seems like basic math to me, the guy who is not millions of dollars in debt.
(Yes, I know I would make for an abysmal bureaucrat or accountant. Thank you.)
GET DUMPED THEN, MICHIGAN. "You get much farther with a kind word and a gun than from a kind word alone." Al Capone said that, but so did Jim Harbaugh, in a way.
Here's Michigan's Saving Grace at a charity fundraiser yesterday:
Harbaugh fields a question from a young boy -- "can we please beat the Buckeyes?" JH: "asking politely isn't going to get it done"
— angelique (@chengelis) May 18, 2015
Capone forgot to mention: A gun and a kind word won't get you anywhere if the other guy has a bigger gun.
What I'm saying is: May Urban Meyer be the untreated Syphilis to Jim Harbaugh's Al Capone.
THOSE WMDs. She's wrong, but I like her conviction... Snooker legend Willie Thorne going bust... Via @TomOrr4: NJ is upset about maybe having to pump its own gas... Scientists examine why men even exist... I'm rattled by beardless James Harden... #RelegateIllinois.
