The Ohio State men's basketball team hosts Rutgers tonight at 6:31 p.m. on BTN. Well-oiled death machines don't perambulate into Columbus often, so it's a good thing our men got that warm-up against Kentucky last month.
SO YOU'RE SAYING THERE'S A CHANCE? The 2015 season is in the books (sorry, Bama, your title is ancient history), but that doesn't mean we can't turn to the 2016 season nine months before the fact.
Ohio State will need its youth to grow up quick, but oddsmakers aren't about to get torched by them (or a weak Big Ten).
From Westgate Sportsbook (via linemakers.com):
| TEAM | ODDS |
|---|---|
| ALABAMA | 6:1 |
| OKLAHOMA | 7:1 |
| CLEMSON | 7:1 |
| OHIO STATE | 10:1 |
| BAYLOR | 12:1 |
| NOTRE DAME | 15:1 |
| FLORIDA STATE | 15:1 |
| TENNESSEE | 15:1 |
| LOUISIANA STATE | 15:1 |
| MICHIGAN | 15:1 |
| MICHIGAN STATE | 20:1 |
| MISSISSIPPI | 20:1 |
| STANFORD | 20:1 |
Irish bookmaker Paddy Power lists Ohio State as co-favorites with Alabama at 7:1. William Hill puts Ohio State fifth at 15:1.
"Way too early" 2016 polls have Ohio State anywhere from 4th to 14th. Michigan, on the other hand, is listed anywhere from 3rd to 9th.
I hope the hype continues to swell around those coxcombs to the north. Just let me catch some sportsbook with a ridiculous line for The Game this summer because I will drive straight to Vegas, pawn my car, and put it all down on the Buckeyes. (Living as a Vegas vagrant for six months will be the froth to the forty bottle.)
JONES SPEAKS ON #QBGEDDON. Cardale Jones shocked me when he sauntered onto the field as Ohio State's No. 1 QB in Blacksburg last September. (As quick as the season went, that game feels like it happened in 2012.)
Things didn't go according to plan, but Dolo never complained. However, he isn't bound by the Ohio State athletic department anymore, which is beautiful because he no longer needs to mince words.
From theozone.net:
“We also had an understanding that we wanted a starter and a guy that we as a staff, as a team, believe in and trust,” [Cardale Jones] said. “Not a guy that, ‘Let’s see what he can do then see what he can do’ and just go back and forth. That wasn’t the plan at all in my opinion.”
[...]
“I think it definitely affected my play and my mindset during games, which I shouldn’t have let it but it’s kind of hard when you get to the sideline and the guy’s already warming up,” Jones said.
“It affected both of us because when [J.T.] got in, he did things out of his character trying to make plays. He felt like that was his opportunity to takeover the job. Then when I started, or when I got in, it was the exact same and it kind of took us away from our game.”
It definitely affected both of them, but J.T. Barrett settled down and took over the spot. Jones may not have liked the handling, but it will prepare him for the next level. NFL teams aren't handing the keys to QBs drafted on the second or third day.
And even if Cardale does get the chance, empires aren't built in a night and there will always be people trying to take what's his.
LET BRAXTON COOK. Miller never lacks confidence.
Ohio State's Braxton Miller confirms that he will play in the 2016 Senior Bowl. Says he wants to run a 4.29 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine.
— Hayden Grove (@H_Grove) January 12, 2016
For comparison: Ted Ginn Jr. claims he ran 4.28s in college and even went as low 4.22. During workouts with NFL teams, Ginn reportedly ran between 4.37 and 4.45.
Is Braxton Miller faster than Ted Ginn? I don't think so, but he's going to have a chance to show it. If he runs a 4.29 40-yard dash at the combine the corpse of Al Davis may rise from the bottom of the sea to draft him in the first round.
SHOUTOUT TO THIS COLLEGE COACH. Ohio State's linebacker corps was thin when Urban Meyer took the reins from Luke Fickell. Four years later:
Spoke to a college coach who raved abt #OhioState's LB group esp Darron Lee. Best he'd seen since #USC's Maualuga/Cush/Maiava/Clay combo.
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) January 12, 2016
Yeah, not worried about the linebackers next year. Fickell and Meyer proved they can identify and develop LB talent.
HARBAUGH WANTS TO SLEEP WITH A #TEEN. Jim Harbaugh doesn't recruit like other coaches, but so far it's hard to argue with his unorthodox approaches. Michigan owns the consensus No. 2 recruiting class at the moment, and Harbaugh is looking to add 2016's No. 1 kicker to the class.
The recruiting dead period ends tonight at 12:00, and Harbaugh told Penn State commit Quinn Nordin he'll be at his house at 12:01.
From scout.com:
“He told me if I had a 6-foot-3 inch piece of carpet for him to sleep on, that would be enough. I said we have guest rooms, and he said ‘Tell you what, I’ll just sleep on the floor in your room.’ I said ‘Coach, I have Penn State stuff all over my walls.’ He said, ‘Tell you what, I can help you take it down.’”
Looks like Plain James Franklin is going to have to counter with a bullhorn from the front lawn.
THOSE WMDs. Former Butler big man Andrew Smith dies at 25... Ribollita: So good, and so easy to make... The strange procession which never moves... Selling Millennials their own childhood at a 90s festival... People are just drinking their pee on Youtube now.
