Skull Session: Joe Lunardi Picks Oral Roberts, Ryan Day Could Hoop, and How Chris Holtmann Stacks Up As A Player

By Kevin Harrish on March 17, 2021 at 5:30 am
Don't forget about these two in today's skull session.
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Last year's St. Patrick's Day may as well not have even existed, so I think it's safe to say we're officially in the "life is drastically different than this time last year" portion of 2021.

Hooray!

Word of the Day: Convalesce.

 UPSET OF THE TOURNAMENT? I've long lauded Joe Lunardi as the top bracket prognosticator in all the land and given him nothing but respect with my online words.

Folks, it appears that I have been betrayed, cause Lunardi's out here picking Oral Roberts.

“He won't win it, but Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann should be on anybody's coach of the year list. with a little less talent, he had the Buckeyes keeping up with the Michigans, the Illinois, the Iowas and the rest of the Big Ten. Gaining a No. 2 seed – that is overachieving of the highest order this year in Columbus.

“But here's my upset special of the tournament: the Buckeyes against Oral Roberts, a 15-seed. Can it happen? Yes, and I think it will. Oral Roberts, sneaky good. Ohio State, sneaky done.”

I guess predicting the tournament field is where his expertise ends. That's fine. No shame in that at all, but stay in your lane, Joe!

 THE OTHER ROSEY-CHEEKED ASSASSIN. The tales of Ryan Day's quarterbacking prowess are well known and documented, but it turns out he can hoop a little bit too!

And it seems like he's still got it?

... or maybe not?

Looks like we're gonna need to see a staff vs. players basketball game – live-streamed for our viewing enjoyment, of course. Can't wait to see Kevin Wilson's hook shot.

 MY COACH COULD BEAT YOUR COACH. As you may be aware, the coaches will not be suiting up and playing in this year's version of March Madness, but if they were, I like my odds with NAIA All-American Chris Holtmann running point.

Apparently, ESPN doesn't respect his small-school greatness, however, ranking him just 40th out of 68 coaches on his on-court prowess.

40. Chris Holtmann, Ohio State Buckeyes -- Holtmann was an NAIA All-American guard at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, with his best year coming in 1993-94, when he led the Trojans to a 25-9 record, a No. 1 national ranking and a berth in the NAIA tournament.

Between Holtmann earning All-American honors at Taylor University and Ryan Day breaking multiple passing records at the University of New Hampshire, it seems like Ohio State's got itself a few small-school legends leading the program.

Also, is how I know Holtmann's old "I've never been the best player on my team" line is complete bullshit. Dude, you were an All-American. Miss me with that.

 JAE'SEAN SZN. At this point, I've made it very clear that if I happen to see a Jae'Sean Tate NBA highlight across my timeline, it's going in the Skull Session. I'm just not sure I can say I expected it to happen with such frequency.

Let's put this performance in perspective here – 25 points is more than Tate ever scored in a game at Ohio State, he never made more than two three-pointers in a game during his Buckeye career, and he never had a game where he had six assists, six rebounds, a block and a steal.

So basically what I'm saying is, Tate is performing better at the highest level of basketball in the world than he ever did at Ohio State. Absurd!

 SONG OF THE DAY. "Barroom Hero" by Dropkick Murphy's.

 NOT STICKING TO SPORTS. Big cats and small children played together at Hertel’s zoo and eventually the inevitable happened... how the world lost its libido, and how it can get it back... Hackers are making a killing off the pandemic... The 1904 Olympic marathon was the wildest sporting event of all time... How the cannibals from New Guinea ate the heir to the Rockefeller’s fortune... Comets are more dangerous than we thought...

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Prognosticating: Indiana

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Ohio State Blows Out Indiana, 38-15, for Second Top-Five Win of Season

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