Skull Session: Big Ten Might Nix Divisions, Ohio State Led Nation in NIL, and E.J. Liddell Plays Like an All-American

The good news is, there's a basketball game today! The bad news is, Ohio State might have to play it without its two top point guards.

Chris Holtmann says Meechie Johnson and Jamari Wheeler are both day-to-day. Wheeler has a foot injury that's been bothering him and he has been unavailable in practice. Both players are game-time decisions Thursday.
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) January 26, 2022

Personally, I hope at least one of them is able to play because I earnestly believe the team is better off with a point guard than it is without one. Respect my opinion!

Word of the Day: Moiety.

GOODBYE, DIVISIONS? The Big Ten's been split into two divisions since the Leaders and Legends days began back in 2011, but it seems that era could be coming to an end.

The future College Football Playoff format could have a major impact on whether the Big Ten eliminates divisions or changes the number of its annual conference games, Iowa athletics director Gary Barta told The Athletic.

The Big Ten currently has East and West divisions and plays a nine-game conference schedule that includes three cross-divisional games. Big Ten administrators have discussed dropping to eight games beginning in 2023 so it can create matchups with teams from the Pac-12 and ACC conferences, with which the trio has a working arrangement called The Alliance.

There also are serious discussions about the Big Ten ending divisional play with schools playing three opponents annually and cycling through the other 10 teams either every other year or two years on, two years off.

Personally, I'm extremely down, especially if you make Ohio State's three annual opponents Michigan, Penn State and Wisconsin (though I'd settle for an annual Illibuck, too).

Regardless, a good portion of conference games are fairly useless. I can only watch Ohio State paste Rutgers so many times. If we can get one of them out and replace it with an intriguing non-conference matchup with pretty much anybody in either the ACC of Pac-12, that's more interesting.

All in all, as a noted liker of college football, I'm a huge fan of anything that creates more games that I am very much interested in watching while limiting the games I am not all that interested in watching. And I think this accomplishes that.

E.J. ALL-AMERICAN. E.J. Liddell has had himself an All-American season so far, checking in as one of five first-team All-Americans on The Athletic's midseason All-American team.

Midseason All-America teams
First team

Johnny Davis, Wisconsin*

Oscar Tshiebwe, Kentucky

Ochai Agbaji, Kansas

Drew Timme, Gonzaga

E.J. Liddell, Ohio State

That's what happens when you average 19 points, seven rebounds and nearly three blocks a game while being the most versatile player on the court. It's been pretty tough to deny he's one of the best players in the country.

But not for everybody, apparently...

Bet https://t.co/gvgXpQBEYG
— E.J. Liddell (@EasyE2432) January 26, 2022

All-American, but not first-team All-Big Ten, huh? Hey, if there's any year that's going to happen, it's this year.

GET THAT MONEY. NIL is here to stay and it's going to have a massive impact on recruiting and the student-athlete experience. The schools that get that are going to thrive.

The good news: we're one year in and Ohio State is already doing it better than anyone else.

A total of 220 Ohio State University student-athletes have engaged in 608 reported NIL activities totaling $2.98 million in compensation value — leading the nation in all three categories, according to Opendorse, the Nebraska-based company hired by the Buckeyes to help athletes maximize NIL earning potential.

Now, to be fair, that $2.98 million number is a little skewed by Quinn Ewers' $1 million deal, which is rather convenient to include in the total when he's no longer part of the team.

On the other hand, he came to Ohio State specifically to make that money, so it makes all the sense in the world for it to be included in Ohio State's total.

RUNNING IT BACK. Carmen's Crew hasn't had a deep run in the TBT since winning the whole damn thing in 2019, but they're going to be giving it another shot this season, officially joining the TBT 2022 field.

COUNT US IN!!!!

Were BACK for TBT 2022 https://t.co/rMjIdkw4dO pic.twitter.com/TmWIDlDlDD
— Carens Crew (@CarmensCrew) January 26, 2022

This is going to be a pretty new-look squad with Aaron Craft and Jon Diebler now (presumably) retired, but I'll still tune in.

Side note: it's hilarious that we're not that far removed from Jae'Sean Tate not even getting an invite to join this team, and now he's an NBA starter. Wild.

SONG OF THE DAY. "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven.