Skull Session: Malaki Branham is Ridiculously Good, Ohio State Makes Simulated Final Four and Buckeye Receiver Trio Was Fun

Since this is my show and I've never once claimed to be humble, I'm going to go ahead and let you all know that I sent this Tweet as soon as Illinois scored to go up 21-8 midway through the first half, which turned out to be the Illini's biggest lead of the game.

I'm pretty sure Ohio State is going to win this game fwiw.
— Kevin Harrish (@Kevinish) February 25, 2022

Let me know if you need me to make any predictions about your life. I take Venmo.

Word of the Day: Maraud.

FAREWELL TOUR. As early as *checks notes* yesterday, I earnestly believed that Malaki Branham would be back playing for the Buckeyes next season. Well, I was an idiot yesterday. He gone.

This man is shooting 70 percent from the field on 13 shots per game AND getting to the line at a 57.2 percent clip (where he's shooting 91 percent) over the last three games. Just a menace.
— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) February 25, 2022

30 point games this season

Malaki Branham: 2
Jabari Smith, Jaden Ivey, Chet Holmgren, Emoni Bates and Paolo Banchero combined: 1

Hes like that
— Zach Fleer (@ZachFleer270) February 25, 2022

The only power conference freshman this season with multiple 30-point games #B1Gstats pic.twitter.com/Jhgnul5R42
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) February 25, 2022

Malaki Branham has 80 points on 40 shots in his last three games.
— Bill Landis (@BillLandis25) February 25, 2022

"I think they have the best player in our league, and his name's not Liddell."
— Griffin Strom (@GriffinStrom3) February 25, 2022

I maintain that if he came back next year, he could be a Big Ten or National Player of the Year candidate and a lottery pick, but the way he's playing right now, I'm just not sure that's going to be a drastic improvement.

The dude is a walking bucket. In the past three games, he's been the most efficient scorer in the entire country, posting games of 22 points, 27 points and 31 points. All on just 40 shots. I'm just trying to be realistic here – that's just not the type of player that usually comes back to school.

Sure, I guess you have to consider the rest of his season and maybe those three games turn out to be an outlier when all is said and done, but I wouldn't bet on that. I think it's more likely this is a Mike Conley situation where he not only plays himself into the draft these next weeks, he turns himself into a lottery pick. Cause he only seems to be getting better every game.

Unless some heroic local business owner comes in like a white knight and drastically overpays him for a couple of television spots and an "internship," I've made peace with the fact that this is going to be his only season in Scarlet and Gray.

FINAL FOUR, BABY! Folks, I've got good news – Ohio State's going to the Final Four.

Someone took Joe Lunardi's latest bracket projections and ran it through a simulator. And the simulator loved the Buckeyes (as simulators notoriously do).

Beating Michigan to reach the Final Four would be a special kind of glorious, but the most fascinating thing about this projection isn't even the Buckeyes, it's Rutgers' run on the other end of the bracket. Maybe the computer thinks all the games would be played at the RAC?

In any case, I'm hopeful we see a long(er) Ohio State run in the tournament this year. Between this and the Washington Post simulation of 2020, the Buckeyes have as many simulated Final Fours as they do actual NCAA Tournament wins.

To be fair, they haven't played a game in those simulated tournaments – 2020 got canceled and 2022 hasn't happened yet – but I'm ready to see them do some actual madness in March.

EXTREMELY FUN. I had fun watching Ohio State's absurd trio of wide receivers this season. Turns out, the rest of the country did too.

David Ubben of The Athletic gives a nice ode to the three Buckeye receivers as part of his piece on Saying goodbye to the NFL prospects college football fans loved the most.

All of the Ohio State wide receivers: Watching Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson ritualistically destroy secondaries this season was awesome. All three were capable of winning the Biletnikoff Award but likely canceled one another out via votes and targets. It won’t matter at the next level. The three were productive and spectacular, and seeing Smith-Njigba set Utah’s secondary on fire in the Rose Bowl for 347 yards, three touchdowns and 15 catches was the finest moment for this group. I haven’t seen a performance like that in years. I’d say this trio was the best receiving corps in a long time in college football, but this group is neck and neck with Alabama’s wide receivers in 2020, another generational group of pass catchers.

I agree with every word, but I get the impression that David thinks Jaxon Smith-Njigba is also leaving for the NFL.

To be fair, that's a very reasonable thing to conclude about a guy who just had the most prolific receiving season in Ohio State history and put up video game numbers in the last game he played. But unfortunately for Big Ten defensive backs, the rules dictate that he will have to play one more season for the Buckeyes.

SNUBBED! Today, I am outraged on behalf of Dawand Jones, who was absolutely snubbed by this list.

https://t.co/QMN5K6DZtA pic.twitter.com/WF6tKyGety
— Dawand Jones (@dawandj79) February 24, 2022

I'm not even sure which sport he should be most upset about getting snubbed from, because he *should* be on there for both football and basketball. And he's properly salty.

But that's not anything a little healthy trash talk can't fix.