Some people tell me I should do stand-up comedy, but I tell them that I prefer to sit.
Anyway, here's a clip of Jim Knowles gettin' sturdy before Mat Drills this week.
Woke up for Mat Drills like pic.twitter.com/kRqUKXlU59
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) February 15, 2023
Let's have a good Thursday, shall we?
"MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY... MONEY!" On Wednesday, Ohio State officially canceled its home-and-home series with Washington in 2024 and 2025 and will replace the contests with two home games in those seasons.
UPDATE: 2024-25 football series with Washington canceled
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) February 15, 2023
Move will allow for an eighth home game at Ohio Stadium in 2024 @OhioStateFB | #GoBucks
Is this good news or bad news?
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
| SAT, AUG. 31 | SOUTHERN MISS | OHIO STADIUM |
| SAT, SEP. 21 | WESTERN MICH | OHIO STADIUM |
At first glance, it feels like the latter. Ohio State dropped two non-conference games to a quality Power Five opponent in back-to-back seasons, leaving that part of the schedule with only Southern Miss and Western Michigan in 2024 and Texas and UConn in 2025. That feels terrible.
But with a deeper look, it starts to feel like the former. Ohio State only has six home games in 2023 and would have had a maximum of seven in 2024. Canceling the matchup with the Huskies now allows the Buckeyes to have up to eight home games two seasons from now and seven three seasons from now. That feels great.
| DATE | OPPONENT | LOCATION |
|---|---|---|
| SAT, AUG. 30 | TEXAS | OHIO STADIUM |
| SAT, OCT. 18 | CONNECTICUT | OHIO STADIUM |
And let's be honest. That feels especially great for the Ohio State athletic department, which eclipsed $250 million in revenue in the 2022 fiscal year but still required a loan from the university as it works to pay off pandemic-related debt. Yes, Ohio State will have to pay Washington a cancellation fee, but they'll make that money back in no time with extra home games in the 2024 and 2025 seasons. They'll probably still be swimming in cash if we're being real.
The move also should feel great for the fans. While the Buckeyes lose non-conference games with Washington, they will add Big Ten games with USC and UCLA as early as 2024. Those matchups will be as good if not better than the ones Ohio State would have against the Huskies, and should the games happen in 2024, Ohio State will be glad it doesn't need to travel across the country twice.
FIELDS DISHES ON WARREN, CLEMSON. I've been on record with the take that Barstool Sports, as a whole, is a bad sports “news” organization. However, I must admit that Barstool hits a home run every once and a while with its content. That happened this week when Justin Fields appeared on the Pardon My Take podcast.
The reason Fields’ interview on the podcast was so successful, in my opinion, is because the hosts Dan Katz and Eric Sollenberger asked questions and got out of the way. That allowed Fields to talk about his relationship with former Big Ten commissioner and current Chicago Bears CEO Kevin Warren, Ohio State's 2020 CFP semifinal win over Clemson and other topics with tremendous detail in the 35-minute segment. That's a beautiful recipe for success in any interview if you ask me.
A few minutes into the interview, Fields was asked about his relationship with Warren after the pair butted heads following the Big Ten's decision to cancel football during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Fields and leaders from several other schools in the conference eventually convinced the conference's presidents and chancellors to reinstate play. The outcome has led many to think there has been strife between Fields and Warren ever since.
Kevin Warren on @justnfields: I have the greatest amount of respect for him. pic.twitter.com/lL75C4LTau
— Chicago Bears (@ChicagoBears) January 17, 2023
Newest Chicago Bears president/CEO Kevin Warren with quarterback Justin Fields.
— Daniel Greenberg (@ChiSportUpdates) January 18, 2023
Justin in the weight room putting in work.
(Picture via @ChicagoBears) pic.twitter.com/J3keRhly7o
Fields quickly dismissed that notion on the podcast and said his relationship with Warren from that time forward has remained professional. The Bears quarterback even called the head honcho of business for his team a "genuine person" and "smart guy."
"I've seen him multiple times after that. I saw him after the Vikings game the first time we (the Bears) played them, and then I saw him the first day in the building after he got hired as the CEO. That hasn't even been brought up. He just came and said what's up to me. He's a genuine guy with the way he talks to everyone in the building – the way he talks to me, the equipment managers and others. He's just such a genuine person. He's a smart guy. I am excited to have him with us."
Still, Fields acknowledged he was not happy with Warren and the Big Ten's decision to initially cancel football in 2020. Had the decision remained final, he would have lost his last season at Ohio State – a season full of memories for the two-year Buckeye.
One of those memories came against Clemson in the CFP semifinal in New Orleans, where the Buckeyes dismantled the Tigers, 49-28, behind Fields' legendary 385-yard, six-touchdown performance. Even more, that historic effort was mainly put together after Fields took a rib-cracking shot from James Skalski with six minutes left in the second quarter.
Fields explained what that hit felt like and how he battled through adversity and pain to lead Ohio State to a much-needed victory:
"I didn't feel normal the whole game. Especially knowing what had happened last year – we lost the game on a game-winning pick, a miscommunication – when I tell you we were grinding the whole offseason and the whole season trying to get back to that point. We saw we were gonna play Clemson again in the playoffs, we kinda already knew what time it was. I was gonna have to die to get pulled out of that game.
"But I didn't feel normal the whole game. It felt like a bowling ball was thrown by Thor and hit me in the ribs. It was crazy. Just at that moment, with all the work we had done and all the stuff that we had gone through, you only got one opportunity at that, and we had to take advantage of that opportunity. We ended up winning the game big, so it was awesome."
Ohio State's win over Clemson was awesome, and so was Justin Fields. To this day, Fields is still awesome, as proven by his insane plays for the Bears this past season and so much else. The “so much else” is confirmed in the podcast, so take a listen. It won't disappoint.
HIGH CEILING, LOW FLOOR. The Thursday Skull Session brings another Bill Connelly SP+ dump, as the ESPN staff writer projected the ceilings and floors of the top 25 teams (many months) ahead of the 2023 season.
Now that SP+ projections are out, it's time to set some expectations!
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) February 15, 2023
I wrote about the ceilings (Michigan: 12-0), floors (Georgia: 9-3) and most important variables (Penn State: DREW ALLAR HYPE TRAIN CHOO CHOO) for 30 FBS teams in 2023.https://t.co/LTjJuGwicK
All variables considered for Ohio State, such as a quarterback competition between Kyle McCord and Devin Brown, potential injuries and “the whims of 18- to 22-year-olds and a pointy football,” Connelly has the Buckeyes as the No. 2 team in his initial SP+ rankings, with the team's ceiling at an undefeated 12-0 but a floor of 9-3.
Ceiling: 12-0 | Floor: 9-3
Initial SP+ rank: 2 | Odds of finishing 11-1 or better: 39%Biggest variable: Quarterback. Either junior Kyle McCord or redshirt freshman Devin Brown will take over for C.J. Stroud behind center. Both were top-100 recruits, and either will find plenty to like about what is probably the best skill corps in the country –receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka and running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams all return for the Buckeyes. Perhaps more importantly, second-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will have both more familiarity and more star power (end J.T. Tuimoloau, linebackers Tommy Eichenberg and Steele Chambers) going for him, too.
Looking at the numbers, Ohio State has the third-best odds to finish 11-1 or better at 39%, with Georgia having the best odds at 62% and Michigan second-best at 46%. However, the SP+ has all three teams with the same ceiling (12-0) and floor (9-3), as Connelly writes that the Bulldogs' success will also be determined by quarterback play while the Wolverines will need new pass rushers to step up.
Given Connelly’s SP+ articles across the board, it's clear he views Georgia, Ohio State, Michigan and Alabama as the top four teams in the nation heading into 2023, which makes what I've said the past few weeks about the Buckeyes' goals for this year all the more important: Beat Michigan, beat Michigan and beat Michigan. Does anyone disagree?
OLYMPIC VILLAGE. Ohio State women's basketball head coach Kevin McGuff was one of 15 coaches named to the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List on Wednesday.
Congratulations to @CoachMcGuff on being named to the @NaismithTrophy Coach of the Year Late Season Watch List
— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) February 15, 2023
: https://t.co/L41eC7fnAm#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/eZmNCUTpWF
This year, McGuff has coached his No. 13-ranked team to a 21-5 record with a 10-5 mark in conference play. The Buckeyes put together their best start in program history with a 19-game win streak until they were knocked off by then-No. 10 Iowa on Jan. 23.
Since that loss, Ohio State has looked well, not great as it has fallen in four of its last six contests. To be fair, the Buckeyes' losses were to three top-10 teams and a well-above .500 Purdue squad, and the team was without Madison Greene for all of that stretch and Jacy Sheldon for all but one contest (at Maryland). What I mean to say is this: Cut the team some slack. Cut some slack for McGuff, too. He's doing the best he can.
A Fan Vote will narrow down the semifinalists to 10 on March 8 and four finalists on March 20. It will then select the final honoree between March 21-28. The winner will be announced on March 29 at the Women’s Final Four in Dallas.
SONG OF THE DAY. “For The Love of Money” by The O' Jays.
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