Welcome to the Skull Session.
Brice Sensabaugh has a new home as a member of the Utah Jazz.
"Brice Sensabaugh from Ohio State University." pic.twitter.com/S6GNlRmGpX
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 23, 2023
Hopefully a long, long career is ahead of him, and he makes Buckeye Nation proud.
Let's have a good Friday, shall we?
WOULD YOU RATHER? The Athletic's Stewart Mandel recently wrote that Ohio State is college football's only recession-proof program. For three decades, the Buckeyes have consistently won 10+ games a season and competed for national championships, reaching the summit in 2002 and 2014.
Mandel's claim was in response to a reader's question: "In the last 30 seasons, Ohio State has lost 66 games total under five head coaches but only has two national championships. Florida, Nebraska, LSU and Alabama all have lost more than 100 games but have three or more national championships. What, in your opinion, is more impressive, and as a fan, which would you prefer over the next 30 years?"
Here is more of Mandel's answer:
That consistency, of winning 10-13 games almost every season for the last 30 years, is without question more impressive to me, in large part because no one else has done it. (Oklahoma began a similar run starting in 2000 but was miserable in the 90s).
How do you not have one bad recruiting cycle somewhere along the way that causes things to go sideways for at least a handful of seasons? How do you go from losing Jim Tressel and enduring NCAA sanctions in 2011 to winning a national championship three years later under Urban Meyer? How does Meyer abruptly retire shortly after his own scandal, only for the Buckeyes to promote his offensive coordinator and just go right on to three CFPs and a Rose Bowl?
The Buckeyes make it look so easy we’ve long since taken it for granted that they’ll be a CFP contender every year, but look at all the programs — Nebraska, Texas, USC, Florida — that once assumed the same thing about themselves and instead fell far down the tree.
But if I’m a fan, I want the rings. Obviously.
Here is my question to you, Skull Session reader. Which would you have rather had as an Ohio State fan: 30 years of up-and-down seasons – sometimes winning seven games, sometimes winning 15 games – but more than two titles or the 30 years of consistent 10+ win seasons with only two national championships?
I'd rather have the latter.
In my lifetime, the Buckeyes have won two national titles. However, the program has made five championship game appearances in 2002, 2006, 2007, 2014 and 2020. Ohio State also had seasons where it missed out due to NCAA sanctions in 2012, miscommunication on a late-game pass between Justin Fields and Chris Olave in 2019 and a missed game-winning field goal from Noah Ruggles as time expired in 2022.
That said, Ohio State has had several bites at the national title apple, specifically in the last 30 years. And isn't that what college football is about – bites at the apple?
Sure, Alabama, Florida and LSU have more national titles than Ohio State since the ’90s, but the Buckeyes' winning formula has put them in a position to win championships more than any other program. For some heartbreaking reason, they haven't always capitalized. That's why it will be up to Ryan Day to make sure Ohio State can finally get over the hump and hoist a trophy, preferably sooner rather than later.
"JOHNNIE D! TOUCHDOWN BUCKEYES!" This section will feature an interview between Fox Sports' RJ Young and Johnnie Dixon, who has recently found tremendous success in the USFL, as the duo discussed the legacy of Ohio State's wide receiver room and the Buckeyes' future at the position.
But before I dive into that, I must look back on my favorite Johnnie Dixon moment(s) from his time at Ohio State: The Buckeyes' three-score, fourth-quarter comeback to defeat second-ranked Penn State in 2017, one that included two touchdowns from Dixon of 38 and 10 yards, respectively.
Gus Johnson's call of, "Barrett... Over the middle! Caught! Sprinting to the end zone, Johnnie D! Touchdown Buckeyes!" is chef's kiss. A 10/10, no notes.
I still can't believe Ohio State won that football game. At the start of the fourth quarter, ESPN's metrics offered Penn State a 97.1% chance to win the contest. However, that percentage must not have accounted for men named Joe Thomas Barrett and Johnnie Dixon – and the rest of the Buckeyes, for that matter.
OK, thanks for letting me relive one of the greatest comebacks in program history. Back to our regularly-scheduled topic: Young's interview with Dixon this week, specifically about the past and future of Ohio State's wide receiver talent.
"Who doesn't want to play for Brian Hartline? He's the best in the business."
— The Number One College Football Show (@numberoneshow) June 19, 2023
Former @OhioStateFB WR Johnnie Dixon (@YoungKing_JD5) and @RJ_Young discuss some of the great wide receivers that have worn the Scarlet and Gray pic.twitter.com/HtTx4guTHv
"What's crazy is we see a big change right now, but we can never forget about Cris Carter and all of those guys way before us. In the receiver room, we have a wall that was behind us that was a bunch of GOATs, a bunch of greats. The receiver play really started before this transition. Now we are at a place where we get more recognized. When you have guys like Garrett (Wilson), Chris (Olave), Terry (McLaurin) and Mike (Thomas) – the list goes on – there's like a new wave of GOATs coming through, basically. Those guys have the spotlight and hopefully we keep getting those top recruits to come through. Who doesn't want to play for Brian Hartline? He's the best in the business. Hands down. ... He was a big part of that success for me, Parris (Campell) and Terry, for sure."
Cris Carter, Joey Galloway, Terry Glenn, David Boston, Michael Jenkins, Santanio Holmes, Ted Ginn Jr., Brian Hartline, Devin Smith, Michael Thomas, Terry McLaurin, Chris Olave, Garrett Wilson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba. That's an incredible run of dominant wide receiver play at Ohio State, and I even omitted some talented names.
Soon, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka will be a part of what Dixon labeled the “new wave of GOATs” at Ohio State, with players like Julian Fleming, Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss, Jeremiah Smith and Mylan Graham, among others, looking to fall in line.
Ohio State's wide receiver room is the best in the business, and there have been no indications its success will slow down soon. Life is good in Buckeye Nation in many ways, but especially in that regard.
THAT'S A LOT OF MOOLAH. In 1962, Jerry Lucas signed his first professional contract with the ABL's Cleveland Pipers, featuring $10,000 of compensation per season and an additional $40,000 in stock options – a pretty lucrative deal then. However, the Pipers later disbanded after an ABL league merger with the NBA, sending Lucas to play his official rookie season for the Cincinnati Royals.
Over 60 years later, another lucrative deal involving Lucas has occurred, as The Columbus Dispatch's Rob Oller reported the Ohio State men's basketball legend had his Topps NBA “rookie” card sell for $24,000 more than Lucas' contract with the Pipers/Royals: $84,000 at the PWCC Marketplace Weekly Auction on June 4.
Cincinnati Royals forward Jerry Lucas (16) in action during his rookie year against the Los Angeles Lakers at the Cincinnati Gardens. Photo credit: Malcolm Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
After the sale, a PWCC press release stated, "This auction sale shatters Lucas’ previous record, which was set at $8,511 in May. ... The reason for the record here is in large part due to scarcity in the quality of the card. This is one of only two examples of Lucas’ Topps rookie card to earn PSA’s Gem Mint 10 designation.”
I won't pretend to understand what PSA's Gem Mint 10 designation means, but that card must be rare and in fantastic condition for someone to bid $84,000 to win an auction. For comparison, most of Lucas' rookie cards cost between $11 and $4,000, depending on their condition. Congratulations to the winner for having more disposable income than I could ever hope to have. You are winning at life.
OLYMPIC VILLAGE. The Big Ten announced the full slate of conference opponents for the 2023-24 season of women's basketball, including an 18-game schedule for head coach Kevin McGuff and Ohio State.
Our conference opponents are set! #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Ps05JO6wDl
— Ohio State WBB (@OhioStateWBB) June 22, 2023
Ohio State will play a home-and-away series against Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State this season. It will also host Nebraska, Rutgers, Wisconsin and Indiana and travel to face Illinois, Purdue, Northwestern and Minnesota.
The Buckeyes' marquee matchups will come in its matchups with Iowa, Maryland, Michigan and Indiana – four Big Ten teams that finished as top 15 teams in the country last year and made deep runs in the 2023 NCAA Tournament.
Ohio State will have two cracks at Iowa and superstar Caitlin Clark, who put women's basketball on the map in 2023 with her countless triple-doubles and limitless range. The Buckeyes will also face Michigan twice after sweeping the Wolverines 3-0 last season and will look to bounce back against Maryland after an 0-2 year versus the Terps. As for Ohio State's matchup with Indiana, the program will look to keep momentum in the series after completing a historic 26-point comeback to beat the Hoosiers in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament.
The Buckeyes finished fourth in the Big Ten in 2022-23, collecting a 12-6 record in conference competition. In the postseason, Ohio State finished as runner-up to Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament before reaching the program's first NCAA Tournament Elite Eight since 1993 after defeating James Madison, North Carolina and UConn in the first three rounds.
McGuff's squad will look to improve upon that performance with a returning core of Jacy Sheldon, Cotie McMahon, Taylor Thierry and Rikki Harris, plus the additions of Celeste Taylor, Taiyier Parks and Kennedy Cambridge from the transfer portal this summer.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Wanted Dead Or Alive" by Bon Jovi.
CUT TO THE CHASE. Group promoting plant-based eating wants a new name for Macon Bacon baseball team... California man convicted of illegally importing an ancient mosaic from Syria... Lean green flying machines (Sky Taxis) take wing in Paris, heralding transport revolution... Firefighters rescue horse from pool in Florida... Cape Breton twosome attempt to golf their way into a Guinness World Record.
