Welcome to the Skull Session.
Meechie’s back!
Let's make it official.
— Ohio State Hoops (@OhioStateHoops) April 9, 2024
Welcome Hme @MeechieJohnson0
Meechie Johnson Jr. has officially been added to our 2024-25 roster.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/xLQfioVMTn
Have a good Wednesday.
THE BEST OF THE BEST. This past weekend, Ohio State football posted a graphic that the Buckeyes have THE BEST HELMET IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL...
Best Helmet in CFB
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) April 4, 2024
#GoBucks | @247Sports pic.twitter.com/FxzFAtZtYz
Indeed, according to Matt Howe, a national college football writer for 247Sports, Ohio State has the best and “most recognizable” helmet in the sport. Here are Howe’s top five helmets, plus a description of each hunk of foam, aluminum and carbonite.
I meant polycarbonate.
Foam, aluminum and polycarbonate.
No. 1 - Ohio State
Photo: Matthew Emmons (USA TODAY Sports)
“The Buckeyes earn the top spot in all of college football with a helmet that they have used since 1979,” Howe wrote. “In my opinion, the helmet plus the stickers make it the most recognizable helmet in all of college football.”
No. 2 - Penn State
Photo: Matthew Emmons (USA TODAY Sports)
“Penn State first wore the white helmets with a singular blue stripe down the middle in 1949,” Howe wrote. “Since then, the helmet has remained almost exactly the same with the exception of numbers being added to the side of the helmet that they wear every once in a while.”
No. 3 - Notre Dame
Photo: Matthew Emmons (USA TODAY Sports)
“Notre Dame’s classic gold helmet has been a mainstay within the program since the 1960s,” Howe wrote. “Although they switch it up for certain games throughout the years, the gold has and always will be their helmet of choice.”
No. 4 - Miami (FL)
Photo: Matthew Emmons (USA TODAY Sports)
“The U has had its fair share of helmet variations over the years, trying out green, orange and black helmets. However, the classic white helmet is one of the best in all of college football,” Howe wrote.
No. 5 - Alabama
Photo: Matthew Emmons (USA TODAY Sports)
“Alabama’s helmet has remained the same since the 1960s, with a crimson base and white numbers on the sides,” Howe wrote.
For me, it's no debate.
Ohio State has the best helmet in college football. As Howe said, it's recognizable. The gray helmets, the scarlet stripes, the white and green Buckeye Leaves – it's all beautiful. While Ohio State has experimented with different headgear when wearing alternate uniforms, I hope the Buckeyes never move off of these classic helmets.
WAY-TOO-EARLY POLLS. Come one, come all, to Dan Hope’s favorite season. It’s way-too-early poll season (back for a limited time!).
Three months after writers from ESPN, The Athletic, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, USA TODAY and other outlets revealed their way-too-early top 25 polls for college football, some writers carried over the tradition to college basketball.
In this section, we will look at where Ohio State men’s and women’s basketball appeared in each of the way-too-early polls I could find as I scoured the World Wide Web on Tuesday.
Men’s Team
After Ohio State fired Chris Holtmann, Jake Diebler led the Buckeyes to an 8-3 record (5-1 Big Ten) and berths in the Big Ten Tournament and NIT quarterfinals. With momentum heading into his first full season as head coach, Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated ranked Ohio State at No. 19 in his way-too-early poll for next year.
“New coach Jake Diebler has a lot to prove still, but he did successfully energize the Buckeyes late in 2023–24 and has capitalized on that momentum so far this offseason,” Sweeney wrote. “The Buckeyes have kept their core together, with PG Bruce Thornton and C Felix Okpara each confirming their return, and have since added South Carolina Gamecocks star Meechie Johnson Jr. in a homecoming of sorts for the once-former Buckeye. If rising sophomore forward Devin Royal takes a step forward, this group could be dangerous.”
In the two other way-too-early polls I found for next season, Jeff Borzello of ESPN placed Ohio State in his “Next In Line” category, along with Texas, San Diego State, Michigan State and New Mexico, while Mike DeCourcy of Sporting News left the Buckeyes out of his top 25.
Women’s Team
In a women’s way-too-early power rankings for next season, Sabreena Merchant of The Athletic placed Ohio State at No. 18. The Buckeyes are the fourth-best Big Ten team on the list behind UCLA (No. 4), USC (No. 6) and Nebraska (No. 17).
“Ohio State’s system makes the Buckeyes hard to play during the regular season, and Madison Greene and Taylor Thierry should keep the press humming while Cotie McMahon assumes a larger role in the offense – McMahon’s relative stasis from year one to year two, prevents Ohio State from moving any higher,” Merchant wrote.
Charlie Creme of ESPN also sees Ohio State as the fourth-best Big Ten team entering next season. However, the Worldwide Leader favors USC over UCLA and a handful of teams over Nebraska and Ohio State. Creme ranked the Trojans at No. 4, the Bruins at No. 5, the Cornhuskers at No. 21 and the Buckeyes at No. 22.
“It’s the end of the Jacy Sheldon era and, with Rebeka Mikulasikova and Celeste Taylor using up their eligibility, things will look different in Columbus,” Creme wrote. “Kevin McGuff will build around Cotie McMahon, who has shown the potential to be one of the nation’s top players. McGuff also landed the No. 3 recruit in point guard Jaloni Cambridge and combo guard Ava Watson to remake his backcourt.”
To see Ohio State’s men’s team back in the top 25 would heal the pain I endured as I watched the Buckeyes go back-to-back seasons without contending for a Big Ten title or reaching the NCAA Tournament.
To see the Ohio State’s women’s team be ranked so low in the top 25 would take some adjustment, considering the Buckeyes have had incredible success in back-to-back seasons, reaching the Elite Eight in 2022-2023 and winning a Big Ten title in 2023-2024.
BUCKET AND A PROBLEM. This week, former Ohio State men’s basketball star Jared Sullinger won the Chinese Basketball Association’s Best International Player award for his performances in the 2023-24 regular season. In 50 appearances for the Shenzen Leopards, the Columbus native and Northland graduate averaged 21.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and four assists per contest.
. Blessed https://t.co/Qe4Q6PjiWy
— Jared Sullinger Sr. (@Jared_Sully0) April 8, 2024
A two-time consensus All-American at Ohio State from 2010-12, Sullinger averaged 17.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.1 steals and 0.8 blocks per game in his two years with the program. In those seasons, the Buckeyes reached the Sweet 16 and Final Four.
Following Sullinger’s brief but decorated college career, the Boston Celtics selected the 6-foot-9, 270-pound forward with the No. 21 overall pick in the 2012 NBA draft. Across four seasons in the hah-bah, Sullinger averaged 11.1 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists in 258 appearances and 171 starts. Sullinger’s final NBA season came with the Toronto Raptors in 2016-17, and he appeared in 11 games and made one start for the franchise.
Then, Sullinger got ready to learn Chinese.
Since 2017-18, he has suited up for the Shenzen Leopards, save for one summer where he won a KBL championship with the Anyang Red Boosters in South Korea. Sullinger’s stats across five seasons in China have been off-the-charts good:
| SEASON | TEAM | G | PPG | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | FG% | 3P% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | LEOPARDS | 38 | 30.4 | 16.7 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 50.6 | 36.2 |
| 2018-19 | LEOPARDS | 15 | 27.3 | 13.0 | 4.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 | 54.7 | 40.5 |
| 2021-22 | LEOPARDS | 24 | 18.6 | 10.3 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 49.2 | 41.4 |
| 2022-23 | LEOPARDS | 42 | 22.0 | 13.6 | 4.7 | 1.5 | 0.6 | 50.7 | 40.5 |
| 2023-24 | LEOPARDS | 50 | 21.8 | 11.3 | 4.0 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 50.1 | 33.0 |
Yeah, Sullinger is a bucket and a problem.
I’m glad to see the CBA has finally recognized him with some well-deserved hardware.
HELLO, FRIENDS. On Tuesday, Dan Hope published an article on Neal Shipley, an Ohio State senior who will compete at The Masters this weekend. The article is excellent, and as the Par-3 Contest starts at Augusta National on Wednesday and the tournament occurs from Thursday to Sunday, I want to remind Skull Session readers to check it out.
Ohio State golfer Neal Shipley will live out a dream by playing in The Masters this week, and hes confident in his ability to be competitive at Augusta National. https://t.co/FuJt1wxked
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) April 9, 2024
While I worked for Buckeye Sports Bulletin, I wrote several features on the Ohio State men's golf team, head coach Jay Moseley, Shipley, Maxwell Moldovan, Adam Wallin and more. Shipley is a great golfer and a great interviewer – but he's an even better person. I wish him the best of luck this weekend in Georgia.
Shipley will tee off at 11:30 a.m. for Thursday and will take the course at 8:24 a.m. Friday. If Shipley ranks in the top 50 (plus ties) after rounds one and two, he will make the cut for the weekend.
ESPN will televise coverage of The Masters from 3-7:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday while CBS will broadcast live from the tournament 3-7 p.m. Saturday and 2-7 p.m. Sunday.
SONG OF THE DAY. “Georgia On My Mind” - Ray Charles.
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