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It's a great time to be a Buckeye fan!
Ohio State's combined basketball record of 41-6 trails only Duke's 47-2 and Connecticut's 46-5. Not bad for a football school. ;)
The football team finished the season ranked fourth nationally after a thumping Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl and lost only to champion Texas and third-ranked Penn State. The Bucks were playing as well as anyone at the end of the season and will be among the favorites to win the national title next season.
The Bucks are thisclose to another 20-win season and an NCAA Tournament berth, and argueably the top b-ball recruiting class in the nation (and the best in OSU history) are on their way in.
Greg Oden has OSU fans thinking Carmelo Anthony, who as a freshman led Syracuse to the national title. :thumbup:
My guess is that OSU would not trade the trio of Tressel, Matta and Foster for any other coaching trio in the country. Would you?
There's no other school in the nation with three top coaches like that.
Take Foster out of the mix and only Texas' Mack Brown and Rick Barnes, Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Kelvin Sampson and Florida's Urban Meyer and Billy Donovan are in the same class with Tressel and Matta.
Yep, it's good to be a Buckeye...as long as Matta stays. :cool:
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Re: It's a great time to be a Buckeye fan!
If the Men's basketball team wins the Big Ten title (and it looks like they will), it will be the first time any Big TEn school has won titles in Men's and Women's Basketball, and Football in the same school year. Impressive.
go Bucks!
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Re: It's a great time to be a Buckeye fan!
ur right it is a great time to be a buckeye fan some experts see them making the final 4
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Re: It's a great time to be a Buckeye fan!
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Originally Posted by captainmorgan07
ur right it is a great time to be a buckeye fan some experts see them making the final 4
Then the Thad Five coming in next year.
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Up to #8 in the coaches poll. Go Bucks!
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Re: It's a great time to be a Buckeye fan!
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Originally Posted by max venable
If the Men's basketball team wins the Big Ten title (and it looks like they will)...
go Bucks!
I am as big a fan as anyone of Buckeye hoops, but you make me uneasy with this! ;) With how everyone is beating everyone in the B10 this year, it seems every top team has at least one loss to a lower-tier opponent except us (unless you wanna count the Hoosiers in that category now - haha). We struggled with the Wildcats in C-bus and am sure they will be tough in Welsh-Ryan or wherever they play. I feel better about taking care of Purdue if we can get past tomorrow!
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Originally Posted by bucksfan
I am as big a fan as anyone of Buckeye hoops, but you make me uneasy with this! ;) With how everyone is beating everyone in the B10 this year, it seems every top team has at least one loss to a lower-tier opponent except us (unless you wanna count the Hoosiers in that category now - haha). We struggled with the Wildcats in C-bus and am sure they will be tough in Welsh-Ryan or wherever they play. I feel better about taking care of Purdue if we can get past tomorrow!
TOTALLY agree with you on that one. It's a bit scary. I've read some player interviews...and the good news is that they seem focused. It looks like they recognize the fact that this will not be an easy game. Saw Dials on TV talking about it. He was saying all the right things. I trust that Thad will have them ready.
Here's a story from the Toledo Blade: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs...8006/-1/SPORTS
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COLUMBUS — The last time the Ohio State Buckeyes won an outright Big Ten basketball championship, a 6-6 standout from Toledo’s Macomber High School led the way.
Jim Jackson has been a pro for more than a dozen years now, and the Buckeyes are stalking another championship they can call their own. As the Big Ten enters its final week of the season, four teams are still in the race for the title — Ohio State, Illinois, Wisconsin and Iowa — but the Buckeyes have the advantage of controlling their own destiny.
Senior Terence Dials, who yesterday was named the Big Ten player of the week after his back-to-back double-doubles helped the Buckeyes position themselves for the championship, reined in the title talk, at least until tomorrow night’s game at Northwestern is behind him. A win over the Wildcats assures No. 9 Ohio State — ranked in the Top 10 for the first time since the 1999-2000 season — of no worse than a tie for the Big Ten crown.
“Our focus right now is Northwestern,”Dials said. “They have had some upsets there. We can’t just think the Big Ten championship is ours. We have to try and get a tough road win. Every road game is tough to get. We just have to go out against Northwestern and try and get something done.”
Dials led the Buckeyes to wins over Michigan State and Michigan last week.
The 6-9 product of Boardman High School had 19 points with 10 rebounds in a critical win on the road against the Spartans, then made it five straight double-doubles with 22 points and 11 rebounds against Michigan.
Ohio State second-year coach Thad Matta said Dials senses the sand slipping through the hourglass as his career nears its end, and has a renewed sense of urgency about his play. Dials ranks sixth all-time in rebounds at Ohio State (823) and 16th in scoring (1,454).
“Terence is really playing great basketball right now,” Matta said. “I think he’s in the best shape of his life and he is finishing much better than he was earlier this season. He continues to score and rebound well, and his defense is much improved.”
Matta Matta did not want to comment on the championship picture and how the Buckeyes will dictate just how it is drawn, instead zeroing in on that pesky Northwestern team that had the Buckeyes down 12 at Value City Arena just 10 days ago. Ohio State eventually won 61-52, and reminded his players of the difficult time they had when he spoke to them about tomorrow night’s game in the moments following the win over Michigan.
“We have to get ready to play Northwestern,” Matta said. “That’s really all I said after the game. We’re fortunate it comes back quickly after just playing them [Feb. 18]. We just have to focus on trying to beat Northwestern.”
Previous Big Ten co-leader Iowa lost at Illinois on Saturday, and the door opened for the Buckeyes. If Ohio State can sweep past Northwestern and then beat last-place Purdue in the final home game for Dials and fellow seniors Matt Sylvester, J.J. Sullinger and Je’Kel Foster, the title will reside in Columbus.
Sullinger said taking the lead in the conference in the final week of his senior season has storybook value.
“This meant a lot,” he said. “It’s huge for us. Being a senior, I couldn’t ask for any better way to go out.”
The Buckeyes have won 17 Big Ten regular-season championships, 10 of them outright titles and the other seven shared. Ohio State got a piece of the conference title in 2000 and again in 2002 under coach Jim O’Brien, who is currently involved in a contentious multi-million dollar lawsuit with Ohio State.
With that messy affair simmering in the background, and the recent public speculation that Matta might be a candidate for the upcoming vacancy at Indiana, the Ohio State coach lauded his team for centering its vision on a Big Ten title.
“I don’t think anyone can ever imagine [what they’ve gone through],” Matta said. “Please don’t give me any credit for this. It’s those 11 guys in there. They’ve been as solid and focused and committed as we could ask. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a team more committed to just going out and doing what it needed to do.’’
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Great JJ Sullinger quote when asked about the negativity the Bucks receive from fans when they're on the road:
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"People love to be hating," Sullinger said. "We use the phrase, ‘They hate us because they ain’t us.’ "
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Re: It's a great time to be a Buckeye fan!
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Originally Posted by max venable
Greg Oden has OSU fans thinking Carmelo Anthony, who as a freshman led Syracuse to the national title. :thumbup:
I see the comparison because Carmelo brought a championship his freshman year. But head to head, Greg Oden's upside dwarfs Carmelo's.
Oden is a man-child.
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That was certainly a heart stopper, but man what a great job to pull that one out in Evanston.
I find it interesting that the "that's all right, that's ok, you will work for us one day" boys couldn't get their wits about themselves to call one of their four timeouts with 10 seconds left after Lewis made the layup. :p:
Way to go Bucks!!!:beerme:
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Who is going to Senior Night on sunday?
I will be there and hopefully 2 of my buds will go with me!
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Congrats to the Lady Bucks. Big Ten regular season champs and Big Ten tournament champs!
Here's to the Men's team duplicating the feat! :beerme:
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Dials, Matta are recognized as Big Ten’s best
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Buckeyes win player, coach of year honors
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Bob Baptist
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Terence Dials said last weekend that a season-long feeling of being disrespected by outsiders drove the Ohio State men’s basketball team to win the Big Ten championship.
The Buckeyes need a new motivational vehicle for postseason play.
Their first outright conference championship in 14 years earned Dials and coach Thad Matta the Big Ten’s top individual awards yesterday. Dials was voted player of the year by coaches and media and Matta was voted coach of the year by the media. The coaches do not give an award to one of their own.
"I’ve got to give a lot of credit to a lot of different people. The coaching staff probably ranks No. 1 and my teammates second," said Dials, a fifth-year senior who made the All-Big Ten first team for the first time in his career.
"Talentwise, there are probably guys that are better, but for what they meant to their team, obviously they didn’t win the championship and maybe they didn’t do as well as a team. That’s why it’s probably more of a team award than anything."
Dials, a 6-foot-9 center, had a streak of five double-doubles in points and rebounds as Ohio State won eight of its past nine Big Ten games to win the championship by one game over Illinois and Iowa. Dials finished ninth in the conference in scoring (15.3 points per game), fourth in rebounding (8.0) and third in fieldgoal percentage (.581).
"For Terence, you can look and say this is a great lesson in life," Matta said. "When you’re a real good guy, good things are going to happen. The teammate that he is, his teammates put him in a position to win that honor. All the hard work he’s done, it’s good to see it pay off for him."
Matta, 38 and in his second season at Ohio State, led the Buckeyes to a 12-4 record in conference play. They are 23-4 overall, ranked No. 7 and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament this week in Indianapolis.
It is the third such award for Matta in six seasons as a head coach. He also was honored after winning regular-season and conference tournament championships at Butler in 2001 and Xavier in 2002.
"He knows how to motivate kids and get you to play one game at a time and not look past anybody," Dials said. "He took (the season opener against) Chicago State just as seriously as he took Michigan State in preparing to win. That’s one of his mottoes: ‘Never get tired of preparing to win.’ When you see a coach watching tons of film on Chicago State and taking them as serious as (any other team), you’ve got to respect that and go out there and work hard for him every day."
Guard Je’Kel Foster, the Big Ten leader in steals and one of its top three-point shooters, was voted second-team all-conference by coaches and to the third team by the media. Coaches also voted him to one of five positions on the all-defensive team.
"I’m glad my defense is getting recognized," Foster said.
If anyone can still play the respect card, it is point guard Jamar Butler. He was voted to the third team by the media and honorable mention by the coaches despite having the secondbest assist-to-turnover ratio in the Big Ten, one of the best three-point shooting percentages and winning almost every matchup he had against other point guards in the conference. Coaches also did not vote him to the all-defensive team.
"I’m happy for Je’Kel because (defense was) one of our main focuses going into this season," Matta said. "I was hoping a guy like Jamar would have a crack at that (team) as well, but as I told him, he’s still got to prove himself."
Butler said he was "a little surprised" he did not make the all-defensive team. "But I’m only a sophomore and I have two more years to play in this league. Hopefully, I can get it my junior and senior year."
Ron Lewis would have been the favorite for the newly created sixth man award but started one game too many (six) to qualify, Matta said.
A former teammate of Lewis’ at Brookhaven High School, Jamelle Cornley of Penn State, was voted freshman of the year.
http://www.dispatch.com/bball/bball....308-F1-02.html
http://www.dispatch.com/2006/03/08/2...Pc-F1-0900.jpg
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Re: It's a great time to be a Buckeye fan!
Penn State it is tomorrow as they whalloped the Mildcats 60-42. Penn State is easily the most improved team over the course of the year and will certainly have a shot at pulling the upset like they did a few years back.
But, they will have to play their best game of the year to beat the Bucks.
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The Detroit Free Press picked PSU to beat OSU tomorrow. :rolleyes:
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Originally Posted by max venable
The Detroit Free Press picked PSU to beat OSU tomorrow. :rolleyes:
I don't think that was a stretch prediction at all, and the game has proven them right. Looks like we're gonna pull it out today in the end, now we can bow out gracefully tomorrow and start thinking about the real tournament.
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Originally Posted by traderumor
I don't think that was a stretch prediction at all, and the game has proven them right. Looks like we're gonna pull it out today in the end, now we can bow out gracefully tomorrow and start thinking about the real tournament.
I hear ya. They're going to be a 2-seed no matter what. Might as well get some work in tomorrow and then focus on the big dance.
It's been a very fun season. :thumbup:
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Hopefully finally hitting some threes late means the shooting slump is over, though.
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Originally Posted by traderumor
Hopefully finally hitting some threes late means the shooting slump is over, though.
They just need to get their legs back under them. The boys can shoot. They'll be ready for next weekend.
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Code:
Indiana
Name FG 3Pt FT PF Pts
Allen 0-1 0-1 0-1 0 0
Calloway 1-2 0-1 0-2 1 2
Killingsworth 3-7 0-0 0-0 1 6
Kline 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0
Monroe 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0
Ratliff 0-0 0-0 0-0 2 0
Strickland 1-3 0-1 0-0 0 2
Vaden 0-4 0-3 0-0 1 0
Wilmont 2-4 1-2 0-0 1 5
Totals 7-22 1-9 0-3 7 15
Percentages: .318 .111 .000
Wisconsin
Name FG 3Pt FT PF Pts
Bronson 0-1 0-1 0-0 0 0
Butch 2-5 0-1 0-0 0 4
Chappell 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0
Flowers 0-7 0-2 1-2 0 1
Gullikson 4-6 0-0 2-2 2 10
Nixon 0-5 0-4 0-0 0 0
Taylor 0-3 0-0 0-0 2 0
Tucker 2-4 0-1 0-0 2 4
Totals 8-32 0-9 3-4 7 19
Percentages: .250 .000 .750
1st half stats for IU vs. UW, pretty much guarantees that whoever wins this game won't be able to miss tomorrow against the Bucks.
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Originally Posted by traderumor
1st half stats for IU vs. UW, pretty much guarantees that whoever wins this game won't be able to miss tomorrow against the Bucks.
Neither team had an assist the entire half. How many times has that happened in a college basketball game?
I have watched Jr. high girls and been more entertained. And this is coming from a die hard Hoosier fan.
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Originally Posted by Playadlc
Neither team had an assist the entire half. How many times has that happened in a college basketball game?
I have watched Jr. high girls and been more entertained. And this is coming from a die hard Hoosier fan.
And here I was trying to find the game on the radio. Inspiring performance thus far.
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Gotta like that 1 for 18 from three land between the two teams :help:
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Now Indiana has caught fire in the 2nd half.
7 assists already by IU 8 minutes into the 2nd half, and somehow Indiana is shooting 50% from the floor.
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I see that, they are very, very streaky as the Bucks learned the hard way in Bloomington this year.
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Originally Posted by traderumor
I see that, they are very, very streaky as the Bucks learned the hard way in Bloomington this year.
18% 1st half shooting and 83% 2nd half shooting is probably about as streaky as one team can be.
Alando Tucker is an absolute beast.
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Indiana holds on and wins their 5th in a row.
Should be a good game tommorow between IU and OSU.
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Originally Posted by Playadlc
Indiana holds on and wins their 5th in a row.
Should be a good game tommorow between IU and OSU.
Honestly, as an OSU fan I pretty much expect IU to win. They have more to play for (OSU has already won the Big Ten, IU needs to keep winning to solidify their tourney standing, the Mike Davis thing...they'll play hard for the outgoing coach).
And I'm okay with that. Let's get some work on and get ready for Thursday (or Friday).
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Originally Posted by max venable
Honestly, as an OSU fan I pretty much expect IU to win. They have more to play for (OSU has already won the Big Ten, IU needs to keep winning to solidify their tourney standing, the Mike Davis thing...they'll play hard for the outgoing coach).
And I'm okay with that. Let's get some work on and get ready for Thursday (or Friday).
I wouldn't say that. OSU still wants to win this tournament, and they are in the hunt for a #1 seed.
OSU is clearly better than Indiana, but hopefully for IU fans, the home crowd will give the Hoosiers a lift.
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Originally Posted by Playadlc
I wouldn't say that. OSU still wants to win this tournament, and they are in the hunt for a #1 seed.
OSU is clearly better than Indiana, but hopefully for IU fans, the home crowd will give the Hoosiers a lift.
I don't think anything changes in the seedings no matter what the Bucks do from here on out. They're a #2--or a #1 already. The committee is basically done--that's my point. Stuff that happens at this point really only matters to bubble teams.
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From today's Dayton Daily News:
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Michigan fan wants his team to be like Buckeyes
By Doug Harris
Staff Writer
I went to see my sports doc for a creaky knee, and he ended up turning to me for help.
A Michigan grad and passionate Wolverine football fan, he needed to vent about his team's 7-5 record last season — the program's worst mark in 21 years — and interrupted our usual banter to unload.
"Something's missing," he said. "They just don't play with the same energy. They used to butt helmets after big plays. They don't do that anymore.
"And the worst part," he added, pointing to a gaggle of nurses behind the receptionist's desk, all of them unabashed Ohio State rooters, "is having to listen to them."
The Buckeyes have racked up three BCS bowl wins in four years — a feat matched only by Southern Cal — and have paddled Michigan in four of the last five seasons.
And the OSU faithful are basking in the good times.
The spring game last Saturday drew a paid crowd of 63,649, but an OSU spokesman said this week that the actual number probably exceeded 70,000 because the ticket-takers didn't count children under age 6, who were admitted free.
Nebraska (57,415), Florida (45,200), Texas (41,200) and Alabama (40,000) also drew mammoth spring-game crowds, but the Buckeyes surpassed them all — even though fans knew they'd get to watch the star players only for a quarter or two.
Maybe they came out just to see the helmet-butting.
LINK
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I was at the game last week and when they said that the attendance was only 63,000 I was shocked. The entire stadium minus the south endzone was full, I was figuring there was about 70,000 for sure. In fact, I heard the radio and tv people saying on the broadcasts in the stadium that the crowd was at least 70,000. It was sure great to see that many people come out and the crowd for the spring game grows every year. I'd say in a few years that the spring game could be a sell out if the growth continues at this pace.
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It's still a great time to be a Buckeye fan:
Ivan Maisel's preseason top 25 is out. The top five look like this:
1. THE Ohio State Buckeyes
2. Oklahoma
3. West Virginia
4. Texas
5. Florida State
Michigan? You ask? #16
Go Bucks!
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LINK
From SI.com:
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The future stars
A pair of Buckeyes who are worthy of the hype
Greg Oden
Here's a piece of advice: Save this photo of Greg Oden. And not just because the Lawrence North (Indianapolis) senior is going to be the best center in the NBA someday, but because this is a view of him most people aren't likely to get. After all, there aren't many chances to look down on a 7-footer who towers over the competition -- both literally and metaphorically. Unless you've been living in a cave the past few years, chances are you know the deal with Oden by now: game-changing shot-swatter, glass-cleaning rebounder and rim-rattling dunker who'll be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft whenever he decides to conclude his college career at Ohio State. And the scary part is, he still has room for improvement. Guess the future really is looking up for Oden.
Chris Wells
Big Ten football is all about power. Strong running games are the norm in the conference, and the soft need not apply. So it shouldn't be any surprise that Garfield (Akron, Ohio) running back Chris Wells signed with Ohio State, where he'll join Oden as a freshman stud next year. The 6-foot-2, 228-pound Wells, who is rated the nation's top running back in the class of 2006 by SchoolSports.com, packs a tremendous combo of power and speed. As a senior he ran for 2,134 yards and 27 touchdowns and was named MVP of the U.S. Army All-American Bowl. With Wells and stud tailback Antonio Pittman, Ohio State could have its own version of "Thunder and Lightning," a la USC's Reggie Bush and LenDale White. Bush and White accounted for a Heisman and two national titles in college -- and the future could hold the same for Wells and the Buckeyes.
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Time to revisit this tread...
How sweet is it that the Football Buckeyes:
- just beat Michigan
- are ranked #1 (and have been all season
- will be playing for the National Championship in Jan.
AND...the Basketball Buckeyes:
- have the Thad five clicking on the court
- are ranked #3 in the polls.
Our poll avg. is #2. I love it!
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OH SHUT UP
:bang: :bang: :p:
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Don't forget the women's basketball team. They are ranked #6 in the nation this week.
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Let's see where the Men's Hoops Buckeyes are next year without Oden once he goes pro.
Let's see how Tressel reloads this team with the departure of Troy Smith.