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| Matta is ready. Are you? |
Well, it has been an interesting week to say the least.
First of all it actually happened we lost to that team from up north. Yep, that really stunk, but as an OSU alum who was their during the Cooper era I can say I unfortunately got used to losing to them, however, that did not take the sting out of the game, but I can honestly say it was a great game (though I do believe we lost more then they won. Those over thrown passes will continue to haunt me as a fan, but I am sure Braxton, under new tutelage will correct that).
Then we have the coaching situation, would he or wouldn’t he? What was going to happen with Urban Meyer, Luke Fickell, and the rest of the staff? Well, as I am writing this out, I have a big smile on my face!! Urban Meyer is officially the new head man at OSU!!!! What a great feeling that is!! He is a true son of Ohio! He is Buckeye born and bred. He had a dream job in mind, and now he is our coach. I would like to be one of the first million people to welcome Urban Meyer back home!! I would also like to congratulate Coach Luke Fickell on working his butt off to keep this team together.
It was a tough year, with truly unwinnable circumstances. He did his best inside this tornado, and I for one am actually happy will apparently remain on the staff. However, the Urban Meyer story is not the end of this amazing few days. We, the Buckeyes happen to have one heck of a men’s basketball team on campus.
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| Coach K always has his teams ready |
In fact as of now we are ranked #2 in the nation and we happen to have a huge game tomorrow night against the #3 ranked Duke Blue Devils. This game will be OSU’s second real test of the season. The Buckeyes passed test one, knocking off a very talented Florida squad, but now we are not only playing for ourselves, but for our conference (this is the Big 10 ACC challenge).
Duke is a supremely talented team. They have a very good sharpshooter in Junior guard Seth Curry (yes that Curry family), they have the Plumlee Brothers as their leading rebounders, and of course they are coached by the All-Time Winningest coach Mike Kryzewski. This is a team that knows how to win, but let’s be honest they are beatable.
While they have beaten teams like Kansas and That School Up North in Maui, along with Michigan State in New York, they have struggled against the likes of Belmont (winning by only 1). They also have not rebounded well, they are currently ranked 249th nationally in rebounding and that is 195 spots below OSU’s 54th ranking. They also do not assist particularly well, Duke is the 229th ranked team in terms of assists to Ohio States #4 ranking. OSU also has the edge in points per game and field goal percentage. OSU is ranked in the top 15 in both while Duke is in the top 50 and 30 respectively.
Neither of those is bad for most schools, but you would expect Duke to be putting up better numbers. In this game, Duke will be going against one of the best defenses in college basketball (maybe the bball Buckeyes are the true Silver Bullets this year). I may be biased here, but I am seeing a solid win for the Buckeyes. I really don’t think Duke and the Plumlees will match up well with Sully. I think the speed and tenacity of Craft will cause major issues for Curry. I think the athletic ability of Lenzelle Smith Jr. will cause serious problems for Duke.
The Schott will also be rocking tomorrow. The only reason for this will not be the huge game on the court, it will be the anticipation, the what if he comes, the possibility that Urban Meyer may make an appearance. While it would be cool to see Meyer in attendance, I am more looking forward to seeing the Basketball Buckeyes knock off one the traditional blue bloods of college basketball!!
