Category: Buckeyes Wire

Ohio State football ranked No. 2 in early ESPN preseason FPI

ESPN has come out with its preseason College Football FPI rankings, and Ohio State is right up there with the best of the best.

It’s only February, but ESPN’s Football Percentage Index is already making the sausage. We don’t know what goes in, and we probably don’t want to, we just want to see that final product all tied up and ready to consume.

On that note, the very, very early Preseason College Football FPI is out from the folks at ESPN, and your Ohio State football team is extremely high up on the rankings. OSU isn’t No. 1 though, that belongs to Clemson — the team that beat the Buckeyes in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State does, however, check-in at No. 2.

Behind the Buckeyes and Tigers rounding out the top ten is Oklahoma (3), Alabama (4), Penn State (5), Wisconsin (6), Texas (7), Texas A&M (8), Notre Dame (9), and Georgia (10).

Now, before you get too excited about ESPN thinking highly of the Buckeyes, I feel the need to remind you that the worldwide leader in sports programming had OSU outside the top ten at this time last season.

So, yeah — there’s that.

Where Ohio State basketball lands in the major NCAA Tournament bracket projections

Here’s where Ohio State lands in the major NCAA Tournament bracket projections. It’s bracketology through a scarlet and gray lens.

It’s that time of year where we start to get really interested in where college basketball teams are slotting in the litany of major NCAA bracket projections. Up until now, it’s all just been jockeying for position, but now teams are either safely in, on the bubble, or out of the mix with some serious work to do.

Ohio State falls somewhere in the middle of all of that. It has some impressive wins from earlier in the season, a serious swoon in January, and now a bit of a rebound over the last six games.

Still, a steak one way or the other could drastically change the prospects of where the Buckeyes could be headed come March. It is truly madness.

With all that’s at stake, we decided to take a look at where some of the major bracketologists have OSU as it stands right now, just ahead of two extremely tough games on the road at Iowa and home against Maryland.

Next … USA TODAY

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Covelli Center to host The Basketball Tournament and Carmen’s Crew

If you enjoyed Carmen’s Crew winning The Basketball Tournament last year, get ready. It’s all coming to the Covelli Center this summer.

For the first time ever, The Basketball Tournament will be coming to the campus of Ohio State according to a statement release from the university Tuesday.

The Ohio State alumni, better known Carmen’s Crew, is all set to begin its quest to defend its title in the new Covelli Center from July 23-26 as a part of the Columbus Regional. If you didn’t get in on all the fun last year, The Basketball Tournament is 64-team $2 Million winner-take-all tournament that has historically been televised live on the ESPN family of networks.

“There’s no better place to have the tournament,” Evan Turner said as a part of the statement from Ohio State. “I think that it’s going to be so special and fun to play at a place where we all became men. I think our guys are going to show up and show out and make the Buckeye faithful proud. This is definitely something I’m excited for and can’t wait to be part of and I know everybody in the city feels the same way!”

You can also count Ohio State head coach Chris Holtmann as a big believer in bringing the tournament to campus.

“Our program prides itself on welcoming back our former players and having Carmen’s Crew back on campus for the Columbus Regional of The Basketball Tournament takes that to a new level,” Holtmann said. “Buckeye Nation will once again be able to cheer on legendary Buckeyes in our newest modern facility, the Covelli Center. TBT will be yet another opportunity for Carmen’s Crew to continue its success playing in Columbus in front of our tremendous fans.”

Carmen’s Crew has captured the attention of Buckeye Nation over the last three years as it has made some pretty deep runs in the tournament only to fall just short. It finally captured its first TBT title last season, knocking off four-time reigning champion Overseas Elite in the semifinals, then disposing of the Marquette alumni team known as the Golden Eagles to capture the mountain of cash.

“We’re excited to partner with The Ohio State University to bring TBT to the Covelli Center,” TBT founder and CEO Jon Mugar said. “Watching Carmen’s Crew dethrone Overseas Elite last year was unforgettable. It was especially meaningful for the thousand Carmen’s Crew fans that shared in the two million dollar prize. There’s no better place for the team and its fans to begin its march to defend its title than back on campus at Ohio State.”

The winners of each region will advance just down the road to the University of Dayton Arena for the championship rounds August 6-11.

The full roster for Carmen’s Crew has yet to be announced, but former Buckeyes Aaron Craft and Jon Diebler are expected to play and be coached by Jared Sullinger and Evan Turner once again according to the statement.

We’ll keep an eye on how the roster shapes up as we get closer to summer, but with a few more seats available in a fantastic and shiny new venue on campus, the environment should be off the wall.

 

 

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Cardale Jones and DC Defenders might be team to beat in XFL

Behind the leadership and playmaking ability of former Ohio State QB Cardale Jones, the D.C. Defenders might be the team to beat in the XFL.

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Just two games into the XFL season, the D.C. Defenders, led by former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones look like one of the teams to beat. The former Buckeye gunslinger with the big arm might not quite be MVP worthy despite way too early chants calling for him to be, but he’s been awfully close.

Jones has passed for almost 300 yards in both games separately, has shown a flair for the dramatic, and has even had a few rushing yards and successful trick plays thrown in for good measure. Heck, he’s even made a busted and chaotic fumble look spectacular.

Here’s what USA TODAY’s Lorenzo Reyes says about the Defenders’ play behind 12-gauge.

“Cardale Jones has been pretty solid,” said Reyes. “I don’t think he’s necessarily done what we’ve expected him to do, because he came in out of Ohio State and went to the NFL, and everyone knew about his big arm, the big presence, but he’s been able to throw short to intermediate routes. He’s been quite efficient, and he has the Defenders really just moving the chains and a big reason why, don’t sleep on the DC offensive line. They have allowed just one sack in two games. Which, for a league that has struggled with its offensive line play, that’s saying something.”

It’s obviously still very early in the season, but it’s not hard to see the Defenders have what it takes to compete for a title. If they do, Jones, his big arm, and wide smile will have a lot to do with it.

Just two Ohio State players still in latest 2020 USA TODAY NFL 1st round Mock Draft

USA TODAY has dropped its latest 2020 NFL Mock Draft, and it has the same two players we’ve seen all along going in the first round.

We’ve been keeping an eye on all of the 2020 NFL Mock Drafts coming down the pipe, and one of those is the USA TODAY piece put together by Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz.

There hasn’t really been much movement in the latest that was dropped this week, with just two Ohio State players appearing in the first round projection. And you can probably guess the two players, because they’ve been extremely high up on almost everybody’s projections.

Those two players are of course defensive end Chase Young and cornerback Jeff Okudah. USA TODAY has Young going off the board as the No. 2 pick to the Washington Redskins, and Okudah going right after to the Detroit Lions at the No. 3 pick.

Some mock drafts have running back J.K. Dobbins also going very late in the first round, but that’s not the case here.

Either way we’ll continue to keep an eye on these mock drafts as we go through the NFL Combine and beyond to all the fun in April.

 

Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion.

We have a forum and message board now. Get in on the conversation about Ohio State athletics by joining the Buckeyes Wire Forum.

Ohio State basketball could bounce back into top 20 with perfect week

The Ohio State Buckeyes had a horrific January, but they could bounce back into the AP Poll’s top 20 with a perfect week.

The Ohio State Buckeyes had a horrific January, but they could bounce back into the AP Poll’s top 15 with a perfect week.

Thankfully, the Buckeyes were able to reclaim their spot in the top 25 after being a top-ten team earlier on this season. That’s what a bad stretch of games can do to a team.

The Buckeyes are 17-8.

They’d be 16-2 without that January stretch of games in which they lost six of seven. Since then, they’ve won five of their last six, helping improve put their conference record to 7-7.

The Buckeyes have two huge performances this week.

They’ll be taking on the No. 20 Iowa Hawkeyes and the No. 7 Maryland Terrapins. The second of the two is at home which is at least partially relieving for fans.

Those two are the only games this week. If they can dominate these two conference opponents, there’s no doubt that the Buckeyes will jump into college basketball’s top-20 teams. Of course that’s easier said than done.

On a more grateful note, the Buckeyes’ recent stretch has almost solidified a spot in the NCAA tournament after being widely considered a fringe March Madness team after that poor stretch of play. At least barring a complete meltdown to end the season.

That said, the Buckeyes have the games to display their improvement, but they’ll have to come out and play in two of their more important performances of the season.

Ohio State football’s ten most memorable plays of the decade

There are a ton of memorable plays over the last decade of Ohio State football, but we’ve picked out the ten we believe stand out.

There’s a slew of big-time games over the last decade for a program like Ohio State. With all the high-stakes on the line seemingly every year for one of the best programs of all time, that means there’s plenty of memorable plays that define every year.

Take that out further, and you can rewind on the entire decade that just passed and remember where you were when certain moments took place that defined the period from 2000-2019. From the tail-end of the Jim Tressel era, to the year in purgatory under Luke Fickell, through the dominant run of Urban Meyer at the helm, to the ushering in of the Ryan Day tenure, there’s plays that will live on in the hearts of Buckeye fans, coaches, and players during this time.

Here’s our stab at the ten most memorable plays of the decade that just flashed by us as we now embark on a new ten-year period.

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Next … No. 10

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Buckeyes on the Bubble: Women’s Basketball earns resume-boosting win over Indiana

The Ohio State Women’s Basketball team made its NCAA tournament dreams a lot safer with a huge road win at Indiana.

We’ve been following Ohio State Women’s Basketball’s bubble status for a while now, mostly because it’s been so volatile.

The Buckeyes started the season with a mix of bad losses and good wins, including an upset of then-No. 2 Louisville. They continued in this manner all year–winning enough to stay in the bracket, but losing some head-scratchers.

When we last checked on Ohio State’s bubble status, we assumed that the Buckeyes needed to go 4-2 in its final six games to feel safe, and 3-3 at the very least.

Well, two games later, and Ohio State is definitely on the right side of the bubble. Not only did the Buckeyes drop 99 points in a win over Minnesota on Thursday, but they went to Bloomington and upset No. 20 Indiana on the road on Sunday.

The Buckeyes, led by Madison Greene’s 22 points, came back from a double-digit fourth-quarter deficit to pull off the upset. Ohio State exploded for 31 points in the final 7:45 of the fourth quarter, including 14 by Greene. The Buckeyes took the lead with a 25-8 run and never relinquished it. Jacy Sheldon, Dorka Juhasz, and Janai Crooms also scored double digits for the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes have now won five straight and are up to No. 22 in the RPI (women’s basketball doesn’t use the NET rankings). Ohio State also has two Top 20 RPI wins, with good SOS numbers. It’s a little early to call Ohio State safe for the bracket–the Buckeyes should still avoid losses to Nebraska and maybe Purdue, but the path to the bracket just got much easier. A win over Rutgers or Northwestern would all but cement it.

Ohio State Men’s Tennis survives battle with No. 6 Wake Forest

The Ohio State Men’s Tennis team keeps on being challenged with Top 10 opponents, and the Buckeyes keep coming up with the answers. First it was against then-No. 1 Texas, then it was then-No. 1 USC. The Buckeyes followed that up with a win over No. …

The Ohio State Men’s Tennis team keeps on being challenged with Top 10 opponents, and the Buckeyes keep coming up with the answers.

First it was against then-No. 1 Texas, then it was then-No. 1 USC. The Buckeyes followed that up with a win over No. 7 Texas A&M, and then they knocked off No. 6 Wake Forest in a gritty battle Saturday night.

Wake Forest beat Ohio State for the 2018 National Championship, and the Buckeyes were out for revenge. Ohio State got off to a good start by winning the doubles point, but the Demon Deacons got quick wins by Bar Botzer and Taha Baadi to take a 2-1 lead. After that, this turned into an incredible match.

The Buckeyes got an important come-from-behind third-set victory by Cannon Kingsley on Court 2. Kingsley keeps on taking down tough opponents, and this match was no different.

The Buckeyes and Demon Deacons split Courts 4 and 6 with runaway third sets in each (6-1 win by Ohio State’s Kyle Seelig and 6-3 by Wake Forest’s Sid Banthia). So it all came down to the final set between James Trotter and Eduardo Nava on Court 5.

Trotter earned a break for a 5-3 lead with a huge forehand pass, but he couldn’t serve out the match. He fought back from 0-30 while serving at 5-5, and then celebrated victory when a Nava forehand went long on the deuce point in the next game.

The Buckeyes will face North Carolina in the ITA National Indoor semifinals on Sunday afternoon. North Carolina, last season, upset then-No. 1 Ohio State in the NCAA quarterfinals. The Tar Heels are currently ranked No. 4, and the Buckeyes will be out for revenge in this battle.

The winner faces the winner of USC vs No. 13 Michigan in the Monday final. The ITA rankings haven’t updated in over a week because of the ITA National Indoors this week, so USC is still technically No. 1. That top spot will almost certainly change to Ohio State when the rankings do update, but it would be nice to cap off earning with with a second consecutive National Indoors title.

Ohio State Wrestling solid in tight loss to Penn State

The Ohio State Buckeyes fell 20-16 to Penn State on Saturday night, winning five out of the ten matches against the Nittany Lions.

The Ohio State Buckeyes fell 20-16 to Penn State on Saturday night, winning five out of the ten matches against the Nittany Lions. Penn State got the win by earning five bonus points to Ohio State’s one, and because Nick Lee upset Luke Pletcher at 141 pounds.

Still, there were plenty of positives for Ohio State, especially at the beginning and end of the dual match.

The match started at 125 pounds, where Malik Heinselman pulled out a much-needed win over Brandon Meredith. Heinselman won the Greyhound Open against some lower-tier opponents last week, and that confidence seems to have bled in to this match. Jordan Decatur couldn’t get a win over No. 4 Roman Bravo-Young, though, but he looked solid in the match.

Then came the biggest match of the Day. No. 1 vs No. 2 at 141 pounds. Pletcher looked strong and in control early, but something seemed to go wrong halfway through the match. Either Pletcher tweaked something or he ran out of gas, but Lee took control from midway through the second period, and he held on for the win.

Sammy Sasso kept his No. 1 seed by winning in Sudden Victory, and Quinn Kinner picked up a much-needed win over Brady Berge with a late takedown. Kinner started the season at 133 pounds, and he finally is at his best at 157. Kinner also won the Greyhound Open last week, and that seemed to have spurred him on as well.

The next two weight classes had No. 1s and National Champions for Penn State. Ethan Smith was impressive early against Vincenzo Joseph, but Joseph took control in the second period and won by Major Decision. Then Mark Hall earned a quick pin over Kaleb Romero at 174 pounds.

Rocky Jordan couldn’t keep up with Top 10 opponent Aaron Brooks, and then Kollin Moore won by Major Decision in his match. The final match of the night saw Gary Traub pick up a huge win over Seth Nevills, also with a late takedown.

In the dual match, the Buckeyes couldn’t quite get the win. And Pletcher’s loss certainly hurt. But other than that, the Buckeyes saw plenty of positives. Heinselman and Traub seem at their best as we approach the Big Ten Tournament, and Kinner finally seems like Ohio State’s answer at 157 pounds.

The Buckeyes are improving when it matters most. We’ll see just how ready they are to be competitive nationally at the Big Ten Tournament in three weeks.