Tag: Big Ten

10 for 20: Big Ten basketball in the 2020s

Big Ten hoops in the next decade

We have arrived at the final 10 days of the 2010s. The Big Ten came close to winning a college basketball national championship this past decade, and the team which was in position to claim that title was none other than the Wisconsin Badgers, in 2015 against the Duke Blue Devils. However, a man named Grayson Allen — before becoming college basketball’s most central on-court villain — caught fire. Tyus Jones, a Minnesotan, thwarted the Badgers, and the best Wisconsin hoops team in modern times was denied its ultimate crowning moment, two days after it scored one of the most significant victories in college basketball history, the upset of 38-0 Kentucky. Hashtag #38and1.

Michigan reached two national championship games this past decade and gave Louisville a very good run in 2013. Ohio State made the Final Four under Thad Matta in 2012 but lost in the national semifinals to Kansas. Michigan State reached several more Final Fours, including at the start and end of each decade. The Spartans were there in Indianapolis in 2010, and they were there in 2019 in Minneapolis, but they couldn’t break through in national semifinals this past decade, losing all three times they made the Final Four over the past 10 seasons. Their last win in a Final Four game was the 2009 semifinal versus Connecticut in Detroit.

The Big Ten will try to knock the door down in the 2020s and claim an elusive college basketball national championship. Meanwhile, programs in the lower rungs of the league will try to attain more modest achievements. We are going to look at the main question or challenge facing the 13 non-Wisconsin Big Ten basketball programs this decade. We can then measure the Badgers’ larger situation against these other 13 programs, and appreciate both the successes and unattained goals Wisconsin can keep in mind as it moves into a new decade. Stay tuned for the “10 for 20” basketball series here at Badgers Wire.

Ohio State Football Recruiting: 2020 early signing period tracker – Update: Smith-Njigba in!

It’s the official start of the early signing period in college football. We’ve got your updates for Ohio State as they happen.

We’re here to get this wacky early signing day period off and running for you. Ohio Stat expects to sign somewhere in the low to mid 20s during this first day of the early signing, and we’ll keep you up to date as it all happens.

From the locked and loaded commits that can’t wait to burn up the fax machine, to the surprises and last minute changes, we’ll have it in our early signing day tracker below.

We’ll keep updating it throughout the day, so stay with us.

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Officially Signed

Julian Fleming, 5-Star WR, St. Louis, Catawissa, Pennsylvania – Signed

Paris Johnson, Jr, 5-Star OL, Cincinnati, Ohio – Signed

Lejond Cavazos, 4-Star S, Bradenton, Florida – Signed

Jacolbe Cowan, 4-Star DL, Charlotte, North Carolina – Signed

Jaxon Smith-Njigba, 4-Star WR, Rockwall, Texas – Signed

Cody Simon, 4-Star LB, Jersey City, New Jersey – Signed

Luke Wypler, 4-Star OL, Montvale, New Jersey – Signed

Jakob James, 3-Star OL, Cincinnati, Ohio – Signed

Trey Leroux, 3-Star OL, Norwalk, Ohio – Signed

Grant Toutant, 3-Star OL, Warren, Michigan – Signed

Mitchell Melton, 3-Star LB, Olney, Maryland – Signed

Ty Hamilton, 3-Star DL, Pickerington, Ohio – Signed

Joe Royer, 3-Star TE, Cincinnati, Ohio – Signed

Josh Fryar, 3-Star OL, Beech Grove, Indiana

Miyan Williams, 3-Star RB, Cincinnati, Ohio

Jake Seibert, 3-Star K, Cincinnati, Ohio

Hard Commit, Signing Pending

Gee Scott, Jr., 4-Star WR, Sammamish, Washington

Lathan Ransom, 4-Star S, Tucson, Arizona

Mookie Cooper, 4-Star WR, Maryland Heights, Missouri

Kourt Williams, 4-Star LB, Bellflower, California

Darriaon Henry, 4-Star DL, Cincinnati, Ohio

Ryan Watts, 4-Star CB, Little Elm, Texas

Jack Miller, 4-Star QB, Scottsdale, Arizona

Remaining Targets Possible/Waivering

Cameron Martinez, 4-Star ATH, Muskegon, Michigan

  • Martinez was expected to sign with Ohio State today, but news broke late in the game that he will not be signing today, but waiting until February. This seems to be a byproduct of some hesitancy because of Jeff Hafley being named head coach at Boston College.

Clark Phillips III, 4-Star CB, La Habra, California

  • Phillips is also one seemingly having second thoughts after Jeff Hafley accepted the head coaching gig at BC. Phillips went on an official visit to Utah just before signing day and the world is awaiting his decision. He is set to sign with either Ohio State or Utah today.

C.J. Stroud, 4-Star QB, Rancho Cucamonga, California

  • Ohio State would love to land stroud at the eleventh hour and it looks like it’s going to happen. Georgia and Michigan were in on him early, but a late push seems to have given the edge to the Buckeyes. The coaching staff would love to add another high-end quarterback to go with Jack Miller in this class. He should be signing later today, but we’ll see if the rumors are true. He’ll announce at 12:30 PM Eastern today.

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Hayden Fry’s Coaching Tree Spread to South Bend for Decades

When you take a look you find the names of Bob, Mark and Mike Stoops, Bill Snyder, Kirk Ferentz and Bret Bielema along with plenty of others.

You’ll also find a pair of former Notre Dame defensive coordinators that led Notre Dame to their two most-recent national championship game appearances.

Former Iowa head coach, the legendary Hayden Fry died on Tuesday at the age of 90 after battling cancer.

Fry is best known for his 20 years as the head coach at Iowa where he took the Hawkeyes from being a Big Ten doormat to 14 bowl games including three appearances in the Rose Bowl.  Iowa has been back to Pasadena just once since his career ended following the 1998 season.

Notre Dame and Iowa haven’t met on the gridiron since October of 1968 so Fry never went head-to-head coaching against Notre Dame while with Iowa.

What you’ll hear many discuss when Fry is remembered is his flat-out ridiculous coaching tree.

When you take a look you find the names of Bob, Mark and Mike Stoops, Bill Snyder, Kirk Ferentz and Bret Bielema along with plenty of others.

You’ll also find a pair of former Notre Dame defensive coordinators that led Notre Dame to their two most-recent national championship game appearances.

Before getting to Notre Dame as part of Lou Holtz’s staff in 1987, Barry Alvarez was linebackers coach at Iowa for Fry from 1979-86, joining Fry’s staff after a brief but successful run as a head high school coach in Iowa.

Fry is said to have been upset when Alvarez left Iowa to work with Holtz but was even more enraged when Alvarez eventually took the Wisconsin job in 1990 and hired away a couple of Fry’s most valued assistants.

The other name you’ll see on Fry’s coaching tree that will be especially familiar for Notre Dame fans is that of Bob Diaco.

Diaco played for Fry from 1992-95, earning a spot on the All Big Ten second-team as a linebacker in 1995.  He also got his start in coaching as a grad-assistant under Fry in 1996 and ’97.

“Bob Diaco is one of the all-time great leaders I’ve had in 47 years of coaching” Fry said of Diaco in 2013.

Fry died Tuesday at the age of 90.

His career ended with a record of 232-178-6 with stops at SMU and North Texas (State) before landing at Iowa.  Fry was enshrined in the College Football Hall of Fame in 2003.

 

Ohio State Recruiting: 5 things to watch heading into the 2020 early signing period

It’ll be the third year of the implementation of the early signing period. Here’s five things to watch for Ohio state and Ryan Day.

Here we go with another crazy start to the early signing period for college football. It’s squashed right in the middle of all the playoff and bowl preparations, meaning coaches are working double and triple-time on the already crazy hours this profession demands.

Nobody really knew how this early signing period would play out, but what we’ve seen over the first two years is that over 80% of a college program’s class is typically taken on the first day of the period. That means its a pretty bid deal and can make or break the future of a place like Ohio State.

Here’s five things to watch heading into the 2020 early signing period set to begin on Wednesday.

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Winning the College Football Playoff is a shot at redemption for Ohio State

Ohio State has had recent high profile losses to the other three teams in the College Football Playoff field. Winning could be a redemption.

Ohio State is unique among its four colleagues in the College Football Playoff. That’s because the Buckeyes’ lost against all three teams the last time they matched up with each. Some are more recent than others, but all aren’t that long ago.

In case you needed a reminder, the last time Ohio State went out to the desert and played in the Fiesta Bowl, it suffered arguably the worst loss of Urban Meyer’s coaching career — a 31-0 shutout at the hands of Clemson in 2016 with all the country watching.

Start the narrative.

Of course Buckeye fans will also remember the infamous planting of the flag by Baker Mayfield in a 31-16 loss to Oklahoma the following season. It was at home and was the spring board for Mayfield’s run to the Heisman in 2017.

Last but not least, Ohio State lost to LSU in the BCS National Championship game in January of 2008 by an underwhelming score of 38-24. That obviously kept the Buckeyes from securing another national title, but it continued the narrative of SEC dominance as well.

So, aside from history at stake, you have to wonder if there is extra motivation with all the recent sour moments Ohio State has had against these teams. If the Buckeyes were to win their matchup in the desert, it could potentially set up a rematch in New Orleans against an LSU team that beat them last time stakes were that high in The Big Easy.

And in the event that it’s not LSU lying in wait in its home state, it’ll be a Sooners’ squad that got into the 2018 College Football Playoff over Ohio State, and likely ruined a shot at getting into all the fun in 2017 as well.

This is by no means a self-proclaimed “revenge tour” similar to the one carelessly dreamed up by The Team Up North, but you could say there will be extra motivation as the Buckeyes prepare to finish off a season to remember.

If they pull it off, it could be redemption on things gone wrong in the past.

Ohio State basketball drops to No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Coaches Poll

Ohio State basketball drops to No. 4 in the latest USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

When two Big Ten schools meet on the court so far this basketball season, the odds are against the visiting team.  Ohio State was 9-0 heading into its match against the then 4-5 Minnesota Gophers. Poised to take the No. 1 spot had they remained unbeaten; the Buckeyes could not overcome the Gophers who held Ohio State to a season-low 38.3% shooting and the team dropped to No. 4 as a result in the latest USA TODAY Coaches Poll.

Kansas took over the No. 1 spot, followed by Gonzaga (2), and Duke (3) ahead of the Buckeyes. Louisville (5), Kentucky (6), Virgina (7), Maryland (8), Auburn (9), and Oregon (10) round out the top ten. Auburn (9-0) is the only remaining unbeaten school in the top 10 while San Diego State (10-0) are the only other team in the top 25.

The Big Ten has a total of five teams in the USA TODAY Coaches poll with Michigan at No. 15,  Michigan State at No. 18, and Penn State making its first appearance at No. 24.

The Ohio State Buckeyes return to action at home against Southeast Missouri State on Tuesday before traveling to Las Vegas to square off against another top-ranked opponent in the University of Kentucky.

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Ohio State will only complete its 2019 Playoff journey with the success of J.K. Dobbins

Ohio State is hoping there’s a national championship at the end of the 2019 season, but it’ll all depend on the performance of J.K. Dobbins.

It is just twelve days and counting until Ohio State plays Clemson in the 2019 Fiesta Bowl. This game will be dissecting 1,000 different ways until December 28, but some deep dives into the game are more relevant, and more important than others.

I tend to think that J.K. Dobbins against the Tigers’ defense is one of the most important aspects of the prime-time affair in the desert. The NCAA stats tell a story of two exceptional defenses matching up, but it also builds a narrative of two very explosive offenses going toe-to-toe.

There’s a good chance we’ll see some points scored in this one. However, it’s most likely the two tailbacks starting in this one that might have the most impact on each respective team moving the ball. Will the Buckeyes’ J.K. Dobbins make more hay, or will Clemson’s Travis Etienne have more of an impact?

I feel that Dobbins has to have a big day for Ohio State to move on.

Dobbins has 1,829 yards rushing and is knocking on the door of the single-season record if the Buckeyes can get the job done and move on. As good as Justin Fields, Chris Olave, Chase Young and gang have been, it’s not a stretch to say that OSU’s starting tailback has been the MVP of this season.

The ability to run the ball looses up the secondary and wears down a defensive front. We’ve seen Ohio State stick with its running back in huge matchups against the likes of Wisconsin (twice), Michigan, and Penn State. Eventually, the dam broke in all cases, but you have to have a workhorse explosive and durable enough to keep chipping away.

Some teams have it, but it’s not the norm. And in the case of Dobbins, there’s only a handful of teams that have a weapon that compares to his abilities to hold up and be a game changer.

The numbers tell the story of just how important he is to the offense.

Ohio State is 18-0 when Dobbins runs for more than 100 yards in his career. However, in losses, it’s been a different tale. In the three years he’s played, the Buckeyes have lost only three total games. In all of those, he didn’t get to the century mark. Now granted, he was splitting time with Weber in previous years, but when he’s the man, he always got the carries.

To prove that point — in those three losses, Dobbins got just 14 total carries.

The key to winning is simple, feed Dobbins. And when it’s not working, feed Dobbins again until it does. Just ask Michigan. Or Penn State. Or Wisconsin — twice.

Ohio State at Minnesota odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Sunday’s Ohio State Buckeyes at Minnesota Golden Gophers sports betting odds and lines, with college basketball betting picks, tips and best bets.

The Ohio State Buckeyes (9-0, 1-0 Big Ten) will tangle in the Twin Cities with the Minnesota Golden Gophers (4-5, 0-1 Big Ten) in a Big Ten Conference battle at 6:30 p.m. ET Sunday. We analyze the Ohio State-Minnesota odds and betting lines, while providing college basketball betting tips and advice on this matchup.

Ohio State at Minnesota: Three things you need to know

1. The Buckeyes really burst onto the national scene by hammering North Carolina at the Dean Dome Dec. 4. With a victory the Buckeyes might ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings for the first time since 2010-11.

2. The Golden Gophers are a game below .500, but they have had a tough schedule during the early going. They have losses to Oklahoma, Butler, Utah, DePaul and Iowa, in the Big Ten opener.

3. Ohio State has covered the spread in seven straight games, including six in a row as a favorite.

Get some action on this game or others by placing a bet at BetMGM!

Ohio State at Minnesota: Odds, betting lines and picks

Odds via BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated at 10:45 a.m. ET.

Prediction

Ohio State 74, Minnesota 67

Moneyline (ML)

Ohio State (-333) is expected to win this one, but as a moderate favorite the moneyline isn’t worth a play, as you’d have to risk way too much for a small reward. A $10 bet on the Buckeyes to win outright would return a profit of just $3.

Against the Spread (ATS)

MINNESOTA (+8.5, -143) should be able to hang around, as it’s catching four buckets at home. Home teams are actually 11-0 straight up in Big Ten games to date, so Ohio State (-8.5, +120) is on upset alert here. It’s all on the line, as a solid win and it’s likely headed for the top spot in the rankings. But a loss, even against a sub-.500 Minnesota team, wouldn’t be shocking.

New to sports betting? A $10 wager on Minnesota to cover the spread and stay within 8 points in a loss or win outright would profit $7 if it does so.

Over/Under (O/U)

OVER 128.5 (-120) seems criminally low, but perhaps I am overvaluing the Buckeyes offense based on the fact they dropped a triple-digit total against Penn State in the conference opener. While the Under has been the trend for the Bucks, more often than not, the over is 4-1-2 in Minny’s past seven games against winning sides.

Want some action in this one? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting picks and tips, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @JoeWilliamsVI and @SportsbookWire on Twitter.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Ranking all 39 2019-2020 college football bowl games

There are 39 FBS bowl games this year. Which ones should Ohio State fans be the most interested in?

Bowl season comes at you fast–it starts in less than a week. There are 39 FBS bowl games this year. My advice, always, is to watch every single one of them. The more college football, the better, and I always really enjoy learning about the cool stories that some of these smaller programs have. Whether it’s a first bowl appearance in decades (or ever), a coaching turnaround, a crazy walk-on story, or something else, even the smallest of bowls always have compelling backstories.

I get it, though. Time is precious. Sometimes we can’t watch all the college football that we want. So I’m going to rank all 39 bowls games, from the “will be fun to watch” to the “can’t-miss.” And, of course, since this is a Buckeyes site, extra priority will be given to games that matter more to Ohio State. There’s no particular science to these rankings. Sometimes a game’s backstory will matter more; other times I’ll focus more on how competitive or high-quality the game is likely to be.

39. FBC Mortgage Cure Bowl: Liberty vs Georgia Southern

Saturday, December 21st, 2:30 PM

We get a first-time bowl team, as the Liberty Flames began their football program very recently. And the entire purpose of this bowl is to raise money to cure cancer, so that’s pretty cool too. Once we get to the game, though, Georgia Southern is pretty clearly the better team. The Eagles beat Appalachian State this year, and Liberty lost to Rutgers. It’s college football and anything can happen, but if you have to miss a bowl game, it should probably be this one. (Especially considering the fact that the Cure Bowl is on at the same time as two much better bowl games.)

38. Quick Lane Bowl: Pittsburgh vs Eastern Michigan

Thursday, December 26th, 8:00 PM

This is, by far, the least-compelling bowl game involving a Power 5 team. Pitt has talent and played Penn State close, but it’s never really a fun team to watch. Chris Creighton has done an insanely good job getting Eastern Michigan to a bowl game in three out of four years now, and it’s honestly shocking that a bigger school looking to rebuild hasn’t snatched him up yet. Still, there is a talent disparity, and neither team is that compelling to watch. If Pitt is flat once again, especially on offense, we could get a close game. If that doesn’t happen, though, there’s no real reason to stay on this game.

37. Camellia Bowl: FIU vs Arkansas State

Saturday, December 21st, 5:30 PM

There is nothing too compelling about this bowl game. The teams are probably evenly-matched, and FIU did pull off an incredible upset of the Miami Hurricanes a few weeks ago. Other than that, though, I’m not sure what about this game inspires fans to tune in.

36. Makers Wanted Bahamas Bowl: Buffalo vs Charlotte

Friday, December 20th, 2:00 PM

Aside from having a hilarious backstory for its sponsor and being the opening game of bowl season this year, it’s a little hard to be too excited about the Bahamas Bowl. The location is awesome for the students and a ton of fun, but the matchup leaves much to be desired. This is also Charlotte’s first-ever bowl game (the program only began in 2013), which is always cool to see, but Buffalo is much more talented. Make sure not to miss Buffalo’s defensive lineman LeDarius Mack (yes, Khalil Mack’s brother). And maybe we get a good game if Charlotte is inspired by its first bowl appearance and plays perfect football.

35. Tropical Smoothie Cafe Frisco Bowl: Utah State vs Kent State

Friday, December 20th, 7:30 PM

First of all, extra points to this game for having a hilarious sponsor. (Yes, that absolutely matters in bowl rankings. If you’re watching a game that’s not so compelling, it’s much more fun if you get to laugh every time ESPN’s commentators say the sponsor’s name.) Also, extra points for having an Ohio team. After that, though, it’s tough to look forward to this game. Utah State’s Jordan Love is going to want to end his college career on a high note, and the Aggies are a much better team than the Golden Flashes. Kent State is looking for its first-ever bowl win, which is always cool to see. Hopefully it gets it, but I wouldn’t hold out hope on it being a great game.

34. Nova Home Loans Arizona Bowl: Georgia State vs Wyoming

Tuesday, December 31st, 4:30 PM

Fun fact: both of these teams beat SEC teams this year. Georgia State took down Tennessee and Wyoming beat Missouri back in Week 1. Other than that, though, there’s not much compelling about this game. Wyoming is the better team, and the Cowboys have the defense to stifle Georgia State and make this game near-unwatchable. Watch the Liberty Bowl on New Years’ Eve, and maybe check in on the end of this one if it’s close.

33. Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl: Tulane vs Southern Miss

Firday, January 4th, 3:00 PM

Not enough people have watched Tulane this season, which is a shame. The Green Wave are a good team and the program is heading in the right direction. Southern Miss, though, is limping into a bowl on a two-game losing streak, and it wasn’t very competitive in either game. Let’s hope it doesn’t make it three in a row.

32. Famous Idaho Potato Bowl: Ohio vs Nevada

Friday, January 3rd, 3:30 PM

I’m a huge fan of Frank Solich. He always has a competitive MAC team and often finds some really good players. It’s very unfortunate that not enough of the country pays more attention to the Bobcats. But, other than this game being played on the blue turf (and often in snow), there’s not too much else to look forward to in this one.

31. New Era Pinstripe Bowl: Michigan State vs Wake Forest

Friday, December 27th, 3:20 PM

If you had the misfortune of watching Michigan State’s bowl game last year, you might be wondering why this game is ranked so high. Well, Michigan State is in the Big Ten, and the Pinstripe Bowl always had the added element of being played in an outdoor stadium in New York City in the winter. Combine that with Michigan State’s great defense and dysfunctional offense, and who knows what can happen.

Next… 30-21

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Do we really appreciate what Ohio State defensive end Chase Young has done this year?

Ohio State defensive end Chase Young has had a year for the ages. But do we really appreciate what he’s done in 2019?

By now everyone has heard about the dominance of Ohio State defensive end Chase Young. I’m sure other teams have gotten tired of hearing just how great he is, but in reality, the guy is truly a phenom that we are watching.

We might know it, but do we really know and embrace it. There may not ever be another guy like him at the defensive end position on the Banks of the Olentangy. Or at least, not for a very, very, long time.

While his accolades speak for themselves, the amount of awards he’s picked up during the college football awards circuit is astounding. In case you haven’t already been made aware, Chase Young added five trophies alone in the last week. Here’s a quick run down of all that’s happened for the junior defensive end.

Ready for this? Young averages more sacks per game than 37 teams in the country. That’s equal to about a quarter of all the teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. Let that sink in for a minute. Especially seeing how he had to sit for two games because of accepting and paying back a loan from a family friend.

Let’s not mention the fact that the games he did play in he didn’t even play in all four quarters. Ohio State was so dominant in 2019 that he wasn’t needed often at the end of blowout wins. The point here is that the stats could have been even greater, like single-season NCAA record-setting greater.

While Buckeye fans love to compare the junior gamed-wrecker with the Bosa brothers, but their productivity didn’t even touch what Young has put on tape. Young has statistically had a better season than either brother ever had at Ohio State, and the games aren’t even over yet. All he did set the single-season sack record in Columbus with 16.5 sacks in just eleven games.

Then there’s tackles for loss. Young is tied Joey Bosa with 21.5 tackles for loss in just one season at Ohio State, but lets us not forget big brother Joey played 15 games, to again — just eleven for Young. There’s a good bet that record will fall as well on December 28.

While we will always look back at the Bosas with fond memories of their dominance, we’d be remiss not to mention the fact that we are watching arguably the best defensive lineman in OSU history.

Now all Young needs to do is score a touchdown. He’s done everything else after all.