ThomasCostello
Guest
You’re Nuts: Would you prefer OSU WBB beat TTUN to win outright B1G title tonight or wait to do it at Iowa on Sunday?
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
A win against the rival for the Buckeyes locks up the title, but a loss sets up a main event of main events Sunday in Iowa City
Ohio State women’s basketball is on the brink of its first outright Big Ten regular season championship since the 17/18 season. The Buckeyes have done it, despite conference coaches and media selecting the Iowa Hawkeyes to win the regular season crown in the preseason.
In 16 conference games, the Scarlet and Gray fell just once, and that was 15 games ago. The Buckeyes’ 14-game winning streak, including victories over the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers, has head coach Kevin McGuff’s side one win away from the regular season championship, with two games remaining. Win one of the two final games, and the title goes to Columbus, shared with nobody.
This leads to today’s question.
Before the hate mail, and vicious Twitter @s, start coming my way, I want to preface my argument with the fact that I don’t think this will happen. The Buckeyes are on a tear and the amount of motivation to face the Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday is at a near all-time high.
After all, the Maize and Blue are the lone team to defeat the Buckeyes in conference play this season. It was honestly the game that changed Ohio State’s trajectory. A wake-up call, if you will.
However, the Big Ten schedule makers knew what they were doing this season. There were three teams who were realistically going to compete at the top of the conference in the Buckeyes, Hawkeyes, and Hoosiers. The scriptwriters had a 33% chance of getting it right and they did. For weeks, it looked like Iowa vs. Ohio State was the WrestleMania main event.
Now, I understand the heat that it will get me to say that losing to the Michigan Wolverines isn’t the worst thing that could happen to the Scarlet and Gray on Wednesday. My argument is summarized best with a quote from someone who knows WrestleMania main events: The Nature Boy Ric Flair.
“To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man! Wooooo!”
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/25307359/93353438.jpg "Hulk Hogan’s Hulkamania Tour Hits Perth")
Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images
Sure, Ohio State’s already beaten Iowa this year, coming back from 12 points against superstar, top scorer in Division I women’s basketball history, guard Caitlin Clark. There was one thing that was missing that day, compared to Sunday. The implications weren’t huge.
Ohio State’s lone game against the Iowa Hawkeyes that had immediate consequences for the Buckeyes’ trophy cabinet was last year in the Big Ten Tournament. After a monumental comeback against the Hoosiers in the semifinal, Iowa and Ohio State met in the final and the Buckeyes were played out of the building.
The Scarlet and Gray left black and blue, falling 105-72, complete with a triple-double for Clark. Win the title outright against Iowa, in Iowa, in what might be one of Clark’s final games on her home court would be a better feeling for Buckeyes fans than a win over Michigan.
Also, should Michigan pull off the upset of the season and beat the Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio State will still walk out of Carver Arena on Sunday with a piece of thechampionship belt Big Ten regular season title.
That Sunday game, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” in town, between No. 2 and No. 6 in the nation, would surely hit another ratings record. A record the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes set on Jan. 21.
Could the possibility of Sunday’s matchup having huge conference and NCAA Tournament implications push women’s college basketball to a whole new stratosphere? There’s only one way to find out.
Look, I respect Thomas immensely. He is the absolute best that there is when it comes to covering the Ohio State women’s basketball team. That is not LGHL bias, that is not hyperbole, that is not me hyping up my You’re Nuts opponent for the week just so I can absolutely shred him in this column; it is simply the truth.
However, he is an objective beat reporter with no allegiance to Ohio State other than the fact that he covers the WBB team. So while he understands this point intellectually, he doesn’t understand it on a cellular level. There is no situation in which anyone who cares about OSU athletics should ever directly or indirectly root for the Buckeyes to lose to Michigan... which is in fact what he is doing.
Because the football team has fumbled The Game the last three seasons, the animosity between the bitter rivals is at a 21st-century high, and in many ways, that transcends sports, so there will certainly be no love lost between the Scarlet and Gray and Corn and Blue tonight. But this is more than that.
Kevin McGuff’s Buckeyes are 24-3 on the season, including a near-spotless 15-1 record in Big Ten play this season. Who delivered that lone B1G L to OSU? That’s right, The Fighting Meerkats of Ann Arbor. Ohio State’s last loss came on Dec. 30 in a not-very-nice 69-60 defeat at the hands of Mitten State Skunk Bears.
Since then, OSU is a perfect 14-0 and ranked second in the country. Unless they meet up in the NCAA Tournament, McGuff’s squad won’t be able to avenge its other two losses on the season until next Big Ten season, as they fell to both USC (83-74 in the season opener on Nov. 6) and UCLA (77-71 on Dec. 18) in non-conference play. However, the Bucks have a chance to right the wrong tonight at the Schott when the Muskrats come to town.
And while I understand the drama that would be at play to win the Big Ten title outright in the regular season finale on the road in the defending conference champion’s building on what should be an absolutely historic day when Caitlin Clark is likely to pass Pistol Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring mark, there is just something special about doing it at home, in front of your fans, against your hated rival.
So, no matter the season, no matter the sport, I say, “Go Bucks! Beat Michigan!”
Continue reading...
ThomasCostello via our friends at Land-Grant Holy Land
Visit their fantastic blog and read the full article (and so much more) here
Photo by Aaron J. Thornton/Getty Images
A win against the rival for the Buckeyes locks up the title, but a loss sets up a main event of main events Sunday in Iowa City
Ohio State women’s basketball is on the brink of its first outright Big Ten regular season championship since the 17/18 season. The Buckeyes have done it, despite conference coaches and media selecting the Iowa Hawkeyes to win the regular season crown in the preseason.
In 16 conference games, the Scarlet and Gray fell just once, and that was 15 games ago. The Buckeyes’ 14-game winning streak, including victories over the Iowa Hawkeyes and Indiana Hoosiers, has head coach Kevin McGuff’s side one win away from the regular season championship, with two games remaining. Win one of the two final games, and the title goes to Columbus, shared with nobody.
This leads to today’s question.
Today’s question: Would you prefer the OSU women’s basketball team beat Michigan to win the outright Big Ten title tonight, or wait to do it at Iowa on Sunday?
We’d love to hear your choices. Either respond to us on Twitter at @Landgrant33 or leave your choice in the comments.
Thomas’ answer: Win it in Iowa
Before the hate mail, and vicious Twitter @s, start coming my way, I want to preface my argument with the fact that I don’t think this will happen. The Buckeyes are on a tear and the amount of motivation to face the Michigan Wolverines on Wednesday is at a near all-time high.
After all, the Maize and Blue are the lone team to defeat the Buckeyes in conference play this season. It was honestly the game that changed Ohio State’s trajectory. A wake-up call, if you will.
However, the Big Ten schedule makers knew what they were doing this season. There were three teams who were realistically going to compete at the top of the conference in the Buckeyes, Hawkeyes, and Hoosiers. The scriptwriters had a 33% chance of getting it right and they did. For weeks, it looked like Iowa vs. Ohio State was the WrestleMania main event.
Now, I understand the heat that it will get me to say that losing to the Michigan Wolverines isn’t the worst thing that could happen to the Scarlet and Gray on Wednesday. My argument is summarized best with a quote from someone who knows WrestleMania main events: The Nature Boy Ric Flair.
“To be the man, you’ve gotta beat the man! Wooooo!”
Sure, Ohio State’s already beaten Iowa this year, coming back from 12 points against superstar, top scorer in Division I women’s basketball history, guard Caitlin Clark. There was one thing that was missing that day, compared to Sunday. The implications weren’t huge.
Ohio State’s lone game against the Iowa Hawkeyes that had immediate consequences for the Buckeyes’ trophy cabinet was last year in the Big Ten Tournament. After a monumental comeback against the Hoosiers in the semifinal, Iowa and Ohio State met in the final and the Buckeyes were played out of the building.
The Scarlet and Gray left black and blue, falling 105-72, complete with a triple-double for Clark. Win the title outright against Iowa, in Iowa, in what might be one of Clark’s final games on her home court would be a better feeling for Buckeyes fans than a win over Michigan.
Also, should Michigan pull off the upset of the season and beat the Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio State will still walk out of Carver Arena on Sunday with a piece of the
That Sunday game, with ESPN’s “College GameDay” in town, between No. 2 and No. 6 in the nation, would surely hit another ratings record. A record the Buckeyes and Hawkeyes set on Jan. 21.
Could the possibility of Sunday’s matchup having huge conference and NCAA Tournament implications push women’s college basketball to a whole new stratosphere? There’s only one way to find out.
Matt’s answer: Beat Michigan
Look, I respect Thomas immensely. He is the absolute best that there is when it comes to covering the Ohio State women’s basketball team. That is not LGHL bias, that is not hyperbole, that is not me hyping up my You’re Nuts opponent for the week just so I can absolutely shred him in this column; it is simply the truth.
However, he is an objective beat reporter with no allegiance to Ohio State other than the fact that he covers the WBB team. So while he understands this point intellectually, he doesn’t understand it on a cellular level. There is no situation in which anyone who cares about OSU athletics should ever directly or indirectly root for the Buckeyes to lose to Michigan... which is in fact what he is doing.
Because the football team has fumbled The Game the last three seasons, the animosity between the bitter rivals is at a 21st-century high, and in many ways, that transcends sports, so there will certainly be no love lost between the Scarlet and Gray and Corn and Blue tonight. But this is more than that.
Kevin McGuff’s Buckeyes are 24-3 on the season, including a near-spotless 15-1 record in Big Ten play this season. Who delivered that lone B1G L to OSU? That’s right, The Fighting Meerkats of Ann Arbor. Ohio State’s last loss came on Dec. 30 in a not-very-nice 69-60 defeat at the hands of Mitten State Skunk Bears.
Since then, OSU is a perfect 14-0 and ranked second in the country. Unless they meet up in the NCAA Tournament, McGuff’s squad won’t be able to avenge its other two losses on the season until next Big Ten season, as they fell to both USC (83-74 in the season opener on Nov. 6) and UCLA (77-71 on Dec. 18) in non-conference play. However, the Bucks have a chance to right the wrong tonight at the Schott when the Muskrats come to town.
And while I understand the drama that would be at play to win the Big Ten title outright in the regular season finale on the road in the defending conference champion’s building on what should be an absolutely historic day when Caitlin Clark is likely to pass Pistol Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring mark, there is just something special about doing it at home, in front of your fans, against your hated rival.
So, no matter the season, no matter the sport, I say, “Go Bucks! Beat Michigan!”
Continue reading...