Watching the athleticism of Cotie McMahon I'm reminded of another freshman I got to see in person for four years (season tickets to the games) in Katie Smith. Not many women's players can go up as strong as McMahon does (or Smith did) and adjust in mid air, while making a layup after driving. She does it almost effortlessly, and is only getting better.

Buckeyes now 19-0 with a 30-point win over Northwestern 84-54.

Next up: a huge clash with No. 10 Iowa on Monday night in Columbus.

Exactly. Which makes me wonder if she'll be back on the floor, even for limited minutes, tonight. 

The next two games are huge, especially next Monday's game at home against Iowa. This will be arguably the biggest game in McGuff's tenure as a coach so far, especially since these two teams only meet once this year and it's in Columbus. And most assuredly this will be the biggest two-game stretch for Ohio State in many years -- facing two top ten teams back-to-back with the second on the road.

It will have historic implications for Ohio State, as well as the very practical one of giving OSU a bit of breathing room in the Big Ten title chase. And if they can somehow win the next three, they would be very much in control of the league race since both Iowa and IU trail leader Ohio State by only 1 game.

Especially if Sheldon is healthy and back on the floor.

OSU should still be winning Big Ten titles every few years, NIL or not. The program is under-achieving and has been for a while. If Holtmann can't get this turned around, a change will happen.

The Browns have now rectified that horrid coaching hire when they made Woods their DC.

Today, Jim Schwartz was hired to replace him.

The game with Iowa next week has all the earmarks of being an epic battle. 

These two teams have a long history of great games that have determined Big Ten titles, going all the way back to the late 1980s. Several times they played before record crowds, both in Iowa City and Columbus. I expect this game to draw a big crowd as well.

Of all the teams in the Big Ten (the original members), Ohio State's series against Iowa is most likely the closest. The Buckeyes have dominated most of the series against league foes, with Iowa being the one exception. 

Only if Sheldon does get back.

She's the key and will be the difference between a deep tournament run and an earlier exit. With her, teams have a much more difficult time with OSU's press. Without her, the press is good, but not exceptional.

Not just the college game.

All the rules (college and pro) favor the offense, and we're seeing the result on the field.

Or the Slive lining.

Actually, they did make a critical 4th down stop that should have given the offense the ball on a critical Georgia drive. Then the replay official said no.

We can cherry pick these things all day long -- but the fact remains: when you've got two teams so close in talent, officiating can and does make a huge difference.

And the officiating in this game bordered on corrupt.

I've heard that somewhere.

Oh yeah, Jethro Bodine told me it was true.

Why don't I find that encouraging?

Oh yeah, I've been an OSU fan for a long time.

I think your shoe is safe.

IS she going to return?

Not being a smart ass, but I honestly don't know.

That's nice.

Are we still waiting on the apology letter from the Peach Bowl for the horrid officiating in that game -- you know, at least two horrible calls, either one of which probably results in Ohio State winning the game because they maintain possession and end up scoring more points?

I didn't think so.

As bad as this is, what happened in that playoff game was 1,000 times worse because the officials on the field got it right, and the review booth overturned the calls.

I was going to suggest unclenching something other than pearls...but sure. Let's go with pearls.

I think I'd rather get kicked in the nads about 10 times over watching that screw job again.

Such a royal screw job for OSU. Because the refs couldn't get anything right, Ohio State ends up losing and this is the result.

A dirty hit on the best player in the game takes him out, and the entire game turns. So what's the end result: Georgia wins another national title instead of losing in the semi-final -- which is what would have happened.

What a sham.

Because the name of the game is a clever derivation of the originator's name (Josh Wardle).

If she doesn't come back at all, probably.

But I want her back this season! With this roster as it's constructed, adding her makes this team a definite threat to get to a Final Four. And once you get there, anything can happen.

OSU is just so predictably horrid at giving out information on injuries, that it has almost become laughable.

It was targeting.

You do not have to hit helmet to helmet for it to be so. Why do people not know this rule by now?

If there is contact to the head/neck area by ANY of the helmet, shoulder, elbow, it meets the definition of targeting.

The problem with this is how it is officiating. Officials rarely call a loose ball a fumble after a QB hit but always let the play run out to see if possession changes. Then they go back and look to see if there was forward motion by the QB's arm.

They need to do the same with this type of hit. NEVER call it targeting on the field, simply call it unnecessary roughness or hitting a defenseless player. It will get reviewed to see if it's targeting. That way AT MINIMUM the play is a penalty and a first down, as it should have been on this play.

That changed the entire game because (1) OSU didn't get the ball with a first down at the 2 as they should have and (2) Harrison was lost for the game, and Georgia simply could not defend him. If OSU scores a TD there, they have 4 more points than they ended up with -- and the math is easy to do on this.

If Harrison isn't taken out of the game by a filthy hit that should have been penalized -- OSU wins this game by at least 14 points and defense is just fine, given the state of college football these days.

Because it ended up being a loss, the focus is all on the defense and its failure to stop UGA at critical times.

This game SHOULD have been a high scoring, blowout win for the Buckeyes. Georgia knew they couldn't handle Harrison, so they took him out.

You won't convince me otherwise.

Cool sarcasm, dude.

I guess you need to go somewhere when you've lost the argument.

The trade for Mitchell and some pretty damn good drafting have them in a great position.