Welcome to the Skull Session.
Update: C.J. Stroud has declared for the 2023 NFL draft.
Proverbs 3:5,6 pic.twitter.com/FdA2ftqQFJ
— CJ Stroud (@CJ7STROUD) January 16, 2023
Thank you, C.J. pic.twitter.com/p4NgCYGAqV
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 16, 2023
Let's have a good Monday, shall we?
WHEN PATIENCE WEARS THIN. When I was little, I fell in love with Buckeye basketball. Ohio State was my favorite school. Basketball was my favorite sport. It was a match made in heaven.
I watched every game on a small box TV in my basement as I dribbled a Nerf basketball and practiced my jump shot on a Mini Hoop set. Being the Ohio State fan I was, I modeled my game after the players I saw on the standard-definition screen: Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr., Evan Turner, David Lighty, Aaron Craft, Jared Sullinger and many others. When I had a chance to meet Lighty, I was starstruck. He, like the others, was one of my idols.
When I think back to that time, I remember it fondly. Being an Ohio State fan was easy.
But when the final buzzer sounded after Ohio State's 68-64 overtime loss to Rutgers on Sunday, easy was the last word that came to mind. The truth is, being a fan of the Basketbucks right now is hard. Like, really hard.
At 10-7 overall and enduring a four-game losing streak, things look pretty bleak for Ohio State. A team that once had the second-best odds to win the Big Ten is now on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament – and it's the wrong side of the bubble. As in, the trending toward an invitation to the NIT side of the bubble.
I've been a defender of Chris Holtmann over the years. I think he's an excellent coach who understands basketball and, perhaps more importantly, understands people, leading them to be as great a man as they are basketball players.
His teams have consistently made the NCAA Tournament and won at least one game, save for the disastrous Oral Roberts loss in 2021. His development of five NBA players in Jae'Sean Tate, Keita Bates-Diop, Duane Washington, E.J. Liddell, Malaki Branham (and soon-to-be Brice Sensabaugh) is commendable, as are his yearly recruiting classes that continue to increase in quality.
But Ohio State is a "what have you done for me lately" school for athletics, which means Holtmann is only as good as the last time he coached on the sidelines. As it stands, Holtmann's performance the previous four times he's coached has led to losses, so patience is wearing thin in Columbus.
I'm not ready to push the panic button on this season quite yet, but Holtmann needs to work some magic quickly, or else his seat will continue to grow warmer by the day – at least as far as a sizable portion of the fan base is concerned. If he can somehow work a miracle, maybe being a fan of Ohio State basketball will be easy again.
For me, that would be just like old times.
RETURNING FOR THE THRONE. With the 2022 college football season officially over and most of the sport's storylines looking ahead to next year, a narrative has started – outside the metaphorical walls of Buckeye Nation, at least – that Ohio State is no longer the team to beat in the Big Ten. Instead, that title belongs to the Michigan Wolverines.
A few of those "people" were quoted in an article written by ESPN's Adam Rittenberg over the weekend:
For nearly two decades, Ohio State was the boss of the Big Ten. From 2002 until 2020, the Buckeyes won or shared 11 conference titles. They remain the only Big Ten team to win a national title (2002, 2014) or play for one (2006, 2007, 2020) this millenium. Most coaches still rank Ohio State as the league's most talented team, some by a wide margin.
But the Buckeyes have dropped consecutive games to Michigan, which went on to win the Big Ten the past two seasons. Michigan returns arguably the nation's best overall offensive backfield in quarterback J.J. McCarthy and running back Blake Corum, a Heisman Trophy candidate before suffering a knee injury Nov. 19. Although the future of Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh is worth monitoring, some Big Ten coaches now see Michigan in a different light.
"They're the team in this league now," an assistant said.
"Michigan's going to find another good coach if Harbaugh leaves, and they're still going to be good," a Big Ten coordinator said.
It's important to reiterate the last sentence of Rittenberg's first graph: Most coaches still rank Ohio State as the league's most talented team, some by a wide margin. How-evuh, others believe the Wolverines, and perhaps even the Penn State Nittany Lions, are better suited (as of January) to seat themselves on the Big Ten's throne in 2023.
And that's fine. Honestly, I think that may be preferable heading into next season.
I've been reading a lot about Ohio State's 2014 national championship team recently, specifically about how that iteration of the Buckeyes came together after an early loss to Virginia Tech in Week 2. That defeat, a 35-21 embarrassment in the Horseshoe, lit a fire underneath the team, leading to a historic 13-game win streak that included a victory over Michigan, a Big Ten Championship and a national title in the inaugural CFP.
#OTD in 2015, @OhioStateFB beat Oregon, 42-20, to claim its eighth national title. pic.twitter.com/FTHvET8Eui
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) January 12, 2023
How did Ohio State accomplish those feats? Among many reasons, I believe the most important is that the team treated every game as if it were the championship. Because, in a way, they were. The Buckeyes needed to be perfect to scratch and claw their way into the top-four spots. They needed to be perfect to beat Alabama and Oregon. In each instance, they rose to the occasion. It led to the team reaching all of its goals.
My hope for Ohio State in 2023 is this. That the team would play each game as if it were the championship. If the Buckeyes want to accomplish their goals, they must. The claims that Michigan runs the league are not unfounded, and the hype around Penn State is legitimate. If you lose one game, you may lose everything.
How do you avoid that? Don't lose. Easier said than done. But has the expectation ever been any different for The World Famous Ohio State Buckeyes?
THE DYNAMIC DUO. As Ohio State entered the 2022 season, it expected to have Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka as its top three wide receivers lined up outside for C.J. Stroud. JSN's injury changed that lineup, as he only played in three games during the year, leading to increased responsibility for Harrison and Egbuka.
As it turned out, they were more than ready for a more prominent role in the offense. In fact, when the year was over, they ended up as two of the top-10 receivers in college football, according to Pro Football Focus.
not but @MarvHarrisonJr @emeka_egbuka https://t.co/gLWhy6jXkI
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) January 14, 2023
Is having the No. 1 receiver and No. 6 receiver in the FBS good? I've had some people tell me that, but I want to confirm with you all. No matter if it's Kyle McCord or Devin Brown at quarterback for the Buckeyes next season, the Ohio State's offense will be jussssssst fineeeeeeee with these dudes manning the wings.
OLYMPIC VILLAGE. Ohio State's best athletic program started its season with a win over Michigan on Saturday. And in case you didn't know, I'm talking about the 33-time national championship-winning synchronized swimming team.
Starting off the season strong#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/Qma0XtKwgI
— Ohio State Synchro (@OSUsynchro) January 14, 2023
I will admit – I am biased toward the Buckeyes' synchro team, but for a good reason. If you look at this list of the top skippers at Ohio State that Eleven Warriors ran a few years back, you may recognize a name in the No. 1 spot that is similar to mine: Holly Vargo-Brown.
That's because she's my mother.
Indeed, I am a proud son of a woman who has had a hand in winning 26 of the 33 championships Ohio State has secured in the program's 45-year history. It's pretty darn cool.
I believe the synchro team's dominance needs to be talked about more, so I will make sure to remind everyone of their success as much as I can. That starts today with the Buckeyes' blowout win over the Wolverines. Dare I say Ohio State blew them out of the water?
Eh? Ehhhhhh?
SONG OF THE DAY. "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath.
CUT TO THE CHASE. Claim of mammoth bones brings treasure hunters to NYC river... Swedish govt moves to get rid of permits needed for dancing... A rare green comet is headed our way... James Cameron cites problem with Titanic's Jack and Rose door theory... Mandarin duck draws birdwatchers to Wisconsin shore.
