Big Ten 2011 Tournament Bracket And Schedule - SB Nation Pittsburgh

Ohio State is all but guaranteed a spot in the Big Ten finals with Northwestern, Minnesota, Michigan and Illinois all on their side of the bracket. The possible Friday morning match-up against Northwestern is the most intriguing. Otherwise it's straight to Sunday and a meaningless rematch against Purdue or Wisconsin. The most desperate team will be Michigan State who might need some wins to get into the tournament.

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Illinois Fighting Illini - Box Score - January 22, 2011 - ESPN

Bucks win a very exciting -- and important -- road game over Illinois, 73-68.

Sullinger and Diebler played great, but there was a lot of iffy play from Lighty, and I spent an inordinate amount of time yelling at Aaron Craft for his many miscues. Still both he and Deshaun Thomas redeemed their poor first half play during the 11-0 run that turned the game.

Would like to see the Bucks develop more of their inside-outside game, but Sullinger is so good in the paint that kicking out to the three point shooters is actually the less desirable option. Lighty on the other hand can't seem to hit shots after contact and always looks like he's expecting a foul to be called -- like a desperate receiver looking for pass interference on every play. Craft also had a bad habit of leaving balls on the front of rim when he tried to drive the lane. Finally, big man Dallas Lauderdale didn't see much playing time, probably because the OSU D did a good job of keeping Sullinger out of foul trouble.

Ohio State advance to 20-0 and defend their #1 ranking.

Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Ohio State Buckeyes - Recap - January 19, 2011 - ESPN

Buckeyes roll to 19-0:

David Lighty scored 18 points and Ohio State wasn't tested in its first game as No. 1, rolling over Iowa 70-48 on Wednesday night.

Sugar Bowl: Ohio State vs. Arkansas

I'm dreading this game.

Everything is stacked against us. SEC opponent. Southern location. Myriad distractions. My fear is that we'll play Virginia Tech to Arkansas's Stanford. Hang around for a quarter or two and then go home on the wrong side of 42-10.

So is tonight the night that Buckeye fans everywhere decide that OSU is a basketball school? Bucks are 12 1/2 point favorites against Iowa.

UPDATE

Buckeyes played a brilliant first half, taking a 28-10 lead, but nothing has gone right since. The phantom safety may have been the last straw as the lead is cut to 31-23. I think I've seen this movie before.

Meanwhile the basketball team eked out a 73-68 win over Iowa in a game where they trailed for the bulk of the action.

UPDATE

Another bizarre play as Herron fumbles on what should have been a back-breaking, clock-burning, 4th down conversion.

Bucks lead 31-26 with less than 6 minutes, but right now we're waiting for the inevitable Arkansas go-ahead score.

UPDATE

Buckeyes get a remarkable three and out with 4 1/2 minutes to go. Field position continues to be their greatest enemy as Arkansas punts them down inside the 5 yardline.

UPDATE

With 2 minutes left, OSU has done a good job of running the ball and running down the clock.

Still, the game has been way more exciting than it needed to be.

UPDATE

And there you go. A special teams disaster. Would have been better if they'd gone for it.

UPDATE

HOLY COW! The Bucks get an interception with a minute left!

UPDATE

Bucks win 31-26. Unbelievable game. I've got nothing left to say.

FINAL UPDATE

Hope someone off the defense gets the MVP. They made the difference 100%.

Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Indiana Hoosiers - Recap - December 31, 2010 - ESPN

Buckeyes are off to a great start this year going 14-0 and picking up their first win in conference play.

So far this is a better team than the Greg Oden led 2006-2007 team that lost the NCAA champion game to Florida, but they still have a long way to go to match the achievements of the Jerry Lucas teams of the early 60s. Those teams not only went to the finals three years in a row, but the 1960-61 team followed up its National Championship by going 27-0. Their only defeat was in the championship to Cincinnati (70-65, in overtime!) The next year they came back and did it again going 26-1 before losing the rematch with Cincinnati  71-59.

NBA - Orlando Magic/Boston Celtics Box Score Friday May 28, 2010 - Yahoo! Sports

The Celtics are punching the magic in the proverbial neck.

Bring on LA!

NBA - Boston Celtics/Orlando Magic Box Score Wednesday May 26, 2010 - Yahoo! Sports

Orlando looks like the team they were supposed to be. First the Cavs, now the up and down Celts. I'd like to say that the NBA playoffs are killing me, but they're really just getting on my nerves. That, and the games are probably fixed.

Rondo driving Celtics toward title - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

That was easy. I'm back to my Bird-era Celtics love.

Lakers hold off Suns, take 2-game West finals lead - NBA - Yahoo! Sports

The Suns are doing it wrong:

Whenever the Suns sent two defenders at Kobe Bryant, he coolly passed to an open teammate. When Phoenix loaded up down low against Pau Gasol, the Lakers picked them apart from the perimeter.

You've got to guard Gasol, stop the perimeter shooting, and make Kobe score 50.

Celtics Lead Magic 2-0

The Celtics are doing surprising things in the playoffs. Haven't seen a lot of the games, but on paper they seem to be doing a good job of turning their opponents into one man bands. That is, one superstar and four spectators. Bird-era Celtics did the same thing against Jordan and the Bulls in the early days: let the star score 45 and let the other guys do nothing.

Buckeyes in the Big Dance

OSU makes the tournament:

• The Bad News is that they're an 8 seed.
• The Good News is that they're playing in Dayton so: home court.
• The Bad News is that they'll have to play a 1 seed, Louisville in the second round.
• The Good News is that if they beat Louisville in a Buckeye friendly setting, the whole bracket becomes a free-for-all.
• The Bad News: who am I kidding? Siena is a very dangerous 9 seed. This could be one and done.
  
• The Good News: It's nice that they made the tournament at all considering Lighty was out most of the year.
  

Buckeyes 61 Boilermakers 65

Very exciting game today. The Buckeyes just came up a little short. Still they had their chances in the final minute of the game and you can't ask for much more than that.

Next stop, the NCAAs.

Buckeyes 82 Spartans 70

It's always hard to tell how much teams care about the conference tournaments compared to the regular season and the NCAA tournament. For Ohio State this was a great win, especially when you consider that all year long they were a potential top 25 team that just couldn't win the big games. For Michigan State, this is a so-so loss for a team that probably wasn't going to get a #1 seed anyway. All things being equal, MSU still has the best shot of going deep into the tournament of any team in the Big Ten.

In terms of game strategy and tactics, OSU did a much better job of anticipating and responding to the second half rush then they did in previous meetings. They also did a slightly better job of rebounding than in previous games though there were still a few possessions where MSU had 2 or 3 shots at the basket (and that's what allowed them to cut the lead to 10 late in the game).

The main thing was outside shooting. OSU hit some threes, and MSU uncharacteristically went stone cold. Meanwhile OSU did a better job managing their fouls and getting MSU's big man Suton in foul trouble.

Tomorrow Ohio State will play the winner of the Purdue/Illinois game for the championship. It probably won't have a huge impact on their seeding, but it would be a nice feather in their cap.

Buckeyes 61 Badgers 57

Sounds like I missed a good game:

Evan Turner scored 19 points Friday and Ohio State held Wisconsin without a field goal for the final 6 minutes of the Buckeyes’ 61-57 victory in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tournament.

Up next is Michigan State who defeated Minnesota 64-56.

Big Ten Tournament Preview

The Buckeyes finished strongly, but wound up with the fifth seed in the conference tournament. First they'll have to beat Wisconsin on Friday, and then its Michigan State on Saturday. Not promising.

The other half of the bracket look like a free-for-all with Michigan, Illinois, Purdue, and Penn State as potential semi-finalists.

Buckeyes 52 Wildcats 47

There are probably playoff implications, but I'm not sure what those might be.

The main thing is that OSU gets their 20th victory of the season and an important home win against a potential spoiler. Northwestern came out like gangbusters to start the second half, but somehow OSU managed to keep just one step ahead.

Ohio State 73 Penn State 59

Didn't see the game, but a win is a win. OSU needs to improve their defense and start making their push for the NCAAs.

Buckeyes 62 Gators 49

Yes, I know this wasn't the National Championship (of basketball, or football for that matter). For the most part this is a pretty meaningless rematch of two teams in the midst of rebuilding. And yes, all of the good players for both teams have moved on to the NBA. But as a Buckeye fan, I'll take what I can get. Revenge is a dish best served cold, with a side dish of pettiness.

Oden Will Miss His Rookie Season

Greg Oden will not play in the upcoming NBA season:

Oden, a 7-footer from Ohio State, was found to have torn cartilage during exploratory surgery on his right knee and was operated on by team doctor Don Roberts in Vancouver, Wash. Most microfracture surgeries require eight months to a year for recovery.

So I guess Buckeye fans can stop mourning the lost NCAA championship that the Oden-led sophomores might have won had he and others stayed. It's also good for Oden that this was discovered now while he's getting paid and not while he was in school. This is the come out early argument in a nutshell cause you never know when you're draft status might slip.