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"If you're the committee, what do you make of the Buckeyes? Do you downgrade them because they're on their third quarterback in four months? Do you look at their season body of work or at Barrett's injured body part?"
-Gene Wojciechowski, ESPN
It’s an interesting question in a year where human beings are, for the first time since before the BCS era, completely responsible for where each team is ranked. How should (and will) the College Football Playoff selection committee treat the Buckeyes in light of J.T. Barrett’s season-ending injury? Will they rank the Buckeyes based on what they accomplished during the first 12 games? Or, will the ranking be based on what the committee feels like is the team’s potential over the last two (or three) games?
The truth is that we don’t know, and we probably won’t until this Tuesday (at the earliest). Wojciechowski has some thoughts, though:
This is where CFP metrics and computer calculations should recuse themselves and where committee members Barry Alvarez, Tom Osborne and Tyrone Willingham -- former head coaches who know exactly the challenges Meyer faces this week and beyond -- should step forward. They need to remind the rest of the committee that Barrett's injury, while devastating, shouldn't automatically eliminate Ohio State from top-four discussion.
Jones isn't Barrett. But he also isn't a scrub. Jones is 6-foot-5, 250 pounds and can run, which is a must in Meyer's offense. He also can pass, though he's sometimes accuracy-challenged with his throws. And remember: Meyer arrived at Ohio State in November 2011; Jones enrolled early in January 2012, so he's had three full seasons in Meyer's system.
If I'm on the committee, I vote the Buckeyes this week based on their season record and not based on the sight of Barrett leaving the field on an injury cart. If that's fourth, fine. If it's a little lower, that's fine, too. Just don't dismiss OSU out of hand.
Of course, as Urban Meyer would tell you, none of this matters if the Buckeyes don’t take care of business this Saturday night in Indianapolis.
"The Ohio State Buckeyes have risen two spots in the latest AP basketball poll."
The latest edition of the AP Men’s basketball rankings are out and the Ohio State Buckeyes are on the move. Ranked 16 last week, Ohio State moved up two slots to 14. Kentucky remains atop the poll with 62 of 65 first-place votes followed immediately by Wisconsin, Arizona, Duke, and Louisville.
The Buckeyes will face a top-five test this Tuesday when the team travels to Louisville to take on Rick Pitino’s Cardinals.
|
Rank |
School |
Record |
Pts |
Prev |
|
1 |
Kentucky Wildcats (62) |
7-0 |
1,622 |
1 |
|
2 |
7-0 |
1,511 |
2 |
|
|
3 |
6-0 |
1,488 |
3 |
|
|
4 |
7-0 |
1,475 |
4 |
|
|
5 |
5-0 |
1,260 |
6 |
|
|
6 |
6-0 |
1,254 |
7 |
|
|
7 |
7-0 |
1,196 |
8 |
|
|
8 |
4-0 |
1,165 |
9 |
|
|
9 |
6-0 |
1,133 |
10 |
|
|
10 |
6-0 |
1,075 |
12 |
|
|
11 |
5-1 |
1,063 |
11 |
|
|
12 |
5-1 |
864 |
5 |
|
|
13 |
5-1 |
784 |
15 |
|
|
14 |
5-0 |
759 |
16 |
|
|
15 |
7-0 |
697 |
17 |
|
|
16 |
7-0 |
601 |
21 |
|
|
17 |
5-1 |
454 |
19 |
|
|
18 |
6-0 |
438 |
25 |
|
|
19 |
5-2 |
423 |
20 |
|
|
20 |
3-1 |
330 |
13 |
|
|
21 |
7-0 |
306 |
45 |
|
|
22 |
4-2 |
254 |
26 |
|
|
23 |
5-1 |
222 |
- |
|
|
24 |
6-0 |
104 |
39 |
|
|
25 |
5-1 |
88 |
29 |
|
|
Others receiving votes: N. Iowa 83, UConn 76, Oklahoma St. 69, Providence 56, VCU 52, Syracuse 49, Florida 40, Georgetown 30, Creighton 29, Washington 17, NC State 12, Wyoming 10, California 8, Seton Hall 5, St. John's 5, Nebraska 4, Baylor 3, UCLA 3, Mississippi 2, Old Dominion 2, TCU 2, Notre Dame 1, Saint Mary's (Cal) 1. |
||||
Kelsey Mitchell of @OhioState_WBB is the #B1GWBBALL Freshman of the Week as she led the #B1G in scoring with 26.7 ppg pic.twitter.com/thSbIgfghc
— B1G Women's Hoops (@B1Gwbball) December 1, 2014
Continuing a tradition that the football team started, the Ohio State women’s basketball team is making some noise in the weekly Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards. This week it was guard Kelsey Mitchell who took home the honors. Mitchell scored 35 points while going 14-14 at the line to help propel the Buckeyes to a win over Clemson. Ohio State is 4-3 on the season and will take the court next this Wednesday at home against Pittsburgh.
Ohio State Pitted Against Lipscomb in NCAA First Round ... http://t.co/n2AiuQAksR #GoBucks
— OhioStateWVolleyball (@ohiostatewvball) December 1, 2014
The Ohio State women’s volleyball team has, for the 20th time in its history, qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes’ first-round opponent is Lipscomb of the Atlantic Sun Conference. The two teams have met once before in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, a contest that the Buckeyes won.
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