Ohio State has the best fans in the country, but you already knew that

“Ohio State athletics is amongst the best in the country, particularly the football program which is steeped in tradition. From generations of national championships to Heisman Trophy legends like two-time winner Archie Griffin. Fans are brought up in Ohio State sports much like a religion.”

-Mike Dyce, FanSided

I know this won’t be a surprise to regular LGHL visitors, but Ohio State now officially has the best fans in the country. According to FanSided, based on an evaluation of longevity, size, buzz, and passion, Buckeye Nation was the best fanbase in the country this year.

In second place was the Alabama Crimson Tide, followed by the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, North Carolina Tar Heels, and Oklahoma Sooners. Other Big Ten teams making the top-24 were Penn State (10), Michigan (11), Wisconsin (13), and Nebraska (23).

Clearly this list is heavily weighted towards the football side of the equation, but with perennial basketball power UNC in the top-five, and Kentucky (6), Duke (7), and Kansas (12) also in the mix, obviously other sports were factored in as well.

With Chris Holtmann seemingly bringing energy and excitement back into the basketball program, there’s no reason that Ohio State shouldn’t be at the top of this list year-in and year-out.

While there are always the pessimistic fans on social media, and the obnoxious attention-seeking fans directly in front of the cameras (I’m looking at you Buck-I-Guy and Mr. Big Nut), for the most part, the Buckeye fandom is a great group of knowledgable, passionate, dedicated fans. Go Bucks!

“Tennessee’s buyout to Schiano in the event of a standard firing would’ve been 75 percent of the remaining money on his deal, according to the MOU obtained by 247. If Schiano were to sue Tennessee and prove that the deal was binding in court, that’d leave him slated to receive more than $20 million.”

-Alex Kirshner, SB Nation

I’m no legal scholar, but it seems to me that Greg Schiano has at least a good enough case to put a lot of pressure on the University of Tennessee. Whether there was one signature or three on the memorandum of understanding, UT made a commitment to the Ohio State defensive coordinator and then backed out because it was too afraid of its delusional fanbase to stand up for its decision.

It could be argued that the botched hiring has permanently damaged Schiano’s ability to be hired as a head coach, and therefore, if he does decide to pursue all, or a portion, of the money that he was originally promised, it would be a compelling case.

Would he win if it went to trial? I have no idea, but with all of the money that the university will have to pay to former coaches and ADs, it might want to cut its losses and just reach a mutually beneficial settlement with Schiano.

That being said, it likely means that the maligned coach is staying put in Columbus at least for another year, if not the foreseeable future, and based on the statistical output that his defenses have achieved in the past two years, that is probably a good thing for the Buckeyes.

“The university made $1,353,108 in total net revenue from 2017 beer sales in Ohio Stadium, according to public records. It is a 13.8 percent increase from the $1,166,497 generated in 2016 — the first year the ‘Shoe implemented stadium-wide beer sales.”

-Jacob Myers, The Lantern

Newsflash, sports fans like to drink beer, and sometimes that enjoyment leads to bad behavior. In the second year that Ohio State has allowed beer sales throughout Ohio Stadium, the university saw a 13.8 percent increase in sales, while also seeing an increase of 77 percent in terms of the arrests at games throughout the year.

In Myers’ article, he notes that most of the arrests were not violent, and didn’t result in someone being taken to jail. Instead, it was generally underage fans attempting to purchase alcohol. Those fans were simply given a summons to appear in court.

To combat students purchasing multiple beers and giving them to underage friends, vendors in the south stands only sold a single beer per ID, but that clearly didn’t stop underage fans from trying to get creative.

Fortunately, the booze sales go directly to funding four new University Police officers and increased security around campus, as well as “supporting Ohio State’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery.”

STICK TO SPORTS

• An interactive look at 2017, the year that sports stopped making sense.
• A spoiler-free review of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.”
• So what is this “Cat Person” article all about, and why are some dudes angry about it?
• Here’s why your neighborhood Applebee’s is selling $1 cocktails.
• A musical featuring songs by the Go-Go’s is heading for Broadway.