Buckeye Bits: It was a good weekend to be a Buckeye

It’s a snowy, blustery day in Columbus, Ohio. Actually scratch that. It’s a snowy, blustery day pretty much across the entire country. My aunt who lives in Phoenix, Arizona (where it was 75 degrees and sunny a week ago) is now sending me photos of her snow-covered pool and patio. I don’t know what’s happening, but I’m pretty sure it’s bad for the earth and we should all remember to recycle, use reusable bags and preserve energy. But I digress. My point is, the snowy weekend could not have come at a better time, as fans across the country had nothing else to do but stay in and watch the men’s basketball team, the women’s volleyball team, the wrestling team and football players in the Senior Bowl walk all over their competition.

A good day to be a Buckeye was a bad day to be a Spartan

Three Ohio State teams ended their weekends with big conference wins on Sunday. First, the No. 13 Ohio State men’s basketball team (14-4, 8-4) won their third-consecutive game, beating Michigan State (8-6, 2-6) to the tune of 79-62.

The Buckeyes are on a roll, having won six of their last seven contests, and are now ranked No. 7 in the AP Top 25 after their victory over the Spartans. Next on their schedule is a trip to Iowa City to face the No. 8 Iowa Hawkeyes (12-4, 6-3) at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.

On top of that, the Ohio State women’s basketball team bumped up three spots to No. 11 in the poll after beating now-No. 17 Indiana 78-70 on Thursday.

The Buckeyes are at No. 22 Northwestern tonight, looking for their fourth straight win over a Top 25 team. Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.

Another Michigan State team fell victim to the Buckeyes on Sunday. The women’s volleyball team (3-0, 3-0) earned their first sweep of the season against the Spartans (0-3, 0-3) in straight sets of 25-17, 25-15 and 25-20.

Ohio State will look to keep its perfect record while Michigan State will be seeking revenge, as the two teams face off again on Monday, 4:00 p.m. ET on the Big Ten Network.

And last but certainly not least, Ohio State’s No. 6 ranked wrestling team dominated Maryland on Sunday afternoon to the tune of 41-0, capping off an undefeated weekend.

The Buckeyes are now 4-1 on the season and will (luckily) have a week to prepare for a huge day in West Lafayette, where they will take on No. 1 Iowa and No. 18 Purdue on Sunday.

Buckeyes making noise in the Senior Bowl...

The weekend highlights don’t end there, as Jonathon Cooper was the second highest-graded defensive player at the Senior Bowl with a score of 92.8, per Pro Football Focus.

Cooper was one of 10 players who 247Sports believes improved their draft stock the most during the course of the Senior Bowl. Here’s what the analysts had to say about Cooper’s week in Mobile:

Cooper didn’t stand out during the season on tape, but during Senior Bowl week, he made a few heads turn towards his direction. He was in on a tackle for loss and a sack during the game as well, making his name well known to former Wake Forest quarterback Jamie Newman. The defensive end finished the Senior Bowl with two tackles, 1.5 tackles for a loss and half a sack. If teams want to bolster their defensive line depth, Copper looks like a prospect worth taking a bit earlier than anticipated. Teams will surely do their homework more so than before

Also turning heads at the Senior Bowl is Justin Hilliard who FOX Sports analyst RJ Young ranked No. 5 in his Top 5 winners from the past week. Hilliard started in Saturday’s game and ended the day with four tackles, including one for a loss, and was critical on a fourth down stop.

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