1960 NCAA Champions

Ohio State has won only one Men's NCAA Basketball Championship, and that was back in 1960. It is difficult to imagine how different things would be at a football school such as Ohio State, if the basketball team had not lost to Cincinnati in the title game in 1961 and 1962. Below are some pics of the 1960 team from the Columbus Dispatch archives.

John Havlicek

Larry Siegfried, Coach Fred Taylor and Jerry Lucas

John Havlicek

Coach Fred Taylor with the trophy

Front of the Columbus Dispatch after the victory

Honors for Oden

Greg Oden was selected for the First-Team All America Team. This is very unusual for a freshman, although another freshman standout, Texas player Kevin Durant was also on the list. Below are is this year's First-Team All American players and all of the Ohio State All Americans.

AP All-America team
FIRST TEAM
Kevin Durant, Texas, freshman
Alando Tucker, Wisconsin, senior
Acie Law IV, Texas A&M, senior
Arron Afflalo, UCLA, junior
Greg Oden, Ohio State, freshman

Ohio State
1950 Dick Schnittker Sr. F
1955 Robin Freeman Jr. G
1956 Robin Freeman Sr. G
1960 Jerry Lucas So. C
1961 Jerry Lucas Jr. C
1962 Jerry Lucas Sr. C
1963 Gary Bradds Jr. C
1964 Gary Bradds Sr. C
1992 Jim Jackson Jr. G
2007 Greg Oden Fr. C

Wooden
Oden was also selected as a finalist for the Wooden Award, named after the legendary coach at UCLA. The award is given by the Los Angeles Athletic Club to the player of the year. Other finalists were Kevin Durant of Texas, Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, Acie Law of Texas A&M and Alando Tucker of Wisconsin.

Big Ten Coaches

There have been a few Big Ten coach changes. I will post updates.

You probably already knew, Tommy Amaker was fired at Michigan. I have not heard about a replacement yet.

Steve Alford felt the heat and left Iowa for New Mexico. No word on a replacement.

Tubby Smith left under pressure from Kentucky and will be at Minnesota this season.

Quotes

Below are some quotes from last week.

Comments by Memphis Player Joey Dorsey regarding Greg Oden before the game.
"This is the game I wanted." "I think (the pro scouts) will really be watching this game (Saturday) night because it's two great big men going against each other. I'm an underrated big man and he's a lot overrated as a big man. It's going to be a great rebounding game for me. I'm going to try to outrebound him." "We watched tape this morning and last night and he's a lot like me. He gets his head out of the game easily when he picks up a couple fouls. Then he stops playing and then he picks up another foul by trying to play too hard." "Might be as good as Joey Dorsey." "It's going to be like David and Goliath. I'm Goliath."

Matt Terwilliger comments
"I don't know if he ever read that story, But Goliath lost."

Oden's response before the game.
"Don't you forget, David beat Goliath. It kind of made me laugh.'' "I guess he (wants) to play me," a smiling Oden said. "So I guess I need to show up."

Mike Conley Jr. comments
"I couldn't believe it. I've never heard somebody just call somebody out like that. I've never heard people call out Greg in the newspaper."

Butler's comments
"Honestly? Idiot."

What Greg thought.
"My coaches told me about it and I was like, 'Hey he's calling me out, but I tried not to think about it. I just wanted play my game and not let the comments get into my head." "It really doesn't matter what I had and what he had. What matters is that we won."

Assistant Ohio State head coach John Groce.
"Greg told his teammates that it wasn't about him versus Dorsey, that we were a team. I think it made his teammates want to play even harder to make Greg look good."

Memphis guard Chris Douglas-Roberts
"We were a quiet, under-the-radar team, you know, the underdog team. After that, it made us look like the team who's opposite that ... It was bad timing and it wasn't the right thing to say." "Even when he's not blocking shots, and even when he's not rebounding, you still feel his presence." "You can't pass him up. You can't pass him up. Another Greg Oden won't come around in another 20-something years. You can't pass him up. You can't. Until you play against him [you don't know] how good he actually is."

Memphis player Joey Dorsey after scoring no points in the game. (Predicted 15 points and 20 rebounds for himself and nine points and five rebounds for Oden.)
"Greg Oden was the better player tonight." "Greg knew what I was saying, I was trying to get both of us pumped up for the game." "No, no, I didn't know he had offense like that." "I tried my best to contain him … I didn't know he was that strong." "Every time I played good defense on him, he came back with a counter. Fighting him in the post was crazy. He's a good player." "He needs to work on his jump hooks and everything."

Was Dorsey misquoted?
"Nah, nah, they said exactly what I said. But I got the David and Goliath wrong this time."

Coach Matta's comments after the game. He neglects to mention the 1999 Final Four, which was vacated by the NCAA.
"This is a tremendous honor. It's been 1968 since Ohio State's done it."

Pics from Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight

One more trophy for the year, heading to Atlanta

Thad Matta's first Elite Eight win

Overrated?

Looks like Cook is finally playing defense

Lewis is truly playing like a senior

Conley driving to the basket

Overrated?

Minutes did not come easy for Oden, but here is one his dunks against Tennessee

Lighty really seems to be playing well at the right time.

The final block to seal the win. Did you see Oden jump? Wow!

Photos from the Columbus Dispatch.

Ohio State in the Final Four

Saturday, March 31st
6:07 PM, CBS (HD)
Georgetown vs. Ohio State
Final Four
Winner plays Florida or UCLA on Monday

With the win over Memphis last Saturday, Ohio State won the South Regional and has advanced to the Final Four. Ohio State will play #2 seed Georgetown from the East Regional. If you recall, Georgetown embarrassed Ohio State last year in the second round. In fact it was Ohio State's worst tournament loss, 70-52.

Georgetown runs the Princeton offense, and we all remember how much trouble that gave us when we played Northwestern. Both Georgetown coach John Thompson III and Northwestern coach Bill Carmody run the motion offense. Below is a description of the Princeton Offense, which I posted back in January for the Northwestern game. Having Roy Hibbert, 7'2" at center helps run this half-court offense. The Hoyas showed that their zone defense can suffocate an offense, as North Carolina shot 1 of 23 in a 15 minute span that included the overtime. Ohio State must have fast breaks and hit some threes to break the zone defense. Oden will have a difficult game matching up against Hibbert, so he has to be careful with the fouls. I believe Conley will be the difference maker yet again, splitting defenders with his drives to the basket.


From January 17, 2006 post.
Princeton Offense
Coach Bill Carmody runs the Princeton offense, which is an offense that is always moving, full of passes and cuts. It is rare in college basketball because all five players must be able to handle the ball, pass and shoot. The ball is passed until a mismatch is found and a player either drives the ball to the basket or an open player gets the pass.

OSU advances to the Sweet 16

Ohio State beat Xavier in a hard fought game, to advance to the Sweet 16. The Buckeyes came back from nine points down in the final three minutes to send it to overtime. Ron Lewis hit a three with two seconds remaining, which tied the game up. Xavier was unable to score, and the Buckeyes took control in overtime. Below are some Columbus Dispatch pics from the game.

This Thursday the Buckeyes play Tennessee in San Antonio. Ohio State beat them with a three by Ron Lewis earlier this season. The game is slated to start 30 minutes after the Memphis/Texas A&M which starts at 7:30 (Eastern.) The winners of those two games will play on Saturday (time not determined.)

The Shot by Lewis

Another missed foul

Ohio State vs. Central Connecticut State

Tonight, March 15h, 7:10 PM
First Round, South Region
Lexington, KY
#1 seed Ohio State vs. #16 Central Connecticut State
CBS-regionally

OSU likely starters
Mike Conley, Jr., 6'1" guard
Ivan Harris, 6'7" forward
Ron Lewis, 6'4" guard
Jamar Butler, 6'2" guard
Greg Oden, 7'0" center

CCS likely starters
Obie Nwadike, 6'4" Forward
Jemino Sobers, 6'7" Forward
Joe Seymore, 6'3" guard/forward
Tristan Blackwood, 6'0" guard
Javier Mojica, 6'3" guard

The Blue Devils from the Northeast Conference essentially only play seven players. Five of those players play for over 25 minutes. That means they will run out of juice in the second half. Player height could also be an issue for them, as their tallest starter is 6'7". They have a 6'11" guy on the bench, but he plays less than 10 minutes/game. Look for OSU to play the bench and keep the starters off the court as much as possible. The winner of this game plays the winner of the Xavier/BYU game on Saturday at 1:10.

Out with Wendy's, in with McDonald's

If you haven't noticed, Wendy's has been cutting costs lately. Among those cuts was the closing the original Wendy's downtown and it has been announced that they will not be a sponsor of Ohio State athletics. The hometown company (based out of Dublin) had ads in Ohio Stadium for 20+ years and ads in St. John and now Schottenstein Arena. Those ads will replaced by the golden arches of McDonald's. With the new sponsorship, Ohio State is allowing central Ohio McDonald's to sell spring football game tickets for $5 ($1 to benefit the Ronald McDonald House.) If you have not marked your calendars yet, the game is set for Saturday, April 21 at 1:00 PM.

NCAA tournament bracket challege

I have created another bracket challenge this year on espn.com. If you are interested in participating, send me an email and I will send you all of the details. My bracket challenge is free and the prize is a drink on me. Good luck! Enjoy the tournament.

I will do my best to update the blog with tournament details, but my internet access will be limited over the next two weeks.

Congrats again!

Ohio State won the Big Ten tournament on Sunday, defeating #2 seed Wisconsin. Greg Oden won MVP for the tournament, after dominating on both sides of the court, averaging 17 points, 12.3 rebounds and 4 blocks for the three games. The Buckeyes limited opponents to 35.3% shooting.

Next up is the NCAA tournament. Ohio State is the 3rd #1 seed, sitting on top of the South Region, with first round games in Lexington, KY and regional games in San Antonio, Texas. It is not clear why the selection committee picked Ohio State as the third #1 seed behind Florida (Midwest region) and North Carolina (East region.) Perhaps they put a lot of weight in the losses to the Florida and UNC early in the season, when Oden was not playing or was just coming off his injury. I think it is important to realize this team is different than the one we saw early in the season. The freshman, especially Conley and Oden, are starting to click with the team. All top teams had down days, but Ohio State won most of those games, only losing to NCAA #1 seeds Florida and UNC and #2 seed Wisconsin. The Buckeyes did not lose to non-NCAA tournament teams such as Vanderbilt (Florida loss) or NC State (UNC loss.) Well, in any case, perhaps this will motivate the Buckeyes. Besides, I am tired of Florida teams (basketball and football) playing the underdog card. So now maybe they will get over-confident and cocky.

Ohio State vs. Purdue

Big Ten Tournament, Semifinals
#1 seed Ohio State (28-3) vs. #5 seed Purdue (21-10)
Saturday, 1:40 Eastern
CBS

OSU likely starters
Mike Conley Jr., guard
Ivan Harris, forward
Ron Lewis, guard
Jamar Butler, guard
Greg Oden, center

Purdue likely starters
Gordon Watt, sophomore forward
David Teague, senior guard
Chris Kramer, freshman guard
Keaton Grant, freshman guard
Carl Landry, senior forward

Ohio State vs. Michigan

Big Ten Tournament, Quarterfinals
#1 seed Ohio State (27-3) vs. #8 seed Michigan (21-11)
Today, 12:00 Eastern, ESPN

OSU likely starters
Mike Conley Jr., guard
Ivan Harris, forward
Ron Lewis, guard
Jamar Butler, guard
Greg Oden, center

Michigan likely starters
Dion Harris, 6'3" senior guard
Brent Petway, 6'8" senior forward
Jerret Smith, 6'3" sophomore guard
Lester Abram, 6'6" senior guard
Courtney Sims, 6'10" senior center

If you are stuck at work, you have some options, turn on your radio and listen to 97.1 FM or 1460 AM if you are in Columbus, otherwise check these listings for other Ohio stations. If you don't have a radio at work, you can stream most of the stations of their websites. You can also do free game tracking with stats off the Big Ten site. Here is the updated Big Ten Tournament bracket.

Michigan gave Ohio State a game last weekend, but they ran out of gas, and did not score in the last 3-4 minutes. Michigan must win this game to have a chance at an at-large NCAA bid, otherwise they will play in the NIT. So, Coach Tommy Amaker must get his team fired up to have a chance at the NCAA, and to possibly save his job. I have not seen Michigan play a complete game, and have seen many victories fall from their grips in the closing minutes. It seems like there has been a piece missing in the Michigan program lately, perhaps a player, maybe motivation, or possibly a new coach is needed. A victory over Ohio State would put this program in the right direction.

Ohio State has won 14 games in a row, since their January loss at Wisconsin. Ohio State has never won the Big Ten tournament as a #1 seed, losing in the quarterfinals in 2000 and losing the championship game last year. Although people believe Ohio State is the #1 team in the country, there is concern that this team is vulnerable, since they have not blown-out opponents. Look for teams to play zone-defense and try to get Oden in foul trouble. Ohio State must penetrate the zone and hit outside shots. As I have said the entire season, Oden needs more touches. Run the offense through him, and if he doesn't have a shot, he can at least draw players inside, then pass the ball out to an open player on the perimeter.

Big Ten Tournament

The conference tournament bracket was released on Sunday. Here is the pdf bracket created by the conference (times in Central Time Zone), but you may want to use this Columbus Dispatch bracket, since it lists the times in Eastern Time Zone. I hope to make an image that can be visible on the blog. Below is a text listing of the games. Ohio State plays Michigan/Minnesota on Friday at noon on ESPN. The next possible game for Ohio State would be Iowa/Purdue at 1:40, Saturday on CBS. The Championship game is Sunday, 3:00 on CBS.

BIG TEN
(all times Eastern)
At United CenterChicago
FIRST ROUND
Thursday, March 8
Game 1: No. 8 Michigan vs. No. 9 Minnesota (ESPN2, noon)
Game 2: No. 7 Michigan State vs. No. 10 Northwestern (*ESPN2, 2:30 p.m.)
Game 3: No. 6 Illinois vs. No. 11 Penn State (*ESPN2, 5:05 p.m.)

QUARTERFINALS
Friday, March 9
Game 4: No. 1 Ohio State vs. No. 8/No. 9 (ESPN, noon)
Game 5: No. 4 Iowa vs. No. 5 (*ESPN, 2:30 p.m.)
Game 6: No. 2 Wisconsin vs. No. 7/No. 10 (6:40 p.m.)
Game 7: No. 3 Indiana vs. No. 6/No. 11 (9:10 p.m.)

SEMIFINALS
Saturday, March 10
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner (1:40 p.m.)
Game 9: Game 6 vs. Game 7 winner (*4:05 p.m.)

CHAMPIONSHIP
Sunday, March 11
Game 10: Game 8 vs. Game 9 winner (3:30 p.m.)

New Basketball Uniforms

Below are pictures from the Columbus Dispatch. The first picture is a the LeBron James 23 logo, which will be on the new Ohio State uniforms in place of the Nike swoosh. The uniform is form fitting (kinda like the football jerseys last fall right?) The team will wear the uniforms for the Big Ten and NCAA tournaments. The other schools that will wear the new Nike uniforms are Florida, Syracuse and Arizona.

Big Ten Honors

As Selected by Big Ten Coaches
Big Ten Coach of the Year-Thad Matta, Ohio State (2 years in a row)
Player of the Year-Alando Tucker, Wisconsin
Freshman of the Year-Greg Oden, Ohio State
Defensive Player of the Year-Greg Oden, Ohio State
Sixth Man of the Year-Daequan Cook, Ohio State

FIRST TEAM
-Adam Haluska, Iowa
-DREW NEITZEL, Michigan State
-GREG ODEN, Ohio State
-Carl Landry, Purdue
-Alando Tucker, Wisconsin*

SECOND TEAM
-Warren Carter, Illinois
-D.J. WHITE, Indiana
-MIKE CONLEY JR, Ohio State
-David Teague, Purdue
-Kammron Taylor, Wisconsin

THIRD TEAM
-SHAUN PRUITT, Illinois
-Roderick Wilmont, Indiana
-TYLER SMITH, Iowa
-Dion Harris, Michigan
-GEARY CLAXTON, Penn State

HONORABLE MENTION
-Rich McBride, Illinois
-LAWRENCE MCKENZIE, Minnesota
-Tim Doyle, Northwestern
-JAMAR BUTLER, Ohio State
-Ron Lewis, Ohio State
-JAMELLE CORNLEY, Penn State
-BRIAN BUTCH, Wisconsin

ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM
-TYLER SMITH, Iowa
-RAYMAR MORGAN, Michigan St.
-KEVIN COBLE, Northwestern
-MIKE CONLEY JR, Ohio State
-GREG ODEN, Ohio State

ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
-CHESTER FRAZIER, Illinois
-TRAVIS WALTON, Michigan St.
-GREG ODEN, Ohio State
-CHRIS KRAMER, Purdue
-MICHAEL FLOWERS, Wisconsin

ALL CAPS-eligible for award in 2007-2008

As Selected by the Big Ten Media
Big Ten Coach of the Year-Thad Matta, Ohio State (2 years in a row)
Player of the Year-Alando Tucker, Wisconsin
Freshman of the Year, Greg Oden, Ohio State

FIRST TEAM
-Adam Haluska, Iowa
-DREW NEITZEL, Michigan State
-MIKE CONLEY JR, Ohio State
-GREG ODEN, Ohio State
-Alando Tucker, Wisconsin

SECOND TEAM
-D.J. WHITE, Indiana
-GEARY CLAXTON, Penn State
-Carl Landry, Purdue
-David Teague, Purdue
-Kammron Taylor, Wisconsin

THIRD TEAM
-Warren Carter, Illinois
-SHAUN PRUITT, Illinois
-Roderick Wilmont, Indiana
-TYLER SMITH, Iowa
-Dion Harris, Michigan

HONORABLE MENTION
-Earl Calloway, Indiana
-DAN COLEMAN, Minnesota
-LAWRENCE MCKENZIE, Minnesota
-Tim Doyle, Northwestern
-JAMAR BUTLER, Ohio State
-DAEQUAN COOK, Ohio State
-Ron Lewis, Ohio State
-JAMELLE CORNLEY, Penn State
-MICHAEL FLOWERS, Wisconsin

ALL CAPS-eligbile for award in 2007-2008

Ohio State at Michigan

Tomorrow, Saturday March 3, 4:05 PM
#1 Ohio State (26-3 14-1) at Michigan (20-10 8-7)
Nationally on CBS

OSU likely starters, stat leaders
Mike Conley Jr., guard, 6.4 assists/game
Ivan Harris, forward
Ron Lewis, guard
Jamar Butler, guard, 30.7 minutes/game
Greg Oden, center, 15.3 points/game, 9.5 rebounds/game

Michigan likely starters, stat leaders
Dion Harris, 6'3" senior guard, 13.4 points/game, 3.8 assists/game, 32.2 minutes/game
Brent Petway, 6'8" senior forward
Jerret Smith, 6'3" sophomore guard
Lester Abram, 6'6" senior guard
Ekpe Udoh, 6'10" freshman forward or Courtney Sims, 6'10" senior center, 6.2 rebounds/game

The Wolverines have turned around their season, winning four of their last six games, including a solid win over NCAA-bound Michigan State this week in Ann Arbor. Last week this team beat #19 Indiana in Ann Arbor. The team is closing in on a NCAA tournament at-large bid, which is huge considering they have not been to the tournament since 1998. Earlier in the season Coach Amaker's job was in question, but a tournament bid would save his job.

Ohio State has secured the Big Ten season title outright, but the Buckeyes need to win this game and a few in the Big Ten Tournament next week, if they want a favorable region (St. Louis) in the NCAA tournament. Ohio State is ranked #1 in both polls, following last week's win over Wisconsin. The Buckeyes had not been ranked #1 in the AP poll since 1962.

In early February Michigan lost in Columbus, 76-63. Fans were delayed in arriving to the game, due to a snow storm that hit at rush hour. Greg Oden had foul trouble, sitting out almost 9 minutes in the second half, but luckily his high school teammate, Mike Conley Jr., had a career game hitting 9 of 12 for 23 points. The Buckeyes blocked 14 shots, with Oden counting for six of those.