When Orlando “Tubby” Smith is not working behind the counter filling burritos at an on-campus Chipotle restaurant (by the way, I’ll have a steak fajita burrito), he can be found coaching the Minnesota basketball team.

Smith, who previously coached at Kentucky, was hired last March to replace interim head coach Jim Molinari after he took over eight games into the 2006-07 season when Dan Monson resigned.

Smith coached at Kentucky for 10 seasons, winning 263 games with one national championship in 1997, five SEC regular season championships, five SEC Tournament titles, and six Sweet Sixteen finishes.

But that was at Kentucky, arguably one of the premier programs in the country, and it’s not a bad resume for a man Wildcat fans dubbed, “Ten-loss Tubby,” after back-to-back double-digit seasons with losses before he resigned to become the head coach of the Golden Gophers.

Now he’s in charge of a Minnesota program that went 9-22 under Monson and Molinari, and while the Gopher faithful have high hopes for Smith, the success he enjoyed at Kentucky is unlikely to be duplicated.

The Gophers enter Saturday’s nights game against the Buckeyes at Value City Arena with an overall record of 12-5, though I think those numbers tend to be a mirage of sorts.

Ohio State currently ranks 24th in the latest RPI Index, while Minnesota is a distant 73rd, which was updated through yesterday’s games.

According to Ken Pomeroy, the Buckeyes are 3-6 against teams in the RPI Top 100, while Minnesota is 1-5. In fact, Minnesota’s lone win against a team in the top 100 of the RPI Index came against Iowa State, who currently sits at No. 100. Also, Ohio State’s strength of schedule is ranked ninth out of the 341 Division I schools, and Minnesota SOS comes in at No. 139.

In fact, Minnesota has padded its win total by playing cupcakes like Army, Central Michigan, UC-Riverside, North Dakota State, Colorado State, South Dakota State, Santa Clara, Nicholls State and Kennesaw State. Not exactly a North Carolina in that bunch.

The only ranked opponents Minnesota has taken on have all come from within the Big Ten Conference, losing twice to Michigan State, and once to Indiana. The Golden Gophers have also lost to Florida State and UNLV out of conference.

Minnesota lost a school-record 22 games last season, so having 12 wins in January is a positive. And even though Smith is walking on water right now in Minnesota, that’s pretty easy to do when that water is frozen throughout the basketball season in the Twin Cities.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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The editorial staff at The Columbus Dispatch thought it was necessary to run a several paragraphs on their page, you know the one in Section A, entitled “Decide on the field.”

Now this staff consists of Shannon Gilchrist, Phil Rudel, Rick Woodruff, Mary Ann Edwards, Mary Morgan Edwards, Mary Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen, and they feel that “playoff system is only fair way to determine college football champ.”

Well la-de-freakin’-dah! This has been known for quite some time now, even though the president of The Ohio State University, E. Gordon Gee, doesn’t think so.

But why is the editorial page of a major newspaper using up ink on college football? Shouldn’t this space be reserved for more important issues like the economy, gas prices, the war in Iraq, and President Bush?

In reality, the current system of choosing who should play in the BCS National Championship game is not much better than how the National Basketball Association figures who should get the overall No. 1 pick in their draft, by using ping-pong balls.

Every level of college football, except for Division I-A (FBS), uses a playoff system.

Mount Union College, in Alliance, Ohio, was one of the 32 teams that qualified for the Division III playoffs after finishing the regular season with an unblemished record of 10-0, winning the Ohio Athletic Conference.

The Purple Raiders played four playoff games before reaching the Division III national championship game known as the Stagg Bowl, losing to Wisconsin-Whitewater in the title game.

So here are the Purple Raiders playing for a national championship, just like the Buckeyes, and they played 15 games while Ohio State played only 13.

Division II selects what they feel are the best 24 teams in their classification, and Valdosta State won the D-II crown after going 9-1 in the regular season, finishing with an overall mark of 13-1.

Everybody’s favorite Division I-AA (FCS) school, the Appalachian State Mountaineers, had overall mark 13-2 en route to winning their third national title in three years after defeating Delaware, 49-21, in a 16-team playoff.

There has been a lot of talk that the biggest obstacle in having a playoff for major college football is that you have to extend the season. But if the lower divisions can play that many games, why can’t the likes of LSU and Ohio State play that many?

It all comes down to the university presidents who favor the bowl system and their payout, plus playing as many as eight home games per season.

While it doesn’t make sense, it comes down to dollars. Maybe though, the end is near.

Tags: Football by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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After losing three-straight games on the road, Ohio State regrouped to defeat Illinois, 64-58, in front of a sellout crowd at Value City Arena, Tuesday night.

And even though sophomore guard David Lighty tallied a team-high 16 points, the biggest play he made against the Fighting Illini wasn’t on a scoring play, but a key rebound. And it just may have been that one rebound that kept the Buckeyes from losing four-straight games.

With Ohio State leading by three points with just 29 seconds left in the game, 7-foot freshman center Kosta Koufos trotted to the charity stripe after being fouled in the backcourt.

Already in the double bonus, Koufos, a nearly 69 percent free throw shooter, missed both, but Lighty saved the day and the game by corralling the rebound while fending off Illinois’ Calvin Brock.

It’s almost unthinkable that it came down to a one-possession game so late in the contest after the Buckeyes had been in control throughout.

Ohio State took a 10-point lead with 6:31 to go in the first half after a fine pass from Lighty to 6-foot-8 senior forward Othello Hunter for an alleyoop dunk that put the Buckeyes up 20-10.

Illinois trimmed the deficit down to 25-21 after a three-pointer by Rodney Alexander with 2:45 left, but Ohio State closed out the first half by going on an 8-2 run to regain the 10-point cushion at 33-23 heading into the intermission break.

The Buckeyes biggest lead of the game occurred on three different occasions in the second half. The first time was after a triple by 6-foot-8 senior forward Matt Terwilliger with 10:59 to go that made the score 50-35. The last time came when 6-foot-6 freshman guard Evan Turner drained a baseline jumper putting OSU ahead 55-40 with 6:26 left.

But Illinois was not going down without a fight, and after a pair of treys by Chester Frazier and Bill Cole, the Illini trailed 55-46 before Turner made a huge freshman mistake for the Buckeyes.

With the shot clock winding down, Alexander launched a deep three right in front of the Illinois bench along the baseline and was fouled by Turner. His three made free throws trimmed the Buckeyes advantage down to 55-49 with 3:14 remaining.

Ohio State still lead by six after a dunk by Koufos put OSU on top 61-55 with 1:32 to go.

Both teams missed field goals on their next possessions before Alexander’s spin move to the bucket and foul by Jamar Butler put him on the free throw line. He made one of his two attempts and the Illini trailed 61-56 with 40 ticks remaining.

Then Butler, a 6-foot-1 senior, made a mistake of his own on the inbounds pass following the made free throw, when he took that pass in the corner where he was easily trapped by Illinois. Not only was Butler trapped, but Frazier came away with a steal, and though he missed his layup, Illinois’ Brian Randle was there for offensive rebound and putback that made it a one-possession game at 61-58 with 30 seconds to go.

Koufos was quickly fouled when he received the inbounds pass which lead to Lighty’s big save.

“I saw the ball coming off the rim, so I just got physical and went after it,” Lighty said after the game. “I knew if they got that board they had a chance to tie the game, so I just tried to make a play.”

That key rebound and his two free throws sealed up the win for the Buckeyes.

One major sidenote: Illinois played without their top scorer and rebounder, 6-foot-10 senior center Shaun Pruitt. Starting in his place was 7-foot-1, 215-pound freshman Mike Tisdale.

Tisdale played 20 minutes, and was a non-factor as his slight build was no match for Koufos’ 265-pound frame. The biggest player for Illinois the other 20 minutes when Tisdale was not on the floor was the 6-foot-8, 220-pound senior Randle.

I am just trying to figure out why Ohio State head coach Thad Matta didn’t take advantage of the size mismatch. Koufos took nine shots, but four of those came from three-point range. He finished with 12 points on 4-for-9 shooting, but six of his points came from downtown or on the free throw line. Koufos was 3-for-5 shooting from two-point land.

Two very surprising stats even with Ohio State’s height advantage. The Illini outrebounded the Buckeyes 33-29, and had 17 offensive rebounds. That’s giving up a lot of seconds chances, and it appears that the Buckeyes are having a hard time getting a body on a guy and blocking out in Matta’s 2-3 zone defense. Illinois also outscored Ohio State 22-18 in “points in the paint.”

“Rebounding is a mental issue and I know we can overcome that, Matta said in his postgame press conference. “We have to be consistent with our rebounds on every possession. We were just not sharp tonight.”

Ohio State also committed 15 turnovers to Illinois’ 10.

The Buckeyes shot a blistering 54.8 percent (23-for-42) from the field, but has 18 less attempts mostly due to Ohio State’s inability to keep the Illinois off the offensive glass. The Illini were 21-for-60 (36.0%) from the floor, and were 9-for-25 from beyond the arc.

The Buckeyes, meanwhile, went 8-for-18 from three-point range, with Diebler making his only attempt from downtown. During Ohio State’s three-game road trip last week, Diebler was 1 of 18 shooting from the floor, and he entered the Illinois game making just two for his last 23 attempts.

Turner added 14 points and Butler pulled down a team-high seven rebounds.

Alexander scored a career-high 20 points for the Illini, who have lost seven of eight. Randle added 13 and Trent Meacham had 12.

Up next, Ohio State hosts the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Saturday night. Tip-off at Value City Arena is scheduled for 8:00 p.m. ET, and it will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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In NCAA Men’s Basketball, the three-point line is exactly 19 feet, nine inches to the center of the rim. Yesterday at Thompson-Boling Arena on the campus of the University of Tennessee, that line must seem like it’s 100 feet away for Ohio State as the Buckeyes lost for the third-straight time in as many tries with the sixth-ranked Volunteers prevailing 74-69, Saturday afternoon.

Thad Matta’s troops went just 2-for-20 from beyond that arc, which includes misfiring on their last three attempts from downtown in the final 29 seconds of the game that would of tied the score. Ultimately, going 0 of 3 means that Ohio State has come way with zero wins the last three contests, all of which were on the road in the last eight days, two against ranked teams.

In the next three weeks, Ohio State has five very winnable games, including three at Value City Arena before a showdown against border rival, the Indiana Cheaters Hoosiers, at home on Feb. 10.

Evan Turner had his best game wearing a scarlet & gray uniform, scoring 21 points and pulling down 10 rebounds for the double-double. Othello Hunter added 17 points and a team-high 14 boards, though it wasn’t enough as the Buckeyes went toe-to-toe with one of the (supposedly) better teams in college hoops in their own gym.

In fact, after trailing by as many as 10 points in the first half, Ohio State surged to a seven-point advantage with 15:54 left in the game after a reverse layup by Othello Hunter that capped a 16-6 run by OSU.

Unfortunately, the Buckeyes got sloppy with the ball after that point and found getting that orange sphere into the orange cylinder even harder.

In the next three minutes and 50 seconds, Tennessee went on a 12-3 run of their own to reclaim the lead after a Tyler Smith layup put the Vols’ up 51-49 with 12:04 remaining.

During that span, Ohio State went 1-for-6 from the floor and committed a pair of turnovers.

The Vols’ methodically added to their lead, upping their margin to 68-55 with 5:06 to go when Ramar Smith scored on a driving layup.

But the Bucks’ chipped away at that 13-point lead and made it a one-possession game after an offensive putback by Hunter with 1:47 left that made the score 72-69.

Using up as much of the 35-second shot clock as possible, Tennessee’s JaJuan Smith missed a three-pointer with 1:19 remaining, but the Buckeyes couldn’t get the rebound, which went to UT’s Wayne Chism.

With 55 ticks on the clock, OSU’s David Lighty fouled Tyler Smith and he missed the front end of a one-and-one with Hunter corralling the defensive rebound.

As the shot clock was winding down, Kosta Koufos launched a 24-foot three which was off the mark with 29 seconds remaining. Then Tennessee gave Ohio State a gift when Tyler Smith sent an inbounds pass from one end of the floor to the other without anyone touching the ball, giving the Buckeyes possession under their own basket with 22 seconds left.

Ohio State had two more chances to tie the game but Jon Diebler couldn’t connect from long range, his first attempt with 19 seconds to go, and after Jamar Butler shagged that miss, Diebler failed on another attempt with 12 ticks left.

Tyler Smith rebounded Diebler’s second miss and was fouled by Turner. His two free throws sealed up the win for Tennessee.

JaJuan Smith scored 15 points, Chris Lofton added 13, Ramar Smith had 12, and Tyler Smith chipped in another dozen for the Vols, who are off to only their second 16-1 start ever.

Ohio State shot only 30.8 percent (8-for-26) in the first half and missed all seven three-point attempts. The Buckeyes hit 48.6 percent (17-for-35) in the second half, but went only 2-for-13 from behind the arc.

Though the Buckeyes did commit 15 turnovers to the Vols’ 10, Ohio State outrebounded Tennessee 41-39.

Up next, Ohio State hosts Illinois, Tuesday night. Tip-off at Value City Arena is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. ET, and it will be televised on the Big Ten Network.

Tags: Men's Basketball by Matt Barker, Publisher & Editor of BuckeyeBanter.com
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