The Hlog

The Buckeyes have it

They won the Big Ten football title last fall, and now they've won the league's men's and women's basketball championships. They are The Ohio State University Buckeyes, and they are dominant.

If you've ever been to the Ohio State campus, you'd say they should be. Mammoth football stadium, state-of-the-art basketball arena, huge population in Ohio, and Columbus isn't exactly a West Lafayette or Champaign or Iowa City. The Rolling Stones play Columbus. The National Hockey League has a franchise in Columbus, and had a crowd of 16,220 for its game Sunday against Nashville. (Nashville-Columbus. Nothing says hockey tradition more, does it?)

Some think the Buckeyes can win the national-title. Not me. I think defending champ Florida is better. And UCLA. And North Carolina. And Kansas. And Texas A&M. And Big Ten runner-up Wisconsin. That's if big man Brian Butch's elbow isn't hurt badly enough to keep him from playing some more this season.

Last week in the Gazette, Hlastradamus correctly predicted Wisconsin's losses at Michigan State and Ohio State. Neither was the most daring pick possible. But now he has the whole Big Ten finish doped out. Knowing the top two teams and the bottom three, what's left to worry about is the middle six. They are:

3rd place: Indiana 10-6

4th place: Iowa 10-6

5th place: Purdue 9-7

6th place: Illinois 9-7

7th place: Michigan State 8-8

8th place: Michigan 8-8

Ties go to the Big Ten's criteria. Since Indiana and Iowa split, Indiana gets the duke because it beat Wisconsin and Iowa didn't. Likewise Michigan State over Michigan.

Oh, these predictions are made on the premise that Michigan beats Michigan State in Ann Arbor Tuesday, Iowa wins at Penn State Wednesday and defeats Illinois in Iowa City Saturday, and everyone else winnng the games they're supposed to win.

Should this scenario all become reality (and it will, because Hlastradamus hasn't been wrong since he said the Chicago Cubs' 1908 world championship was just the first of many to come in the next century), it means Iowa would play Purdue in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten tourney, with the winner undoubtedly facing Ohio State in the semifinals.

That's all the prophet has for today. He's still a little hung over from attending those Oscar parties in Hollywood. That Helen Mirren can really put away the Red Bull-and-vodkas.

 

 

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