(Reuters photo: Wisconsin's Jordan Taylor [Left] and Jon Leuer [Right] celebrate their win over No. 1 Ohio State).No. 1 ranked Ohio State was undefeated when they entered the Kohl Center in Madison, WI, for their Saturday afternoon game against No. 13 Wisconsin. But the Buckeyes exited the Kohl Center with their hopes of an undefeated season dashed after they were upset by Wisconsin 71-67. Wisconsin junior point guard Jordan Taylor scored 21 of his 27 points and dished out 4 assists in the final 13 minutes of the game, as he and the Badgers overcome a 15 point Ohio State lead en route to victory.
Ohio State will drop from No. 1 when the new AP Top 25 is released on Monday. Current No. 2 Kansas will, undoubtedly, overtake the No. 1 position. But Ohio State will be just fine. No one really expected them to finish the season with an undefeated record. As Drive and Dish opined when the previously undefeated and No. 1 ranked Duke Blue Devils lost their first game of the season in January, nobody goes undefeated in college basketball today. Bob Knight's 1976 Indiana Hoosiers delivered the last undefeated season in men's college basketball. In the ensuing 35 years, nobody else has finished the season with an unblemished record. And it's extremely unlikely that anybody will do so anytime soon, if ever.
The loss will have no bearing on Ohio State's prospects for earning a trip to the 2011 Final Four and a shot at the 2011 National Championship. They still must be considered legitimate contenders for both honors. However, it bears mention that teams which rely heavily on freshmen rarely win Championships--especially teams that start a freshman at point guard. And despite the leadership of talented upperclassmen David Lighty, William Buford and Jon Diebler, coach Thad Matta's Buckeyes are led freshman superstar center Jared Sullinger and start freshman Aaron Craft at point guard.
Drive and Dish considers the 2011 Ohio State Buckeyes to be the most talented, best balanced team in college basketball. But they face an uphill battle in their quest to reach the Final Four, if for no other reason than their heavy reliance on freshmen at the key positions of center and point guard. Jared Sullinger might be the best player in the college game, but he's still a freshman (despite the fact that he doesn't play like one). At some point in the NCAA Tournament, his inexperience--as well as the inexperience of freshman point guard Craft--is likely to catch up with the Buckeyes.
So who do we expect to win the 2011 National Championship? It's still too early to answer that question, or to even identify a short-list of likely teams. It's been one of those rare seasons in college basketball in which no team has distinguished itself as a favorite. Defending National Champion Duke still probably has to be considered the team to beat, despite the fact that the Blue Devils have lost several key players from their 2010 Championship team. But there's lots of room for an upstart to take the college basketball world by storm. Can Ohio State be that team? Possibly, but Buckeye fans shouldn't hold their collective breath waiting for that to happen. No freshman has taken his team to an NCAA men's basketball title since Carmello Anthony directed Syracuse to the 2003 Championship. And Anthony was a noteworthy exception to an otherwise near-ironclad rule: prior to 2003, Louisville's Purvis Ellison had been the last freshman to lead his team to a National Championship (1986). Michael Jordan famously hit the game-winning shot as a freshman for North Carolina in the 1982 National Championship game, but the young Jordan was far from the leader of his team--upperclassmen James Worthy, Sam Perkins and Matt Daugherty led the '82 Tar Heels.
Ohio State is very talented and should be considered extremely dangerous with regard to their potential for making a run deep into the NCAA Tournament. But the odds are still against them cutting down the nets in April.
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U know it son!!!! Last week my Packers brat tha Supa bowl back home and saturday my Badgers sent Bucky back to ohio with a big L on there foerheadz!!!! thatz what im talkin bout playboy!!!! been drankin all weekend. just got home from tha afterparty kid!!!!! been spitten game at all them shawtiez like ur mom spittn my *u know wat* out last nite. o wait.....ur mom swallowed hahaaaa!!! LOL!!!!!!!! o yea....still got muh buzz on kidd!!! only thing im pissed about is eminem got screwed outta teh grammys. my boy shoulda had 10, but he only got 2. damn grammy voters. still cant complain tho cuz badgers won and im madd buzzed kid LOL!!! haha!!! LOLZoLZ!!
Dr. Rockso
I was willing to give you the opportunity to see if you could bring it. Now you left me all alone on Valentine's Day. That's the final straw.
- Cindy
C-C-C-Cindy......Dr. Rockso spent all Rocko's money on c-c-c-cocaaiine. Don't have no c-c-c-money no more to buy no heart shaped boxes of c-c-c-candy. Rockso got a baggie of nose candy though!!! And Dr. Rockso didn't leave nobody alone at the alter on Valentine's day, baby. Rockso only had one love of his life, baby....a 14 year old groupie back in 1981. Dr. Rockso wrote a song about it, baby.
I wish my illini had a coach like Bo Ryan or Thad Matta. If Bruce Weber was coaching Wisky, they never woulda beat tOSU. we need to get rid of weber before he can run this program into the ground even more. just dump weber and hand the rains to Jerrance Howard. weber suxks. why do i even care anymore. i don't know if i do.
ohio st. poopey no longer pass through stool without problem. wisconsin poopey clog ohio st. poopey way through canal
Ohio State not cut down nets. Ohio Stat ehh, how you say ehh, over rate. I have cousin Goran live in Cleveland. Cleveland suck. Ohio no good. Lebran James smart when he go to Miami. Buckeyes not win if they play Valparaiso.
IM soooo blazed rite now brah!!!! been rippin mad bong hitz since we pimpslapped osu saturday!!! got my roll on b4 tha grammys so i could feel da music boomin outta the HDTV. was rollin all nite......the music felt sooo good.... I was even feelin Lady Gaga's performance, and I can't normally stand that biotch's music. kept the new Chris Brown song on repeat for about 10 hours straight, LOL!!!! put on a Benny Benassi mix from Pacha in Ibiza and started comin down around noon today.....just in time to put da entire mobb deep discography on shuffle on my ipod and spark up some madd budz b4 my 1PM Womynz Studies class: Dykes on Bikes: Intro to Late 20th Century Feminist Lesbian Biker Gangs of Marin County, CA.
btw, drunk idiot is spot on about Eminem, brah!!! Em got fukked ova hardcore by teh grammy voters. Shady got bent over & gang-drilled from behind like Kim Kardashian in the "East" team shower after the NBA all star game.
dude, i forgot what i was gonna say. gotta go blaze up.
Later, brah.
Having watched the game I feel that Wisconsin can do some damage in the tournament. Ohio St. will be fine. Just like Kansas teams will drop one here or there. OSU lost a tough road game. Sometimes teams get a needed wake up call and maybe just maybe they'll be less complacent.
Boooooooo Digggetty Deee Deeee!!
I be beein in them jacks tournamint by them Flyin J stop. I be swearin that I be seein them Tokie Wartooth round them parts. As I been mentionin befour that we be having a plenty them peacon pie that Bertha Jenny be makin. I been shinin them shoes and dustin off them ole tux up in them attic. why? I be beein tellin you why. we be dancin round them country. aint no smukie dukies gonna stop us. Chugga Chugga Chugga Chugga, that train be a comin. Chugga Chugga, that train be a comin. Butler. We be cuttin down them nets. Teeeeeee Heeeeeee! We Be Cuttin Down Them Nets. Butler. WE BE CUTTIN DOWN THEM NETS. Now I be dancin round them livin room. We Be CuTtIn DoWn ThEm NeTs!!!!!! playin one shinin moments. wE bE cUtTiN dOwN tHeM nEtS!!!!!! Soon I be on them espns and them Shelley Smith gonna be smoochin!!
yo Butler Bob! Smooch away dude!
http://espn.go.com/blog/nfcnorth
Dr. Rockso rocks! Make a comeback tour dude!
Lionel, Dr. Rockso finally got back on stage with Zazz Blammymatazz, baby. Dr. Rockso been talkin' bout a c-c-c-comeback tour with Zazz B-B-B-Blammymatazz for 'bout c-c-c-fifteen years. B-B-B-But it never worked out c-c-c-cuz c-c-c-somethin' always c-c-c-came up and c-c-c-kept the reunion from goin' down. Rockso finally did a Zazz Blammymatazz reunion show, baby! C-C-C-Maybe a reunion tour will happen, maybe it won't.
I do cocaine.
Boooooooooo Digggetty Dee Deeeeeee!!!
I be thankin you Mr. Lionel Richie Forever for them Shelley Smith site. Now I aint only be beein smoochin with them televisin but instead the computer as well. I be waitin offtin for them Shelley Smith but she aint be showin on them espns every day. Bertha Jenny be watchin them soaps and then be leavin them lipsticks on them televisin. I be hopin that Bertha Jenny be findin one of them men down at the vfw and then we be having them house to ourselves. Soon I aint gonna be in them house. I aint talkin about them jacks tournamint. uh huh. uh huh. Butler. We be cuttin down them nets! Then I be on the court smoochin with the Shelley Smith herself like the scene at the end of them Necessary Roughniss movie. Teeee Heeee! We be cuttin down them nets!!
Dear Butler Bob,
I really like your posts. In fact, they crack me up. You seem like a guy with a great sense of humor. You also seem totally like the gentleman I am looking for educated, funny, focused, cultured, and not using drugs.
I am a SWF Blond, 34, 5'7, Nurse, in great shape. I am financially independent, however my job requires weekend and nights from time to time. My hobbies include sports like basketball, cooking, art, my cat Henrietta, and spending time with friends. I would really love to meet you sometime! Please respond with your e-mail address and I will send you some pics.
Hugs,
Cindy
p.s. The whole Dr. Rockso thing was nothing. We never even met.
Cindy - you be seein like one of them nice young gals in them neighborhood. they be sayin oh bobby can you be showin them technik for throwin them jacks. I be sayin that good ole Ethel be at home cookin me dinner adn she gonne be beein feedin my scraps to them dogs in them out back. Bottom line is that I aint be beein so young as you be a thinkin. In them disco hall I be relivin them fountin of yout. moment I be beein focus on my wife Ethel and her sis Bertha Jenny who be eatin all out them fridge and watchin them soap opras. they be showin them women like women thing. maybe you be wantin them nice lady that be makin some good peacon pie. you be always more than welcome to drive up to Monon in Indiana and go be askin for ole Bobby. Then we be beein havin some peacon pie. next thing next we be dustin off them ole tux and I be showin you who aint be beein no first round wonder in them tournament. That be beein Butler. Teeee Heeee! We Be cutting down them nets!
Whhew!! My Illini finally pulled one out last night. Wasn't pretty, but it will do. at the end of the day, they don't award "W's" for style points, and a win is a win. It is what it is. But i was pullin my hair out the entire 2nd half. Gonna be bald by the Big Ten Tournament if this keeps up. We're the softest team in America. Maybe when Tisdale and Davis's balls drop, they'll finally put a body on somebody. I dunno.....wouldnt count on it. I blame Weber. Every one of his teams is as soft as a bag of fresh dog poo (and I know a lot about that thanks to the size of my bull mastiff's turds and the city of chicagos' effen pooper scooper laws). At least DMac got off the schnide last night. I blame Weber for the slump he was in before last night. Its webers' job to get players motivated. Nobody's gonna be motivated if all weber does is yell at em all game from the sidelines. Fire bruce and give the job to Jerrance Howard or Wayne McClain. At least we beat muckin Fichigan. Go Illini!!!! Long live the Chief!!!!!
Youse guys are pretty good, but it would be better if you's analyzed games before they play em. I wanna know your thoughts about the spread and if you expect teams to cover or no, any inside info, etc. Thanks.
Parlay Larry is gay!
IM sooo baked rite now bro!!!! Been suckin down bong hits all nite like a Kardashian sister suckin down the LA Clippers front line in the lockerroom shower at the Staples Center. Started burnin as soon as I got back from the bars tonite. Hit up the bars after I got back from the protest at the Capitol downtown.
Sooo my day went like this, I blew off all my classes and did a couple hits of acid before I went downtown to riot at the capitol today. I got there B4 the acid kicked in, so I started to protest and riot and smash police cars. Then the acid started taking hold and well....it's like, I got to experience living through the 60's today, even though I wasn't around in the actual 60's, so I mean, it was, you know, cool and everything.
So, like, ya know how they say if you remember the 60's then you weren't really there??? So like, some people say if you went to Madison and you didn't get arrested at a protest, then you weren't really there. So it's like I knocked out 2 birds with one stone or something today...cuz I got arrested at a protest and I was so wasted I don't remember any of it. LOL!!!
Dude, fuck these imperialist capitalist Nazi facists!!!!! Screw all this shit!!! It's so much fun to protest and smash shit!!! Down with the system brah!!!! This protest riot shit is tight!!! It's just like Egypt or something!!! So later on this year, IM definitely goin to protest the G20 summit or whatever they call it!!! LOLZ!!!!
Tomorrow, IM gonna wake & bake, and then do whatever. But in at some point IM gonna get sorted and go back to the capital to smash some capitalist Nazi's faces in or somethng.
Rite now, IM gonna put on some Mushroom Jazz, smoke a bowl and go to bed.
Later, brah.
Listen here hoss, my hemorrhoids are so bad that I can't sit down to read yall's website. So since I had some extra lumber layin around from last weekend, I built a podium to set the computer on so's that I can read yall's website without having to sit down. It's a little awkward to stand for hours on end just to do computer work, but it sure beats tryin to bite the bullet and suffer through settin' there in a chair with what feels like a 3 alarm fire in your keister.
And that's a damn shame, since I was fixin to barbecue up a mean brisket this weekend on my new mesquite wood burnin backyard grill. But now I don't want to eat a damn thing, other than puddin and apple sauce, for obvious reasons, if yall follow where I'm goin.
Well, just wanted to tell yall to keep up the good work, and I'll be comin' back to see what yall have to say in the coming weeks. But I do have one gripe, yall sure don't cover college football like yall used to. I'm an old Aggie, and I sure would appreciate it if yall'd write about A&M football from time to time. I just can't really get into all this college basketball. I know it's a big deal at A&M now, what with football being down and all. But I'm an old central Texas boy, and basketball was just 'bout the last thing that was on our minds when I was in school. It's a little hard for an old timer like me to get too excited over a bunch of beanpoles in shorts bouncin a damn ball on the ground. But the times they change, and that Aggie basketball team is pretty good. I'll always support any team from A&M, whether we're talkin football or hell, some stupid Title IX sport like midget women's underwater water polo. It really duddn't matter to me awl that much, just so long as the Aggies are playin' I'll bee pullin for em.
One more thing, nobody 'round here much gives so much as a damn hoot 'bout anything that happens in the Big 10. And that seems to be just about the only conference yall talk about anymore.
So keep it up, but try to write something about A&M football.
Go Aggies!
whose that girl, tell me, whose that girl running around with you, tell me, whose that girl?
My Illini totally screwed the pooch last nihgt at Sparty. MSU sucks the big one this year, so last nite was the best chance we had to steal one at Sparty since DWill, Dee and LuLu did it in '05. But at the end of the day we shat the bed. Kalin Lucas completly pwn3d us. That doesnt' happen if we have a coach who can actually, you know, coach. Jay Bilas and Hubert Davis totally called it last nite, they said we have way to much talent to not make the tournament. Thats' nothing short of an inditement against Weber since were obviously headed for the NIT (if were lucky). Weber totally ruined this team and this program. He's gotta go. Now. DMac was 1st team All Big Ten and a sure thing NBA lottery pick last year, but Weber ruined him this year. Ditto for DJ. Last year's Big Ten freshman of the year can't even score in a game these days. JRich was a 5 star prospect on Rivals and Scout, a McDAA and Illinois Mr. Basketball. But Weber started Billy Cole over him earlier in the season, and now the kid is totally ruined. And don''t tell me that it's OK because he's just a freshman. After all, other freshmen at better programs are dominate in this league, like Sullinger at tOSU for example. So the freshmen argument falls flat on its face. JRich can't shoot from the perimeter. Who's fault is that, his or his coaches? Don't blame the kid. As long as weber gets paid $1.5 mil a year to coach this team, it's responsibility to make sure his players can shoot.
If we had an actual AD, Weber woulda been gone years ago. But Coach Guenther is just as bad as Weber. So i say to my fellow members of Illini Nation, let's take a page from Egypt and Bahrain. Let's use facebook to demand that Guenther absolutely has to dump Weber before we get our asses handed to us at Bucky on tues. If Jerrance gets promoted to HC, we have a chance to steal a win in Columbus. But were shite out of luck if #dreamkiller Weber is still HC on tues. if Weber hangs on to his job, I don't see us winning another game all year.
Look, IM a realist. This program is at a tipping point. If we don't make a change, we become Iowa or IU. It's redicuoulsly painful for me to say that, but it is what it is. Weber is easily the worst coach in the Big Ten. He trashed this program so much that were almost at the point of no return. One more year of this crap and we might as well leave the Big Ten and join a mid major conference like the Horizon League or the SWAC (oh wait, we'd get our asses kicked in the Horizon League by Butler and UIC too). Jerrance is our only hope!!!!!!!!!!
Kick Weber out on his ass and bring back Chief Illiniwek!!!!!
Long live THE CHIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Boy, I'll tell yall what....these kids today are nothing but a bunch of red commie pinko hooligans. Back when I was in Korea, we were fightin' the commies to keep the free world free. But I guess these little anti-establishment socialist punks up there in the blue states today want to be reds after all! Well, yall can run around riotin' and settin' off bombs and singin' John Lennon songs and carryin' Mao's Little Red Book under yalls arms up north awl day long if yall wawnt to, but yall's dead men walkin if yall set foot in Texas. Texas will stay free! Yall hear me punks!?! I'd sure love ta see yall long haired hippies try to come through these parts in yall's tie-died tee shirts and Volkswagen vans and try to start the kind of horse shit yall started up there in Wisconsin riiight here in the heart of the Lone Star State. Well I'll promise yall one thang: If yall ever brought that Chicago communist community organizer B.S. down here, this old Aggie and his buddies from the Tea Party Patriots would put our Tony Lamas so far up yall's kiesters, yall'd be flossin' yall's teeth with...uh...well...uh...aw hell, the line duddn't work too well with boots on account of boots not havin' shoe laces. But let me promise yall this, yall'd have a mouthfull of Tony Lamas!
And with conceal carry, we'd fill yall nancy boys up with so many holes, yall'd be able to pop ping pong balls outta every inch of yall's bodies like the little phillys I saw in the Bangkok sex shows when I was furloughed in Thailand.
Boy, they sure don't make kids like they used to. If things keep up like this, these little doped-up Alinskyite socialist pukes up north might damn near start up another gaddamn civil war. This joker from Madison, Wisconsin probably voted for ObaMao too.
Damn kids today!
Round Rock Ralf.....Fuck you old man!!!!! I got a little somethin' somethin' for your right wing Naziteabagger ass....deez nutz in UR mouth, biotch!!!
Been back at the capital every day protesting mouth breathing reactionary teabagger RethugliKKKlansmeNazi's like you and Der Fuhrer Scott Walker. IM gunna keep on keepin' on until we crush the mouthbreathing inbred Nazi capitalist rethuglican motherfuckers like the peaceful Egyptian students crushed Mubarak. This shit is a revolution, motherfucker!!! UR side is dead in the water.
Gotta go now. Time to get blazed again!!! LOLZZ!!!!!
My Illini totally screwed the pooch tonight agian. It's not the player's fault tho, its Webers' fault. If you cant get ur guys motivated to play tOSU, you have no business coaching in the Big 10. Benching DMac & DJ was bush league. I've been calling for Crandall Head to get more tick all year, but you don't let a kid rot on the bench until the last week in February, then start him out of nowhere on the road against the #3 team in the country!!! Besides, Whose fault is it that McCamey and Richardson can't play dead? How can McCamey be 1st team All Big 10 one year and suck the next year? How can DJ Richardson go from Big 10 Freshman of the year last year to pitching a loaf in his pants every time he goes out there this year??? Answer....look in the freakin mirror, Mid Major Bruce. Weber needs to back to Carbondale in the worst way! Hay magic marker face, i'll buy you a 1 way bus ticket on greayhound. Start packing now!!!
Fire Weber, promote Snacks Howard to HC, and start BP3 at PG, DJ at SG, Crandall Head at SF, JRich at PF and Mike Davis at center. Bring M Leonard and Tyler Griffey off the bench as 6th and 7th man. Put Billy Cole, Mike Tisdale and McCameys' asses on the bench and lettem rot!!
At the end of the day, this season is over. No way we get into the NCAA's. Were lucky if we even crack the NIT field, IMO. It is what it is. So start playing for the future. This team has a chance to be a Final 4 team in 2013. Get next years key guys as much floor time as they need so they don't piss the bed next yr.
Bring back the Chief!!!!!!
This comments section has gotten out of hand. When Madtown420 made his first appearance here, the Madison protests had not yet taken place. At the time, the most recent big event that had gone down in "Mad Town" had been Wisconsin's upset win over No. 1 Ohio State. So when Drunk Idiot and Madtown420 jumped on here to gloat over their team's win, we thought nothing of it. Drunk Idiot has proven over time to be, well, a drunk idiot, and Madtown420 seemed to us to be nothing more than a typical pothead UW Madison student.
But since the start of the Madison protests, Madtown420 has become increasingly political, often aggressively so.
Similarly, we thought nothing of it when Round Rock Ralph first appeared in this comments section to complain about our paucity of college football commentary, our shortage of posts about Texas A&M, and about his burning hemorrhoids. But Ralph has apparently picked a political fight with Madtown420 and all the young "hippy" punks out there today.
This comments section has become overly politicized. Drive and Dish stays away from politics and big issues, despite the short-lived turn we took in those general directions in the summer and fall months of 2008. Because those off-subject, non-sports posts became popular and generated a fair amount of traffic to Drive and Dish, we spun off a second, non-sports blog called Drive and Dish "Off Topic." But since we created "Off Topic," it's been strictly sports over here.
We're happy to have all of you as readers, but if you guys want to talk politics, you can do so at "Off Topic." Just don't do it here.
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whose that girl, tell me, whose that girl running around with you, tell me, whose that girl?
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