A very good friend of mine who has been a sports writer for many many years told me that the mark of a good writer is to know when to retract or change. When you have a great idea to stick with it.
You will never please everybody, but when the fans are right, they’re right.
To that end and after talking to other fans of mine last night, (I know I cannot believe I have fans either) I have made a couple significant changes. I will also stick by my belief that this will be a fun tourney for all involved and there will be some surprises as well.
The first order of business is to apologize to last years team for leaving them off of the list. This goes under the “what the heck was I thinking?” category and will be remedied by replacing this years team with last years #1 overall seeded Buckeyes. That team had the worst draw for an overall #1 seed in recent memory. If they get by Kentucky, I am sure they would have won it all.
To explain our thoughts behind it — it wasn’t that we didn’t think 2011’s squad wasn’t one of the best in this school’s history. We basically started our tournament based on the best play-makers in OSU history. Despite an unbelievable freshman campaign, we thought this season was the start of Sully’s reign as the go to player on the squad. After refining our tournament as more of a team focused write up, we overshadowed last year’s team.
After inserting 2011 into the lineup and much thought — it became obvious that the seeding need to be readjusted.
I will stand by my belief that Dennis Hopson’s 1982 team deserves to be here, so they stay. Ive been saying for many many years that he is one of the best to ever play at THE Ohio State and believe had he been just a junior in 87 that team would have been great in 88. In the first change in the seeding, Dennis’ team will have to face Clark Kellogg’s 1982 team in the play in game to face the #1 seeded 1960 National Champions as the 8th seed. The first round match ups will look like this.
Game One(Play in for #8 seed) – 1982 Kellogg and Campbell v. 1987 Hopson and Burson
Game Two – #4 1968 Hosket and Howell v. #5 2011 Diebler/Lighty/Buford/Sullinger
Game Three – #2 2007 Conley and Oden v. #7 2010 Turner/Diebler/Lighty/Buford
Game Four – #3 1992 Jackson and Funderburke v. #6 1999 Penn and Redd
Game Five – #1 1960 Havlicek and Lucas v. WINNER of Game One
There you have it! Joe and I will have the first match up ready to go and on the site this Sunday afternoon. Each following match ups will appear on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons until we crown a Champion! We look forward to continued involvement from the fans and I thank you for participating!!!
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
