I’ve spent several hours thinking about what I wanted to write today, and it’s been difficult. The BBC tends to analyze more than anything else…more discussion about stats and the meaning behind wins or losses…and that’s probably what will happen here today too. If you want a recap of what happened yesterday in the Ohio State-Xavier game, you can find it in multiple places all over the internet. Our good friends PoJo and Pfef have the two best write-ups I’ve seen so far, aside from MBlog’s Brian, who whined and cried his way through another OSU win….damn, it must suck to be him. What an ass.
So here are the “deep thoughts” of what happened yesterday.
When a team is on a long win streak heading into the tournament, it can sometimes work against them. They’ve built up a lot of those wins against weaker opponents, and very rarely does a team play back-to-back-to-back games against tough teams (until they get to the tourney). Winning every single game does not always prepare you mentally for the big dance. Sometimes losing a game late wakes you up.
I actually thought it might have been good for the Buckeyes to lose to Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship game. It might have cost them a #1 seed, but I felt that maybe the wake-up call would be more important than the victory. As we all know, they didn’t lose as the season came to a close.
But guess what? Yesterday was their wake-up call. They didn’t have to lose, but it sure felt like they had lost. With Oden and Matta openly riding their fellow Buckeyes, it looked like things were starting to fall apart. Then came “The Shot”, and everything changed about the game. We still won and moved on in the tournament, but what Xavier did to us will linger in the memories of our beloved Bucks.
And in my opinion, only good things can come from having a wake-up call like that.
One other thing about “The Shot”…..I know you’ll like this analogy!
Ohio State was down to their final chance. They hadn’t played the game as well as everybody had expected them to, but they still had a chance to get the win. Against a team they were expected to defeat handily, plays all day had just not been there for them, and they’ll have to come from behind in the closing moments of the game. Playing away from the comforts of home, the Buckeyes knew they were down to their last prayer, and they put the ball in the hands of Ron Lewis……
Now read that again, with a slight change….
Ohio State was down to their final chance. They hadn’t played the game as well as everybody had expected them to, but they still had a chance to get the win. Against a team they were expected to defeat handily, plays all day had just not been there for them, and they’ll have to come from behind in the closing moments of the game. Playing away from the comforts of home, the Buckeyes knew they were down to their last prayer, and they put the ball in the hands of Craig Krenzel……
Kinda makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it?
Next game is Thursday night. Sweet Sixteen, we have arrived!
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