Will Ohio State play UC now?
This came tumbling out of my mouth this morning during an interview on Alan Cutler's radio show, so I thought I'd put it out here for your consideration. I was asked about the possibility of UC playing Kentucky in the NIT this year, which would be great. Alan then asked why UC doesn't play UK on a regular basis. But what I'd rather see is another UC-Ohio State game. Last year, Ohio State pounded the undermanned Bearcats in Indianapolis. Bob Goin, who was the UC AD when that game was set up, understood that's probably what would happen, but he hoped that one game might be the start of a series of games between the two schools. Unfortunately, Thad Matta quickly shot down that idea when he was asked about it in Indy. It seemed to me then and still does now that OSU was more than willing to play UC when its program was in a shambles. Now it seems only fair for Matta to agree to play UC next year or the year after that when Mick Cronin has had a chance to rebuild it. I don' t expect them to play every year, but it doesn't seem too much to ask for them to play every few years, or at least more than once every 45 years.
17 Comments:
The Suckeyes would probably agree to a game at home provided they didn't have to return the game.
OSU doesnt want every 25 yrs. they want every 50. Matta is too smart to give us a chance to get even.
OSU has much to lose if they make UC a yearly opponent, at least for basketball. OSU is considered the "state school" and it's one of the main reasons high school athletes want to go there. UC would win its fair share of basketball games in a yearly series and, in so doing, they would become another school for the in-state athletes to consider.
i guarantee OSU won't play the Bearcats....they don't have the balls to do it.
It really does sicken me to see Thad Matta and his cowardly ways when he refuses to play UC again. Because UC will soon be the best team in Ohio again, OSU cant afford to play UC because UC would destroy them. End of story.
O$U is the sorriest excuse for a state school. They are simply afraid of UC. They play them in BB the one year out of 50 at a time when a junior high school team would have had a shot. They expose themselves for the COWARDS that they are! Why even mention the SUCKEYES? P-L-E-A-S-E, let's just forget that the yellow bellies exist!
Bill --
A few years back Ohio's governor said in the press he wanted the two teams to play regularly...and I seem to recall hearing that in Kentucky the state legislature actually did mandate that louisville and KY play annually. It's ridiculous that it would have to come to that, but obviously, it has...and since these are both state universities, doesn't the state govt. have the authority to do it? Do you foresee anything like that ever happening in Ohio? (It would help the elected officials, that's for sure.)
ChicagoRed,
That's the ONLY way the Suckeyes would agree to play UC! Unless, of course, the FB or BB teams are struck another death blow.
To understand why O$U will never willingly play UC in basketball, you have to think like a suckeye. It goes something like this:
"We got our ass kicked twice in the National Championship game by the Bearcats which just can't compute, because afterall, we are the STATE school. As former AD Geiger said, we will not play UC in the Huggins era because we're not good enough. However when we (O$U) saw that UC was getting the defacto death penalty with the Huggins ouster, we dumped off the team we were supposed to play in the Wooden Classic and quickly contacted UC because we had the #1 recruiting class coming in and they had the JUCOs no one else wanted as a team. We promised to consider playing in the future to get the Bearcats to sign the deal, blew them off the court with our superior talent, proclaimed never ending dominance and atonement for the National championship game loses, which in our minds slipped neatly down the memory hole, and backed out of any future commitments, lest we not have a decided advantage in talent. The end."
Isn't that their fight song, 5:40?
As a UC fan/alum, I could care less about UC playing OSU in hoops anymore. I'm over it.
It may have been a bigger issue with me if we were still stuck in mid-major land in C-USA.
But, now that we're in the Big East, there are so many great teams in that conference. Even the low end of the totem pole is intense.
UC doesn't need OSU - and vice versa.
Football is another story. I would like to see that happen more often. Why? UC needs it. In hoops, was a perennial Top 25 without them. In football, if UC can be the same, but if they can take it to them, it could be a huge step in getting that one blue chip, Ohio based recruit, to choose UC over OSU. And if one kid does it, more would follow. Just my opinion.
OSU wants no part of UC period.
Regarding football we do not need OSU and if UC did then OSU needs to play at Nippert, not PBS.
Screw OSU.
If UC continues to develop on their current paths, neither the FB nor BB programs need to play OSU.
If osu want to play us fine. If not there are only so many open slots with the large BE roster of teams.
I think OSU needs to play X. OSU is beneath UC but X could get a huge boost every year by beating the snot out of OSU. Dayton and Miami could also get big boosts by kicking some OSU behinds.
Face it, OSU will not have many years like the one they had last year with the recruits they had last year. They will not play any team in Ohio that might beat them.
yours truly, a Michigan State Fan.
That game with O$U was a big mistake and one of the few Goin made.
Matta's not only a very good coach, but also a smart guy when it comed to scheduling and recruiting.
Buckeyes have everything to lose and nothing to gain by playing UC or X for that matter.
Ohio has a wealth of very good HS BB players and OSU gets the lion's share. Playing UC or X with losses to them would deplete Buckeyes share of Ohio recruits.
All programs operate in their self interest - when at UC Huggs would have discontinued X game if he had the power to do so.
Don't expect Ky. to play UC or X anytime soon.
Ohio State is a bunch of pansies. They've feared us in basketball since the 60's (except when they know they have a guarenteed win) and now they're starting to fear playing us in football too.
Mr. Sweatervest, spare us your sob story about how tough the B11 is. Your conference sucks. Perhaps if you played some decent non-confernece games you'd stand a fighting chance in the post season.
"Ohio State is a bunch of pansies. They've feared us in basketball since the 60's (except when they know they have a guarenteed win) and now they're starting to fear playing us in football too.
Mr. Sweatervest, spare us your sob story about how tough the B11 is. Your conference sucks. Perhaps if you played some decent non-confernece games you'd stand a fighting chance in the post season."
You're an idiot. Ohio State would work UC in football 9 out of 10 years and you and every rational UC fan knows it. You're clearly missing a few brain cells.
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