THE brought a ninth national title back to Columbus, surviving a gauntlet that no other team had run in pursuit of a championship. In defeating Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame, this year’s squad will most likely be remembered by Buckeye fans as the most deserving of all the fabled title teams in Scarlet and Gray history. Hopefully, Coach Ryan Day has done enough to satisfy even the most negative fans and end the harassment and threats that were directed toward him and his family following the Michigan game by a small minority of so-called Buckeye followers.
Here’s today’s trivia question—THE joins four other teams to win a national crown without winning its conference championship (not counting Notre Dame, which of course is an independent). Can you name the other Big Ten school to also finish number one without claiming the league trophy?
I had the opportunity to catch a few games of the Lady Tiger Classic at Versailles last Monday as several of the better roundball teams in the area gathered. Former Greenville boys head coach Mike Bashore and assistant Bruce Hetzler now head the Russia girls program and led the Lady Raiders to an impressive 53-43 win over 12-3 Waynesville. A young Russia team has greatly improved over the past year under the guidance of Bashore and now stand 10-7 and 7-3 in Shelby County League play.
In some other games played that day, Marion Local’s Lady Flyers were more physical than a good Mississinawa Valley team, winning 56-44; the host Versailles Lady Tigers played well in defeating Urbana 64-50; a young Ansonia squad lost to a bigger Brookville Lady Blue Devils team and star 6’0” freshman Jolie Gudorf; and perennial power Fort Loramie beat 14-2 Bellbrook by a 52-42 count as the Lady Redskins seek to once again return to the state Final Four in chase of a fourth title since 2013. Great high school girls basketball in what’s become one of the better events in West Central Ohio!
One of the highlights of the Greenville sports season has been the efforts of the Wave boys bowling team, presently leading the MVL Miami Division standings by two games with a 9-3 record. Four keglers pace the Wave attack, with Luke Kiser averaging 187, Michel Thompson 176, Conner Leas 173, and Johnathan Floyd 170, a solid nucleus that can compete with most opponents. Keglers you might ask? Around 400 A.D. bowling began in Germany as a religious ritual to cleanse oneself from sin by rolling a rock into a club (kegel) representing the heathen, resulting in bowlers being called keglers!
A big win for Tri-Village Friday night in WOAC boys hoops action as the home-standing Patriots took care of Franklin-Monroes’ Jets, using a strong second half to improve to 8-0 in the conference (13-2 overall) while F-M falls to 7-1 (14-3 overall). Look for the league crown to be decided once again on Valentine’s Day as T-V travels to 6-1 Preble Shawnee to take on the Arrows.
A quick look at a few area mens college basketball standings finds Michigan Stat undefeated in Big Ten play at 8-0, trailed by Purdue and Michigan with two losses each (OSU is 3-5); VCU and George Mason pace the Atlantic Ten with 6-1 marks (Dayton is 4-3); Cleveland State heads the Horizon League at 10-1 (Wright State is 5-6); and undefeated Akron leads the MAC at 7-0 ahead of Miami at 6-1 and Ohio and Toledo at 5-2.
In women’s play, UCLA and USC (are we really sure that they are in the Big Ten?) lead the conference with 8-0 marks followed by OSU at 8-1; in the A-10, Richmond is 8-1 (UD is 6-3); Fort Wayne is first in the Horizon at 11-0, trailed by Green Bay at 10-1 (Wright State is 3-8); an in the MAC undefeated Ball State has a two-game lead over Buffalo and Kent State (Miami is 4-4). After all of those numbers, you might need to rest your eyes!
Another AFC championship game classic as the Chiefs once again foiled the Bills’ bid to make it to the Super Bowl. You have to feel sorry for Josh Allen and the Bills Mafia as a fourth down run that came up inches short, a dropped pass late in the game, and the magic of Patrick Mahomes propelled Kansas City to the 32-29 victory (their 12th this season by one score or less) and a chance to make history by winning a third straight Lombardi trophy.
Meanwhile the Eagles dominated the Commanders in the NFC title game and earned the bid to New Orleans in two weeks. Washington made a tremendous turnaround from last year’s 4-13 season and showed that, once again, a fresh approach with a new coaching staff and a few key additions can lead to a great season. Take heart, all of you Bears, Jets, and Raiders fans!
Here is the anxiously awaited answer to the trivia question—the Golden Gophers of Minnesota were the top ranked team in the final 1936 AP poll despite losing the Big Ten title to Northwestern that fall. Why not the Wildcats, you might want to know? As a result of Notre Dame demolishing Northwestern in the regular season’s finale by a 26-6 score, the Wildcats fell from atop the polls, allowing Minnesota to claim bragging rights! By the way, the other three teams to win national honors without winning their league crown were Alabama in 2011, the Crimson Tide again in 2017, and Georgia in 2021.
Let’s keep that New Year’s resolution to lose a few pounds and get back in shape—stay healthy and active!!
