A Look Ahead to Jayhawks

Georgetown just got done doing what Georgetown do: Bowing out of the tournament early.  The end result is NC State is heading to St. Louis to play the winner of Purdue v. Kansas.

Now let me tell you what I think about this evening's match-up (Look away if you have a weak stomach):

This game is about match-ups...and here's what we know.  Purdue's two victories versus ranked opponents came against UM and St. Mary's.  Both teams used guard play as the strength that led them to a ton of wins.  Our Boilers have few problems when playing guard-happy teams.  They have good defensive and offensive players in the backcourt who can play against anybody...in the frontcourt, the story changes.

Here are some teams that controlled Purdue from wire to wire in one or more contests this season: Alabama, MSU, aOSU and IU.  What do they all have in common? Good big men...athletic, long, strong players who Purdue simply has no answer.

So here comes Kansas.

They have not one, but two skilled big guys in their starting line-up.  One is a player of the year candidate, the other gobbles up space and averages nearly 10 points, 7 boards and 3 blocks. So who guards Robinson and Withey?  I have no idea.

My guess is that we'll see Hummel, Byrd, Carroll, Marcius and Lawson all try to juggle Kansas' large pair.  And I also think this group effort will yield a pretty big struggle as none of them are great match-ups for Robins and Withey.  Byrd's not big enough, Hummel's not quick enough, Carroll's not strong-enough, Marcius isn't skilled enough and Lawson has a hard time finding position in the post.  If we could combine all of them, we might have a pair of formidable post players; sadly I don't think we have the technology to do that just yet.

So, methinks it'll take some hot shooting- something we haven't seen in a few games, to just keep it close. Byrd, Smith and Hummel are all due for a good game offensively...especially Smith and Hummel.  But there are no guarantees...One thing that Purdue can control though is being smart on offense.  They can make the extra pass (I'm talking to you, Robbie), not take hasty threes out of the flow of the offense (I'm talking to you, DJ) and let the game come to you (I'm talking to you, Ryne).

It can happen...Purdue can go to the sweet 16; we've seen the underdog come through time and again during this tournament.  But there's a reason those games are exciting- they're rare and unexpected, even at this time of year.

Kansas is a a team that hauls in 4 and 5-star athletes with regularity and sends them off to the league just as quickly.  On this year's Jayhawk starting line-up, there are probably three future NBA players.  They've been ranked between 3 and 7 for the last 12 weeks or so.  The RPI likes them as much as humans- they landed at 6 at the end of the season.  And while rankings don't really matter, their #2 seeding puts them in exactly the place they should be this Spring; among the elite of the nation.

Our Boilers on the other hand struggled for much of the season to figure out who they were and how to play together.  This 4 month game of grab ass reaped a 10 seed.  Sure, our Boilers played their best ball in the last month, there's no question about that, but no one called Purdue elite in '11-'12.  All this means is that Purdue has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Purdue's Captains might be holding all the cards

Some (myself included) might argue that Purdue is already playing with the house's money...and is already ahead.  Winning one game in the tourney (let alone two) is really a gift...and as a fan, I'm pretty pleased with my alma mater's basketball team already.  I'm positive that Matty isn't as pleased as I am...and his three Seniors are probably more motivated than they've been in the last four years to defy the odds; something they've already done a few times.

That said, Ryne, LewJack, Robbie and co. are sitting in the perfect place to sneak up on some people- hopefully they do just that to Kansas.  Tip-off is in just under 5 hours, at 8:40.

Please Welcome Buckeye Battle Cry to the Microphone

Today we have a little fun exchange for you. Jeff over at Buckeye Battle Cry (BBC) approached us about doing some Q&A between our two sites so our fans can learn a little about their fans and their fans can learn a little about us... like, you know, whether we leave the toilet seat up too much or things like that. Jeff seems like about as die-hard an OSU fan as you might find. Go back and check out his first post and you'll see the kind of fan passion that we can't help but respect here at Boiled Sports.

Anyhow, let's get on with the questions. And be sure to check out BBC later today for our answers to the questions Jeff posed to us.

Boiled Sports: What were tOSU fans expecting from this season when it began and has that expectation changed based on your strong 5-0 start?

Buckeye Battle Cry: There's two different ways to answer that question, and it's based specifically on the phrase "tOSU fans." Anytime you're nationally ranked as high as we have been the past three seasons, you pick up a lot of bandwagon fans. We're happy to have them because there's always room for more members of Buckeye Nation, but these are the fans that don't often understand and appreciate college football as much as the rest of us.

The newcomers to Buckeye Nation expected miserable results this year, and who could blame them? Look at who we lost! Troy Smith, Antonio Pittman, Ted Ginn, Anthont Gonzalez, Roy Hall, and a few more startes from the trenches. All the names that people knew well had left the team for greener pastures....outside of his family, who the hell owned a Brian Hartline jersey anyway? With all that talent gone, predictions of doom and gloom were the order of the day. So this 5-0 start has surprised a lot of them.

The long-term fans and those who love to study college football could have told you that anything LESS than 5-0 would be abject failure. Not only did we have confidence in players who already had extensive game experience (Beanie Wells, Brian Robiskie, Hartline, James Laurinaitis, Malcolm Jenkins, etc etc etc), but we knew the 2007 schedule was not much of a challenge early on.

- We knew that Youngstown State was a cupcake scheduled back when we hired Tressel as a favor to the school we took JT from.
- Akron? Gimme a break.
- We saw Washington as a possible stumbling block, but only because it was our first road game. The Huskies still finished 8th in the PAC-10 last year.
- Northwestern was not a threat....their ratio of winning the Big Ten is about 3:1 against the arrival of Halley's Comet.
- Minnesota is breaking in a new coach, and their defense was suspect heading into the season.

We saw these five opponents and knew that 5-0 was a necessity. For us, the expectations are right where we thought they'd be. If we survive Ross-Ade Stadium on Saturday, we're counting our chickens at 8-0 with Kent State and Michigan State visiting the Shoe right afterwards. Then it gets tough. But yours is the only team in our first 8 that we see as a threat, and as you Boiler fans well know....it's with good reason.

BS: We'll just assume it was like Christmas came early when UM lost to App State and then got their doors blown off at home by Oregon, so we'll save that question. Tell us about another team in the Big Ten that OSU fans hate pretty strongly other than Michigan? That is, is there any pent-up, irrational dislike for Boilermakers? Badgers? Gophers?

BBC: First of all, we don't really "hate" Michigan. We just say we do. We totally respect and fear Michigan, as you should in any rivalry. We just pick on each other so mercilessly that it looks like we hate. You need to see how much love there actually is for one another, look at the "Hate Michigan" rally from last year. The band playing was the Dead Schembechlers, and when Bo actually died, the band contemplated cancelling the show. But instead, they placed "God Bless Bo" on the street sign and donated all proceeds of the rally to any charity the Schembechler family named. That comes from respect, admiration, and a love for the rivalry.

Boilermakers, Badgers and Gophers? No way....add Wildcats into that and you have four of the nicest pack of fans you'll ever run into. I've had the good fortune to see road games at all four stadiums of the aforementioned teams, and I have never walked away without feeling TOO welcome. It's not often you get invited to tailgate with oppsing fans, but it happens every time we visit Purdue, Wisconsin, Minnesota or Northwestern.

Anyway, to answer the question...Penn State fans suck ass. Never before has a pack of fans beat the dead horse of a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten squad like these people. When they entered the league, they believed they would dominate every week, and instead they have seen more below-.500 teams than winners. And yet they strut around like they have multiple national championships. Playing in Happy Valley is the ugliest sight you'll ever encounter...ask the marching band at OSU about the group of fans who poured urine on them. That's just the tip of the iceberg in Paternoville.

But since you said "Big Ten team", that leaves out Notre Dame. Dear God, am I enjoying their season thus far. Karma's doing a number on them, and Karma don't act without being prompted first.

BS: If you had to choose something, what would you say is an OSU weakness this season that could prove to be their undoing against a team like Purdue (or any other team if you really think there's zero chance of losing to Purdue)?

BBC: Two immediate thoughts come to mind. Turnovers and depth in key positions.

We turned the ball over 5 times against Akron and won 20-2. If we do that against a better team, we're in deep trouble. Since then, we've held onto the ball better, but the potential is still there.

Depth is a problem at quarterback. Todd Boeckman is a decent QB, but if he goes down, there's problems. Rob Schoenhoft doesn't have very good accuracy, and Antonio Henton has had more time in handcuffs than on the field. Henton's the future QB, but no experience leaves us precariously thin if Boeckman takes a hard shot. It's a quick recipe for a Purdue win.

Count that same issue at RB. Beanie, Maurice Wells, and Brandon Saine are all capable, but I don't think Mo Wells can carry this team in the run game. Saine is recovering from minor knee surgery and might be back on Saturday....but if he's not, and Beanie goes down....see the above paragraph.

As always, we're deep at LB, and linemen on both sides of the ball. But those QBs and RBs scare me.

Thanks for having me on Boiled Sports. Hope I left the place as clean as I found it!