I appreciate the post. I'm really looking forward to the UMass game (I really wish they were full MAC members, but that conversation is for another day). It'll be a great test, especially considering its a road game. I'd imagine the players and coaches will have this one circled on their calendar.

A few other things I see there:

• They refer to us as Ohio, only Ohio. It's what I want, and it's what a lot of us on this board want; it's great to see a third party acknowledge that. Brings a smile to my face.
• We've got a road game at #12 on the list (Memphis), and last year's opponent USF is listed  at #8
• A majority of the schools on the list keep a lower national profile. Is the defensive prowess coaching, will-power, low turnover rate, or some combination of all three?

I had some pretty wild dreams of MAC East basketball when we found out UMass was coming for football and Temple hadn't left yet.

+1 

[sarcasm /on]
A day that'll live in infamy.

Andy Geiger = Joseph Goebbels

Robert Glidden = Winston Churchill
[sarcasm /off]

I'm of the belief the NCAA should step in and prevent them from doing it at all. I can't believe how often I see Ohio "Ohio State" T-shirts in Columbus. I was in a Barnes and Noble this past weekend and saw three different choices: the script Ohio (reallllly pushing it, but maybe logical), and two varieties of O-H-I-O shirts. Ridiculous.

It's funny though how they seek refuge in the color that the word is portrayed in. Just last night I saw Greg Oden and asked him how he felt about Ohio State using the cheer "O-H..I-O" at games and in public on shirts. He just kept saying, "you guys are green though, you guys are green". I drew a comparison to Florida-Florida State, it didn't even register to him.

I also saw Mike Conley who said he didn't care about it at all (in the literal sense). He said something similar to, "that's what the fans do, I don't care what they do."

*I don't know where else to add this, but it's basketball relevant. Both guys, former Ohio A&M basketball players, spoke the highest praises of John Groce, the man that recruited them. Conley said the way he got them to Columbus was making them feel comfortable right off the bat and making it known that no one on the team would be more important than another. He also went on to say that Illinois will be very good in the coming years.

It is funny that tO$U can sanction a cafe owner at the corner of North COlumbus street and Main in Lancaster for painting the inside of his diner scarlet and gray with tO$U logos within a week of his painting the walls yet they are content to let the OHIO gear slide. AMazing in fact. If indeed the OHIO is trademarked then the school should be making a small fortune off folks who are infringing and/or letting them know that the use of it is not within the agreement with A&M. Any press is good press and the more it is drriven home the better of all shall be. I noted tht someone talked about " Memphis " up there and not Memphis State. I would think that they would revere themselves in the fact the they would be State. For the record I have no problem with the alumni and kids, My problem comes fromthe peckerheads who are dyed in the wool fans of a university they never attended and have no ties to save for being part of a her of sheep yet insist on being rabid and boorish about their fandom...

As for the defensive side of the hooop..... The way Groce teaches defense is very specific with regards to how the Pack line is honored and how they treat different players coming off screens and whereon the floor those screens are set, how players are treated when going baseline and several other concepts. He also was motivational when it comes to selling out on defense and regularly rewarded those kids who did with high praise. Hopefully the concepts stay in place with Fuss being on board. Won't deny that Christians teams were decent defensively but time will tell if  he has the same dedication to defensive excellence that his predecessor  It is oh so easy for a player to want to play on the offensie end and hard to reel them back in when that focus is lost. Groce not only had stolen concepts from the best of the best and enforced them but had the knack for getting principles of defensive achievement in place and reewarding those who played it.

I may have to borrow this for future reference to some of my friends around our fair state in the future.  An excellent way to put it in my opinion.





To me, then question then becomes, what happens after the upcoming season?  I know that's getting way ahead of the game.  But the proof in the Christian led staff's pudding will be 2013-2014, not 2012-2013.