NCAA Sweet 16: (2) Ohio State vs. (6) Tennessee

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SportsAndLady

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Mar 21, 2010 10:36 PM
Azubuike24 wrote: Tennessee, at their best, beat the 2 teams this year who were regarded as the best in the country. They also played Purdue to a 1-point game on a neutral floor.

I don't know why anyone would think if the UT team who beat Kansas and Kentucky shows up that they aren't better than Ohio State on a "normal" day.

I'm not making any predictions, but I will say that if that UT team shows up, OSU is in trouble.

Then again, it's far more likely that the UT team who just got educated by UK 9 days ago in Nashville shows up and Ohio State rolls like they have in the first 2 rounds.

That's all I'm saying. I can't wait for the game on Friday.
This is the truth.

But cbf will most definitely disagree with it..because, well, his scarlet and grey glasses are too thick.
Mar 21, 2010 10:36pm
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jhay78

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Mar 21, 2010 10:36 PM
As an OSU fan, I'm concerned about UT harassing and creating turnovers. The Buckeyes are not the best at protecting the ball with a lead in the last few minutes.

That said, I think Tenn has a hard time matching up with all of OSU's scoring options. They may slow down ET, or Diebler, or Buford/Lighty, but not all of them.

OSU by 5.
Mar 21, 2010 10:36pm
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Terry_Tate

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Mar 21, 2010 10:38 PM
I think this game will be an absolute classic, and I for one think Tennessee will be very hard to handle. Them playing at their best can beat anyone, but I think OSU is more experienced, has better players, and will be more consistent. The athleticism of Tennessee is definitely a concern, but I think there will be a stretch where OSU just takes the game over like UK did the week before. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Ohio State loses, but I do think it will be a classic and no more than a 5 point game either way.
Mar 21, 2010 10:38pm
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Azubuike24

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Mar 21, 2010 10:41 PM
And count me in with the group who has been flat out impressed by what Thad Matta has done with this team. I can think of half-a-dozen reasons they should lose every game (going back to the Big Ten season) and they simply overcome it. They execute flawlessly, they hit shots when they have to, make passes when they have to, and quite frankly, might just be one of those teams destined to make a special run. I said it out loud today (and watching bball with me, it's usually dead silent because I am so focused) after they went on their huge run, "to knock this team out you are going to have to flat out beat them."

So no CBF, there isn't really any bias in here. I have nothing to really gain from Tennessee winning, other than a personal rooting interest, and I'm sure this game will garner tons of discussion between myself and many others before Friday.
Mar 21, 2010 10:41pm
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assumption

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Mar 21, 2010 10:48 PM
cats gone wild wrote:
Mulva wrote: Tennessee doesn't have all that much depth either at this point. When Steven Pearl is your 8th man you aren't real deep.
Tenn definitely has more depth then OSU, and you cant get around that. If I remember correctly, didnt Tenn beat Kansas with star players suspended? Obviously someone must of stepped up.

Tenn has 8 players averaging over 5 points while OSU has 5 players over 5 points.
LOL! 8 players avg over 5 points?? My oh my, now there is an insignificant stat !!
Mar 21, 2010 10:48pm
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Terry_Tate

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Mar 21, 2010 10:52 PM
Azubuike24 wrote: And count me in with the group who has been flat out impressed by what Thad Matta has done with this team. I can think of half-a-dozen reasons they should lose every game (going back to the Big Ten season) and they simply overcome it. They execute flawlessly, they hit shots when they have to, make passes when they have to, and quite frankly, might just be one of those teams destined to make a special run. I said it out loud today (and watching bball with me, it's usually dead silent because I am so focused) after they went on their huge run, "to knock this team out you are going to have to flat out beat them."

So no CBF, there isn't really any bias in here. I have nothing to really gain from Tennessee winning, other than a personal rooting interest, and I'm sure this game will garner tons of discussion between myself and many others before Friday.
I completely agree. After what Ohio State has done this year the "getting tired" argument should never be used again in college basketball. I am a pessimist when it comes to my teams, so I'm always nervous about Ohio State basketball, but Diebler just seems to be money, Turner just makes plays, Buford provides some great offense, Lighty is a veteran who makes a lot of plays, and Lauderdale has come along nicely as the year progresses. I was down on Ohio State about their rebounding, but Turner, Lauderdale, Buford, and Lighty all crash the boards and they hold their own. With Kansas gone, Syracuse is the only team ranked ahead of them to keep them out of the championship game(even though they could easily lose to Tennessee or MSU or No. Iowa).

I have my doubts about OSU, but they just get it done.
Mar 21, 2010 10:52pm
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assumption

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Mar 21, 2010 10:56 PM
Cleveland Buck wrote:
I don't think Ohio State could score 50 on us. Just guard Deibler and harass the hell out of Turner and they have no other answer.
Would love to get some of that "can't score 50" money. Has to be joking. They have a shot clock in thos thar hills?
This is pretty much correct though. They have every reason to be confident.
Mar 21, 2010 10:56pm
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assumption

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Mar 21, 2010 10:59 PM
Azubuike24 wrote: Tennessee goes 10-11 deep. Pearl is only in there because he's a veteran and his father trusts him more than most. Woolridge, Bone and Goins are all far more talented.
Talented but cannt be trusted. What good is depth if you can't trust them?
Mar 21, 2010 10:59pm
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Midstate01

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Mar 21, 2010 11:00 PM
Every game worries me. Tenn can press you, hit tons of shots and be physical too. They will create some turnovers and get easy buckets off them. But in my mind, if u beat that press quickly osu will be able to get some easy layups and also those 3's of 3 on 1's.

I like osu in this game but also think tenn is very capable of pulling the upset.
And with Kansas losing, everyone thinks they can get to the final 4. So everyone is gonna be on their a game
Mar 21, 2010 11:00pm
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dtdtim

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Mar 21, 2010 11:29 PM
After reading the VolNation boards, I feel that most Vol fans are already writing this game off as a win. I'm yet to see one person even admit as much as a 'Hey, we might lose'.

I know they beat Kansas and Kentucky but really, there's a reason OSU is a 2 seed and they are a 6. The overconfidence is a little ridiculous.
Mar 21, 2010 11:29pm
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Prescott

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Mar 21, 2010 11:42 PM
Any team that has defeated Kansas and or Kentucky is very capable. OSU will need their "A" game to take down the Vols. Pearl is one of those coaches who can get his team sky high. which makes them very dangerous.
Mar 21, 2010 11:42pm
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slingshot4ever

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Mar 21, 2010 11:47 PM
Should be a great game Friday night.
Mar 21, 2010 11:47pm
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dtdtim

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Mar 21, 2010 11:52 PM
Prescott wrote: Any team that gas defeated Kansas and or Kentucky is very capable. OSU will need their "A" game take down the Vols. Pearl is one of those coaches who can get his team sky high. which makes them very dangerous.
Yes, I get this. But those two games were at home.

Tennessee managed to fail big time @ USC, @ Georgia, @ Vanderbilt, @ Kentucky, and @ Florida. They also managed another fail on a neutral court against Kentucky two weeks after beating them at home.

So they are good at home. We all have a grip on this. Too bad this game isn't in Knoxville.

UT is a good team and they are very capable of beating Ohio State. But I don't think they've shown any kind of consistency away from Knoxville, TN this season that would make any of their fans think that they have this matchup in the bag. Far from it.

They've had a good tournament run but Ohio State is heads and shoulders better than the opponents they've already beaten in the tourney. I don't think it's registered to Tennessee fans that Ohio State is actually a good, experienced team that doesn't intimidate easily. They especially won't be intimidated once they take a look at the Vols' road record and losses which MORE than balances out their two wins at home against Kansas and Kentucky.
Mar 21, 2010 11:52pm
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dwccrew

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Mar 22, 2010 1:19 AM
SportsAndLady wrote:
mallymal614 wrote:
SportsAndLady wrote: Tennessee by 10
Which means they will play Kansas in the elite 8 right? Oh wait.......nevermind.
45 years is a long time to be making fun of a school that just won one 2 years ago, don't ya think?
I think he was commenting on your ability to pick winners, not Kansas' horrendous showing this year.
cats gone wild wrote:
Mulva wrote: Tennessee doesn't have all that much depth either at this point. When Steven Pearl is your 8th man you aren't real deep.
Tenn definitely has more depth then OSU, and you cant get around that. If I remember correctly, didnt Tenn beat Kansas with star players suspended? Obviously someone must of stepped up.

Tenn has 8 players averaging over 5 points while OSU has 5 players over 5 points.
Oh wow, 3 more for Tenn. players avg. more than 5 points a game? Amazing stat!

How about the fact that OSU has 4 players that avg over 14 points a game while Tenn. has zero? I'd say that is a more telling stat than anything.
Mar 22, 2010 1:19am
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devil1197

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Mar 22, 2010 6:32 AM
Tenn could go 15 deep and they still wouldn't have better overall talent that OSU's starting 5. OSU has the perfect compliment of players in their starter lineup.

You have the do it all mega star who can take over a game at any time. Then you have the 3 ball sharp shooter on the outside that is hitting 50% from deep in the tournament. Then you add in the ever developing NBA talent who has a nice jump shot but also the athleticism to attack the rim. Also you have the defensive stopper who is the veteran of this team, hits key shots and can also attack the rim to draw fouls. Finally, you have the shot blocker and easy bucket guy.

The best thing about this OSU team is that their truly unselfish. Their ball movement is too good for teams to keep up right now. Their just too balanced for a team right now, in their region, to stop. They can have one guy go for 15 points one half and then another guy goes for 17 in the other half. They have four guys that can legitimately go for 20 points on any given nights.
Mar 22, 2010 6:32am
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cats gone wild

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Mar 22, 2010 6:50 AM
centralbucksfan wrote:
cats gone wild wrote:
Mulva wrote: Tennessee doesn't have all that much depth either at this point. When Steven Pearl is your 8th man you aren't real deep.
Tenn definitely has more depth then OSU, and you cant get around that. If I remember correctly, didnt Tenn beat Kansas with star players suspended? Obviously someone must of stepped up.

Tenn has 8 players averaging over 5 points while OSU has 5 players over 5 points.
LOL...and that depth has really hurt OSU this year. With Turner in the lineup, they are 22-4. Get over the depth...it has NO affect whatsoever with OSU. GT was deep, big, and athletic. OSU has answered every kind of lineup they have faced. This OSU team is BETTER then most think they are.
GT barely made the tourney.
centralbucksfan wrote: Here is the bottom line, even to the haters (S&L, Cats), OSU is the better team, period. They have the best player in the country. If they play well, and Tenn plays well...OSU wins. Tenn will have to play as well as they can, and OSU will have to be off their game a bit for Tenn to win. Like it or not...thats the truth. Tenn is certainly good enough..not saying they are not. But hings will have to go their way. Call me bias, but this OSU team is better then I even give them credit for. They are experienced, unselfish and unflappable. Nothing rattles them one way or the other. They are a confident bunch who play very well together.
Where did I hate on OSU? And I didnt even pick a winner for this game. Spin doctor at his best. And yeah, I think you are bias. You had to make a buzzer beater, and the next game go 2 OT's to advance in the B10 tourney vs. not so good teams.
SportsAndLady wrote:
Azubuike24 wrote:
This is the truth.

But cbf will most definitely disagree with it..because, well, his scarlet and grey glasses are too thick.
Come on now, he is the only one who knows what he is talking about.
Mar 22, 2010 6:50am
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devil1197

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Mar 22, 2010 7:07 AM
But since were playing the almost game, Tennessee barely beat SDSU in the 1st round and were very close to getting bounced early something that OSU hasn't faced yet. Did you forget that one when pumping up the mighty Vols?

You also leave out the fact that OSU blew out Minny to win the B10 tournament.

TN 5 of 7 losses were by 10+ and only had one close loss to Purdue.

With Turner in the lineup, OSU has 1 game where they were beat by 10+ (his 1st game back to Minnesota). OSU's last two losses were by a combined 9 points to teams both in the Sweet 16.

OSU will beat Tennessee.
Mar 22, 2010 7:07am
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TheMightyGators

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438 posts
Mar 22, 2010 7:17 AM
Has there ever been an easier path to the final four, in the history of the NCAA tourney, than what OSU has? The highest seed they might have to face is a 5 seed. With that said I like Tennessee in this game.
Mar 22, 2010 7:17am
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bases_loaded

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Mar 22, 2010 7:21 AM
The Bucks tend to come out flat after long layoffs. Hopefully that doesn't happen this week.
Mar 22, 2010 7:21am
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devil1197

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Mar 22, 2010 7:22 AM
TheMightyGators wrote: Has there ever been an easier path to the final four, in the history of the NCAA tourney, than what OSU has? The highest seed they might have to face is a 5 seed. With that said I like Tennessee in this game.
Whose fault is that?

The mighty Kansas team that everyone talks up since TN beat them, that just lost to Northern Iowa

or

Georgetown that was beat by Ohio.

If Tennessee is so great and will beat the Buckeyes then it must not be the easiest path correct?

Oh and Tennessee currently has had the easiest path to the Sweet 16 playing the 11th and 14th seeds, ohhh real tough.
Mar 22, 2010 7:22am
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TheMightyGators

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Mar 22, 2010 7:23 AM
golf4life2008 wrote:

We have too many scorers for them! Think about it... Ohio State has 4 legit scorers. How many other teams have that?
Kentucky. Tennessee beat them too.
Mar 22, 2010 7:23am
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TheMightyGators

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Mar 22, 2010 7:29 AM
devil1197 wrote:
TheMightyGators wrote: Has there ever been an easier path to the final four, in the history of the NCAA tourney, than what OSU has? The highest seed they might have to face is a 5 seed. With that said I like Tennessee in this game.
Whose fault is that?

The mighty Kansas team that everyone talks up since TN beat them, that just lost to Northern Iowa

or

Georgetown that was beat by Ohio.

If Tennessee is so great and will beat the Buckeyes then it must not be the easiest path correct?

Oh and Tennessee currently has had the easiest path to the Sweet 16 playing the 11th and 14th seeds, ohhh real tough.
Why so defensive? Don't want to agree with me for some reason? If Tennessee beats OSU it means they choked. If OSU wins they beat a 6 seed, which will be the highest seeded team they have beaten 3 games into the tourney. Then they get a 5 seed or 9 seed to go to the final 4. The easiest path in the history of the tournament.
Mar 22, 2010 7:29am
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devil1197

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6,220 posts
Mar 22, 2010 7:30 AM
TheMightyGators wrote:
golf4life2008 wrote:

We have too many scorers for them! Think about it... Ohio State has 4 legit scorers. How many other teams have that?
Kentucky. Tennessee beat them too.
At home.

Tennessee also got their asses handed to them by Kentucky once away from Vol land.

Too bad this game isn't played in Knoxville.
Mar 22, 2010 7:30am
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cats gone wild

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2,651 posts
Mar 22, 2010 7:30 AM
assumption wrote:
cats gone wild wrote:
Mulva wrote: Tennessee doesn't have all that much depth either at this point. When Steven Pearl is your 8th man you aren't real deep.
Tenn definitely has more depth then OSU, and you cant get around that. If I remember correctly, didnt Tenn beat Kansas with star players suspended? Obviously someone must of stepped up.

Tenn has 8 players averaging over 5 points while OSU has 5 players over 5 points.
LOL! 8 players avg over 5 points?? My oh my, now there is an insignificant stat !!
dwccrew wrote:
SportsAndLady wrote:
mallymal614 wrote:
SportsAndLady wrote: Tennessee by 10
Which means they will play Kansas in the elite 8 right? Oh wait.......nevermind.
45 years is a long time to be making fun of a school that just won one 2 years ago, don't ya think?
I think he was commenting on your ability to pick winners, not Kansas' horrendous showing this year.
cats gone wild wrote:
Mulva wrote: Tennessee doesn't have all that much depth either at this point. When Steven Pearl is your 8th man you aren't real deep.
Tenn definitely has more depth then OSU, and you cant get around that. If I remember correctly, didnt Tenn beat Kansas with star players suspended? Obviously someone must of stepped up.

Tenn has 8 players averaging over 5 points while OSU has 5 players over 5 points.
Oh wow, 3 more for Tenn. players avg. more than 5 points a game? Amazing stat!

How about the fact that OSU has 4 players that avg over 14 points a game while Tenn. has zero? I'd say that is a more telling stat than anything.
devil1197 wrote: Tenn could go 15 deep and they still wouldn't have better overall talent that OSU's starting 5. OSU has the perfect compliment of players in their starter lineup.

You have the do it all mega star who can take over a game at any time. Then you have the 3 ball sharp shooter on the outside that is hitting 50% from deep in the tournament. Then you add in the ever developing NBA talent who has a nice jump shot but also the athleticism to attack the rim. Also you have the defensive stopper who is the veteran of this team, hits key shots and can also attack the rim to draw fouls. Finally, you have the shot blocker and easy bucket guy.

The best thing about this OSU team is that their truly unselfish. Their ball movement is too good for teams to keep up right now. Their just too balanced for a team right now, in their region, to stop. They can have one guy go for 15 points one half and then another guy goes for 17 in the other half. They have four guys that can legitimately go for 20 points on any given nights.
All I said is that Tenn does have depth which another poster said they didnt. Yeah congrats, OSU has 4 players that score a good amount. What happens if 2 of them get in foul trouble and the other 2 are guarded real well? You will have to go to your bench in which Tenn has a better bench.
Mar 22, 2010 7:30am
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devil1197

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6,220 posts
Mar 22, 2010 7:31 AM
TheMightyGators wrote:
devil1197 wrote:
TheMightyGators wrote: Has there ever been an easier path to the final four, in the history of the NCAA tourney, than what OSU has? The highest seed they might have to face is a 5 seed. With that said I like Tennessee in this game.
Whose fault is that?

The mighty Kansas team that everyone talks up since TN beat them, that just lost to Northern Iowa

or

Georgetown that was beat by Ohio.

If Tennessee is so great and will beat the Buckeyes then it must not be the easiest path correct?

Oh and Tennessee currently has had the easiest path to the Sweet 16 playing the 11th and 14th seeds, ohhh real tough.
Why so defensive? Don't want to agree with me for some reason? If Tennessee beats OSU it means they choked. If OSU wins they beat a 6 seed, which will be the highest seeded team they have beaten 3 games into the tourney. Then they get a 5 seed or 9 seed to go to the final 4. The easiest path in the history of the tournament.
Like I said, whose fault is that.

OSU is handling their business like usual. I could care less who they face, can only beat the teams put in front of them which they are doing.
Mar 22, 2010 7:31am