During a radio interview this week, Ohio State coach Thad Matta revealed that he liked to "Scooby-Doo" cartoons as a child. Growing up in Hoopeston, Ill., where alternative activities consisted of practicing free throws and baling hay, Matta found the adventures of Mystery, Inc., to be an exciting diversion.
Sort of like Sunday will be for the rest of us.
The Wisconsin Badgers (26-3), ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, travel to Columbus to face Matta's Buckeyes (25-3), who are ranked No. 1 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
The winner of the game, which will be televised nationally on CBS beginning at 3 p.m., will have an inside track toward the Big Ten regular-season title and a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA Tournament.
While a No. 1 seeding doesn't guarantee a trip to the Final Four, teams that earn them are a pretty safe bet to make the Sweet 16. All four teams holding top seeds advanced to the second weekend of the tournament last year and 14 of 16 have done so in the past four years.
Wisconsin's prospects took a hit during a loss to Michigan State this week, but that memory can be wiped out with a victory over Ohio State.
In the first meeting between the teams, Jan. 9 at the Kohl Center, Wisconsin got a season-high 25 points from guard Kammron Taylor and took a 72-69 victory. The Buckeyes, led by standout freshmen Greg Oden and Mike Conley, haven't lost since.
What do the Badgers need to do to win? Attack the basket, make free throws and rebound. A strong game from senior Alando Tucker will help, too. Tucker, a candidate for national player of the year honors, disappeared in the second half against Michigan State and didn't attempt a free throw in the game.
Badgers coach Bo Ryan likes his team to make more free throws than the opponent attempts. Michigan State turned the tables in that department this week, going 13 for 17 while the Badgers were eight for 12. A major reason for the disparity was that the Badgers attempted a season-high 28 three-point attempts.
Ohio State has more talent than Michigan State, so the Badgers, particularly Taylor and Michael Flowers, will have to shoot better than the combined 2 for 16 they put up at the Breslin Center, penetrate and create passing lanes for Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma. The Badgers' "bigs" must avoid being pushed around like they were in East Lansing, where the Spartans held a 41-24 rebounding advantage.
Both teams will be sky-high for this game and so will many of the people watching Verne Lundquist and Billy Packer call the action in this matchup, which at this point seems too close to call.
A week ago, Marquette coach Tom Crean was mentioned as a possible successor to Miami Heat coach Pat Riley. This week, a rumor has him heading to Kentucky as a replacement for Tubby Smith.
Golden Eagles fans should be used to seeing Crean's name pop up in rumors for high-profile jobs like this. But, that doesn't make it more pleasant.
As for the two jobs, a trip to Miami would reunite Crean with former MU star Dwyane Wade. And, a number of basketball experts feel that Crean's prowess dealing with isolation / matchups would give him a good base to work in the NBA. As for Kentucky, it's one of the marquee jobs in college basketball. The perception is that Smith, whose contract is incentive-laden, is running a "loose" program, so Crean's discipline and work ethic would be an interesting contrast.
With their playoff hopes torpedoed by injuries, the Bucks will have a hard time capturing the attention of the local sporting public until they make a coaching change or a pick in the NBA Draft, which won't take place until June 28.
With that said, the Bucks got robbed Friday night in New York.
For all the darts being thrown at coach Terry Stotts, the Bucks seem to be hanging together and playing hard every night. They were headed for overtime Friday when referees whistled Andrew Bogut for a loose-ball foul with 0.8 seconds left. Channing Frye ended up making two free throws to seal a 95-93 victory for the Knicks.
Replays showed that Bogut probably was guilty of an infraction, but it was one that rarely if ever gets called on a shot at the buzzer. The Bucks have lost seven in row overall, 11 in a row on the road and 22 of 25 since the calendar flipped to 2007.
You didn't exactly tear the cover off the ball in the 40 games you played after the Carlos Lee trade (.230 batting average, one homer, 18 RBI). And, the Brewers were pretty generous to offer you a $3.4 million salary when plenty of people were yelling at them to trade or non-tender you.
So the revelation that you plan to "pitch a fit" if you end up sharing a position with Geoff Jenkins (who also whined preemptively about not playing every inning) isn't exactly going to make people run out and buy your jersey.
Kudos to manager Ned Yost for his reaction to the comments by his leftfield candidates.
"I understand they've been everyday players," Yost told Haudricourt. "Here's the problem. If you want to get good, you've got to increase your depth, and you've got to have quality depth. For years and years, everybody said, 'I want to be on a champion. I want to play on a great team.' Then you finally get the players and, all of a sudden, they don't want to do it.
"That's where my job comes in. These six weeks are to mold these 25 guys into one team. If you don't want to be a part of the team because you've got other aspirations or other ideas of what you want to do, that's fine. We've got some areas we need to address.
"I'll bet you it will not be a problem. If you want to be a part of this thing, fine. If you don't, that's fine by me, too. But you know what? We're here to win ball games. To be really honest, there's more than one person that can throw a fit."
The Brewers put single-game tickets on sale this morning and, as usual, I have mixed feelings about the people who started lining up outside the Miller Park ticket office as early as Thursday night.
On one hand, it's nice to see diehard fans so passionate about their team. On the other, you have to question the intelligence - if not the sanity -- of anyone willing to brave freezing conditions for hours when other (smarter?) people will roll out of bed, fire up their computers 10 minutes before the sale starts and snag better seats than the saps who waited in line. Those free hot dogs better be tasty to put up with that.
The Brewers invited Neil Janowitz to camp as a non-roster player, but don't bother looking for him in any of the minor-league stat books. Janowitz, 25, is associate editor for ESPN The Magazine and will chronicle his time in camp for a feature article in the magazine, similar to one that Tom Verducci did with the Blue Jays awhile back. Janowitz also will write occasional reports for ESPN.com.
I'm not familiar with Janowitz's work and he may cook up some good stuff, but part of me thinks this is a bad idea. The Brewers are thirsty for national media attention, but the best way to get it is by winning games. Leave the gimmick stunts -- like letting a writer into camp -- for teams like the Royals and Devil Rays.
Like millions of sports fans across the country, I spent a few enjoyable hours watching the Daytona 500 on TV last week. The question now is whether I will watch that much racing -- combined -- during the rest of the season. I imagine that casual football fans would feel the same way if the NFL held the Super Bowl on the first weekend of the season.
Host of “The Drew Olson Show,” which airs 1-3 p.m. weekdays on The Big 902. Sidekick on “The Mike Heller Show,” airing weekdays on The Big 920 and a statewide network including stations in Madison, Appleton and Wausau. Co-author of Bill Schroeder’s “If These Walls Could Talk: Milwaukee Brewers” on Triumph Books. Co-host of “Big 12 Sports Saturday,” which airs Saturdays during football season on WISN-12. Former senior editor at OnMilwaukee.com. Former reporter at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
