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Buckeyes On The Bubble: Ohio State's Chase For The NCAA Tournament · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to buck Eyes tomorrow morning for Friday, March seventh.
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  Speaker 1: I'm your host, Tom Or the Texas game in one
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  Speaker 1: hundred and seventy six days, the game against Michigan in
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  Speaker 1: two hundred and sixty seven days. If you're planning your
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  Speaker 1: next event, make it unforgettable with Grateful Griddle, Columbus's favorite
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  Speaker 1: Book you're catering today at Grateful Griddle oh dot com.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking basketball on today's show. Dick Diebler and the
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  Speaker 1: Ohio State basketball team. They are coming down to it
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  Speaker 1: in March. Final regular season game coming up this Saturday
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  Speaker 1: at Indiana, and the Buckeyes and Hoosiers both right on
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  Speaker 1: that NCAA tournament bubble. It is going to be a big,
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  Speaker 1: big Gamey Bucky Huddle dot Com joins me, Tony, I
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  Speaker 1: saw you had a post on the board with an
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  Speaker 1: updated bracketology and Ohio State in Indiana are both in
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  Speaker 1: the tournament but like just barely hanging on and this
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  Speaker 1: is going to be a big, big game for both teams.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, they're both just standing next to each other, like
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  Speaker 2: shoulder to shoulder on the precipice and you know ones
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  Speaker 2: looking at the other like I'm gonna push you off,
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  Speaker 2: I'm gonna push you off. And yeah, right now, Joe Leonardia,
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  Speaker 2: Ohio State is one of the last four in with
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  Speaker 2: no buys, and and then h Or with the buy
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  Speaker 2: and then Indiana one of the last four in uh overall,
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  Speaker 2: and so you just, you know what, just get a
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  Speaker 2: win and don't worry about it, and then you don't
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  Speaker 2: have to worry about the what ifs. But this is
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  Speaker 2: a remarkably big game for two teams looking to be
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  Speaker 2: five hundred in the Big Ten and looking to finish
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  Speaker 2: their regular season with like thirteen losses, and yet whoever
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  Speaker 2: does congratulations.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, this feels a lot like a win and you're
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  Speaker 1: in kind of game because if you win, then you
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  Speaker 1: finish the regular season at five hundred and the Big Ten.
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  Speaker 1: Both of these teams nine to ten in the Big
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  Speaker 1: Ten play right now, buck guys at seventeen and thirteen overall.
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  Speaker 1: And if it just feels like I went into the
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  Speaker 1: last three games of the regular season thinking Ohio State
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  Speaker 1: needed to win three games between the last three games
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  Speaker 1: of the regular season and the Big Ten tournament, and
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  Speaker 1: you could sort of divide those up however you want to.
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  Speaker 1: That was at USC, home for Nebraska at Indiana, and
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  Speaker 1: then whatever happens in the Big Ten turn and looking
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  Speaker 1: at it, it was kind of like, if you win
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  Speaker 1: two regular season games and one of the Big Ten tournament,
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  Speaker 1: or you win your last three regular season games, you're
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  Speaker 1: probably comfortably in. Now. That doesn't mean it's a sixth
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  Speaker 1: seed or something, but you're probably in and probably not
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  Speaker 1: playing in Dayton in a couple of weeks. If you know,
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  Speaker 1: they've kind of handled their business. It has not. As
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  Speaker 1: with so much with this Ohio State basketball season, it
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  Speaker 1: hasn't been pretty and it hasn't been easy. But they
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  Speaker 1: got to win at USC. They got to win against
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  Speaker 1: Nebraska in double overtime in it was you know what,
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  Speaker 1: you can say a lot about that game. I will
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  Speaker 1: say that it was lengthy. It was long. That was
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  Speaker 1: That's probably the kindest thing I can say about that
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  Speaker 1: game overall. But they got to win. Now it feels
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  Speaker 1: like if you beat Indiana, you're in. If you lose
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  Speaker 1: to Indiana, then you're gonna be the winner of this
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  Speaker 1: game is gonna be the nine seed in the Big Ten. Tournament,
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  Speaker 1: the loser's gonna be the ten seed in the Big Ten.
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  Speaker 1: So you win, you're in and you're playing the eight seed.
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  Speaker 1: You lose, you're playing the ten. You're the ten seed,
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  Speaker 1: and you're gonna play the last team in. So that's
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  Speaker 1: sort of part of a mishmash of seven and thirteen
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  Speaker 1: kind of Big ten teams right now. But you know,
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  Speaker 1: are you kind of on the same page with me
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  Speaker 1: there that if you win one of the next two,
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  Speaker 1: you're probably in in pretty safely.
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  Speaker 2: If I'm Ohio State, I'd rather have the Indiana game
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  Speaker 2: because then your conference record says ten and ten rather
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  Speaker 2: than nine and eleven. And with with the way the committee,
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  Speaker 2: the selection committee has viewed the Big Ten Tournament over
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  Speaker 2: the years, I know, I'm not I would not be
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  Speaker 2: shocked if, like they don't always care about it now
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  Speaker 2: generally it's like they don't care about what happens on Sunday,
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  Speaker 2: what happens during the week. If you can you can
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  Speaker 2: move your way in, it's just you can't. It's you
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  Speaker 2: can only do so much. But I certainly a good
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  Speaker 2: run or even a win in the tournament is going
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  Speaker 2: to probably, as you said, put them where they are.
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  Speaker 2: But if you ask me, and you didn't ask me,
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  Speaker 2: but I'm saying, Tom, if you ask me, which would
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  Speaker 2: I rather have find Ohio State a win over Indiana
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  Speaker 2: or a win in the first round. Give me that
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  Speaker 2: win at Indiana because it puts them at five hundred
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  Speaker 2: into Big Ten. And for some people that's just going
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  Speaker 2: to be like okay, because you know, when they've been
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  Speaker 2: under five hundred, it's been a scary situation in terms
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  Speaker 2: of making the tournament. Now I know it's you know,
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  Speaker 2: every every year is a little bit different than the
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  Speaker 2: last and also depends on what other people are doing
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  Speaker 2: and what other teams, you know, what other standings there are.
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  Speaker 2: But I'd rather find Ohio State be five hundred and
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  Speaker 2: then who cares not, who cares? Who cares what happens
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  Speaker 2: in the Big Ten tournament at that point.
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  Speaker 1: And Ohio State, if they lose to Indiana, would be
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  Speaker 1: seventeen and fourteen and nine and eleven in conference play.
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  Speaker 1: And you look at those numbers and you go, how
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  Speaker 1: could they possibly make the tournament at seventeen and fourteen
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  Speaker 1: or you know, if you lose again, you could potentially
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  Speaker 1: make it at seven, eighteen and fifteen. They do have
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  Speaker 1: six quad one wins. Indiana would be a seventh quad
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  Speaker 1: one win, but they do have In terms of the
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  Speaker 1: net rankings, they have wins over At number twelve, Maryland
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  Speaker 1: number thirteen, Kentucky number fifteen, Perdue. So those are three
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  Speaker 1: really good wins. And they played a difficult schedule non conference.
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  Speaker 1: They got the doors blown off by a couple of
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  Speaker 1: those difficult teams, but they played a difficult schedule of
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  Speaker 1: non conference. So that kind of helps get you to that.
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  Speaker 1: You know, that record with potentially thirteen or fourteen or
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  Speaker 1: so losses. But Tony, I look at that, I look
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  Speaker 1: at a seventeen and thirteen team that's currently projected to
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  Speaker 1: be in the NCBLEA Tournament, and then I look at
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  Speaker 1: the conversation around, hey, maybe we need to expand the
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  Speaker 1: NCAA tournament, And I think, just two words, Tony, do
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  Speaker 1: we well?
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  Speaker 2: Because then you know, you expanded, what are we talking
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  Speaker 2: about like doubling it or you know, making it ninety
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  Speaker 2: six or whatever? Like At that point, then you know
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  Speaker 2: who out of the big ten doesn't make it? You know,
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  Speaker 2: when you've got even Washington at thirteen and seventeen, like
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  Speaker 2: they wouldn't be far out out of the mix. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I don't think it needs to be expanded any more
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  Speaker 2: than it already is. Although time I did see Kentucky
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  Speaker 2: coach and coach Mark Pope about a week or so
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  Speaker 2: ago say that the regular season needs to be expanded
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  Speaker 2: to forty games so that you can you know, all
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  Speaker 2: of these treat these teams are brand new every year,
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  Speaker 2: so it's like you really need that time to gel
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  Speaker 2: and figure out who you are. You need like the
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  Speaker 2: first twenty games just to figure out who you are,
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  Speaker 2: and then the second twenty games to really excel and
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  Speaker 2: get people and be the team that can go into
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  Speaker 2: the tournament for then what could be I don't know,
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  Speaker 2: seven eight games if we're expanding to a under twenty
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  Speaker 2: so you know, fifty game season? Is that what we're
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  Speaker 2: talking about here pretty soon? Because I almost forgot to
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  Speaker 2: mention the conference tournaments as well. So no, nothing needs
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  Speaker 2: to be expanded because the tournament is just fine where
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  Speaker 2: it is. And if one one year in the national
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  Speaker 2: champion you know, we were we were like we didn't
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  Speaker 2: get an opportunity to see a nineteen and fourteen team
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  Speaker 2: win a national championship, then you know, I guess, I
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  Speaker 2: guess We're okay, We'll live for years.
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  Speaker 1: I've said, the biggest problem with the college basketball college
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  Speaker 1: basketball on the whole is there not enough meaningless regular
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  Speaker 1: season games, and also they're too well officiated. Those are
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  Speaker 1: the two biggest problems with college basketball. And you know, listen,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you can fix both of those, but you know,
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  Speaker 1: right right now, there are more they are more pressing issues.
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  Speaker 1: And for Ohio State, that is winning at Assembly Hall
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  Speaker 1: on Saturday three forty five tip off going to be
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  Speaker 1: the last game for Mike Woodson, who has announced that
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  Speaker 1: this is his last season Indian at Indiana. So you've
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  Speaker 1: got the NCAA tournament aspect of that, You've got some
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  Speaker 1: you know, senior Day, You've got the last game for
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  Speaker 1: the head coach. There's going to be a lot of
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  Speaker 1: storylines there all on Saturday at Assembly Hall on CBS
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  Speaker 1: Saturday three forty five. We will have coverage of that
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  Speaker 1: game all this weekend at Buckeheudle dot com. There's a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of other stuff going on as well. Getting a
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  Speaker 1: chance on Friday to talk to a high state assistant coaches.
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  Speaker 1: We'll have lots of football coverage for you Friday and
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  Speaker 1: then all throughout the weekend and in the next week
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  Speaker 1: all at bucke Huddle dot com and then spring ball
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  Speaker 1: starts on not September, March seventeenth. Saint Patrick's Day going
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  Speaker 1: to be a Scarlett and gray Beard day. On Saint
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  Speaker 1: Patrick's Day as the Buckeyes start their spring ball a
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  Speaker 1: week from Monday, It's gonna be a lot to talk about.
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  Speaker 1: It can be a really interesting spring. Tony and I
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  Speaker 1: just did a show a couple of seros on the
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  Speaker 1: Buckeye Weekly podcast feed on the Buckeyes with the most
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  Speaker 1: to lose or the most to gain. This ten guys
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  Speaker 1: on offense, ten guys on defense, and we could have
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  Speaker 1: kept going with that list because there are a lot
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  Speaker 1: of interesting storylines. We'll be talking about all of those
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  Speaker 1: at pucke huddle dot com and of course at YouTube
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  Speaker 1: dot com slash Buckey Huddle. That'll do it for today.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you guys all for joint cover your day. We'll
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  Speaker 1: talk ki tomorrow.