Ohio State football's natty standard, a low over-under win total, Ryan Day wants structure and more: Doug Rants

Ten thoughts as we swing back to heavy football coverage with the men's basketball season ending.

The national standard for Ohio State footnall should ideally be a plus, not a minus, for other OSU sports. (Photo courtesy of Ohio State)

10 thoughts on Ohio State football and a final brush on men’s basketball.

1. Back to football. Spring practice returns Tuesday, and while the Ohio State women’s team won its first game Saturday, the men have been bounced. So heavy football talk will resume.

   Sitting at the front of my mind is Ohio State’s over-under win total of 9.5 wins for the regular season, which was recently released by FanDuel.

   Five power conference teams had higher win totals: Notre Dame and Texas Tech at 11.5, and Indiana, Oregon and Miami at 10.5.

   That’s primarily a schedule distinction. The Buckeyes have Texas, Indiana, Oregon, USC and Michigan on the schedule.

   Indiana, for instance, has the Buckeyes and also plays Michigan and USC. But the Hoosiers’ next toughest game is Washington — no Ducks or Longhorns.

   Still, since the regular season expanded to 12 games in 2006, the Buckeyes have lost three regular-season games just once, in the chaotic NCAA-sanctioned season of 2011.

   To go under this number, Ohio State would need to have its worst normal regular season since 2004.

   If the Buckeyes are staring at five legit games against the the Longhorns, Hoosiers, Ducks, Trojans and Wolverines, do you think they’ll lose more than half of them?

   Or go 3-2 in them and then get upset by Illinois, Iowa or Nebraska?

   You can certainly see 10-2, but who’s willing to bet on being a 9-3 Doug?

   Also interesting — Ohio State is currently the national title favorite on FanDuel at +550, while Notre Dame and Texas are next at +750.

   On DraftKings, Ohio State, Texas, Notre Dame and Indiana are co-favorites at +700.

   So the lower win total really is about a tougher schedule, but the playoff is a different story.

   I’m not saying I vehemently disagree with the win total, but I’m a solid over bet at the moment.

2. Ohio State football’s national title standard permeates everything about Ohio State sports. It doesn’t mean natty or bust is applied to every other sport, but there’s an instinct to expect excellence underlying every part of Ohio State fandom. Those feelings have only intensified in this modern era of college football, where Ohio State football doesn’t have to look up at anybody. No more chasing Alabama, Georgia or the SEC.

   Ohio State can be the best football program in the nation, and probably is right now.

3. I think there are three things that can be done with that instinct in other parts of the athletic department:

   • Embrace It and use it as fuel in every part of your Ohio State-ness.

   • Accept It, apply it mostly to football, but understand it exists.

   • Fight It, deny it, get frustrated by it, and make high standards your enemy.

4. If you coach, play or intensely follow Ohio State basketball, you had better take the Accept It route, but sometimes, you find people who fall into the Fight It mindset.

   Embrace It might be too much to ask. But I think Thad Matta pretty quickly got to Accept It. I wonder if Chris Holtmann ever did.

   Mark Titus, Buckeye hoops walk-on turned podcaster, is in Fight It mode after saying on some show after Ohio State’ basketball’s loss to TCU, “we have the worst fans in the world, Ohio State. Ohio State basketball fans are the worst fans in the world. They’re the worst. They’re literally the worst.”

   You can go find that show if you’d like to. Titus can, of course, say whatever he wants. But he can also cram it.