Just like football... clap clap clapclapclap...

OSU's four biggest sports to play Michigan so far this year (football, men's basketball, women's basketball, hockey) have played them five times, four in Ann Arbor.

The Buckeyes are 4-1.

A couple quick thoughts...

I actually liked the officiating for the most part tonight. OSU got called for one more foul (14-13), but that's to be expected when you're living on jumpshots for the most part. The officials let them play, even when things got a little frenzied down low (they probably could have stopped play a few times during the insane rebound, tip, rebound, miss, rebound, make sequence that Sims had, but they didn't). Unless it gets nuts, let 'em play.

I don't think a team has ever done more with zero inside game and about as much defense as the Buckeyes did in the first half. That 12-for-16 orgy from behind the arc is one of the big reasons why no one wants to see this team in March. They could get hot and make a run to the Elite Eight or dump a game to a 13 seed in the first round if they're off. There's just no way to know what you're going to get.

Je'Kel Foster is one of those guys who just haunts other teams' dreams. His 5-for-6 mark from deep tonight makes him an absolutely unholy 12-for-14 from behind the 3-point arc over his last two games.

If you watch the first half again, when Ivan Harris hits the Buckeyes' third triple in a row, if you look in the background you can see some of the members of the UM student section doubling over like they got punched in the stomach. I like to call that "good times."

I ended up getting stuck at work and couldn't make it to Ann Arbor. It's probably for the best that I didn't go to the game. Around that time I started doing the "Prince and the Revolution" thing from the classic Chappelle's Show skit, saying "good" as soon as the guy releases it. By the time it got up to 8-for-9, I was just greeting every three-ball with a Dick Vitale-like OOOOOOHHHHHH! OOOOOOOOHHHHHHH! I don't think I would have been welcomed with open arms in Crisler.

Courtney Sims looked unreal. 26 points (13-for-16 shooting????) and 15 boards is a damn good night no matter who you're playing. He completely owned the paint on both ends of the floor for about 30 minutes tonight. Sims out-rebounded everyone in the OSU frontcourt (Terance Dials, Matt Sylvester, Matt Terwilliger, Ivan Harris and Ron Lewis) 15-6. In the words of the late, great Tuesday Morning Quarterback, "Ye Gods!"

Dials had a dreadful night (although he came on strong at the end and started to neutralize Sims) and still looked miles better than Graham Brown.

Michigan can't buy a break injury-wise. First Lester Abram has to sit out again, and now they lose Dion Harris too?

Michigan's remaining schedule and my best guesses:
at Purdue (Win)
Minnesota (Win)
at Michigan State (Loss)
Illinois (Loss*)
at Ohio State (Loss)
Indiana (Win)

*- I changed my answer three times. Michigan needs a big night from Sims and Horton.

OSU's remaining schedule and my best guesses:
Illinois (Win)
at Wisconsin (Loss**)
Northwestern (Win)
at Michigan State (Loss)
Michigan (Win)
at Northwestern (Win)
Purdue (Win)

**- Based solely on the fact that UW will have one game where they play absolutely out of their minds and kill someone they shouldn't. They clobbered IU this week and probably have one more like that in them.

That puts OSU at 11-5, and probably gives them a share of the Big Ten title in about a four-way tie.