Seminole Bingo

I couldn't find a video featuring the Warren Zevon song "Seminole Bingo", so you get this. Enjoy.

*Gulp*

It's that time of year again. The Big Ten-ACC challenge. The Big Ten.... eh, she has not fared so well in the history of this "challenge":

Year	ACC Wins	Big Ten Wins
1999	5	4
2000	5	4
2001*	5	3
2002	5	4
2003	7	2
2004	7	2
2005	6	5
2006	8	3
2007	8	3
2008	6	5

So it has never really been much of a challenge at all for the ACC; considering the aforelinked article denotes that Michigan's 3-5 record over this span is the conference's third best, and Michigan State is the only BXI team with a winning record through the challenge's history. Things are historically ugly on a conference-wide basis here, but that does not preclude the possibility of many good things coming out of this year's tournament.

This year, the Buckeyes draw the 6-1 Florida State Seminoles. The Seminoles won their preseason tournament - the Old Spice classic - by coming back from a double-digit deficit to top Marquette. On the year, their only loss is to the very same Florida team that upset Michigan State and thereby sent The Only Colors into justified conniptions. Marquette is the closet thing these guys have to a quality win, while Cal is ours. Schedule-wise, it's basically a draw right now.

The 'Noles represent the stiffest home test the Buckeyes will get prior to the conference season, and should be a good barometer of the team's progress. Was that 100-point outburst over hapless St. Francis (Pa.) a harbinger of things to come? Is Jon Diebler, now averaging 16 pts/game and hitting his open looks about to become a consistent part of this offense? Is William Buford leaving the locker room?  Can Dallas Lauderdale, or really anyone on the inside, stop competent big men, if the 'Noles have them?

I don't know, and the game against FSU probably won't answer all of these questions, but it'll be the best indication we've had all year of where this team stands: we're six games into the season, and the team should be hitting its OOC stride soon. Anything less than a very good showing against a good-but-far-from-great ACC team would be a pretty big setback for this team and pretty good cause to re-evaluate our expectations for the rest of the season. Right now, I like the Buckeyes' chances, as I think we'll make far better decisions in shot selection than we did against UNC. Might be a tad presumptious, but hey, you know me; I'm an incurable optimist.