
Ohio State men's basketball takes on TCU on Thursday in the NCAA Tournament, and Bill Landis will be there to cover it for The Bill and Doug Show. While Bill is making his way to South Carolina, he and Doug broke down what this means for Bruce Thornton and Jake Diebler, and how the Buckeyes match up with the Horned Frogs.
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Doug Lee Maurice
Welcome back to the Bill and Doug Show. Talk about Ohio State basketball through the magic of the interwebs. Bill Landis is actually in a car on his way to South Carolina as you are watching and listening to this because Bill will be going to cover for the Bill and Doug substack for this YouTube channel. This podcast feedback cover the Basketball bucks. They're the 89 game versus TCU and you're going to be there, Philly Billy.
Bill Landis
I will be there. Yeah. Looking forward to it. We did not. Yeah, it's, it's kind of. We did the thing that a lot of Ohio State outlets do I think, which is like didn't do anything with college basketball until the football season was firmly over. So this is a bit of a new experience for me because the previous times I've gone to cover the tournament I have been like a kind of like full board basketball beat writer for the whole season but been covering them like pretty steadily since, since like the middle of January and feel like I have a pretty good handle for this team and who they are and where they want to go and what they're capable of. So I'm excited to, to be down there in Greenville, get a little bit of open locker room access. Could talk to some guys that maybe aren't always made available for interviews and then yeah, watching them play 12:15 Thursday in the the opener of of the main bracket on CBS against tcu.
Doug Lee Maurice
So we will expect that we'll have another show on this feed probably Wednesday afternoon where I think we will make our picks for that game. We'll give you our final Four picks, our national championship picks. We're also going to do a big Wednesday show on our sub stack for our Substack subscribers digging in more on how sort of football powers are doing who made the NCAA tournament for teams that really play major college football at the highest level. So we'll have a big meaty two hour show with Bill from South Carolina. Come join us at billanddugosu.substack.com we're going to keep writing football. We're going to have basketball. Great written stories from South Carolina by Bill. We're going to be podcasting over there and plus you're getting 18% off right now because we're doing a deal for spring football. Just remind the good folks Bill how they can get the the cheaper annual subscription.
Bill Landis
Yeah, Bill and Doug. OSU.substack.com is the website/spring18 will get you there. If you don't want to remember all those letters that is pinned to the to my Twitter profile @BillAndIs25 the link will be right there. And I also believe if you just go to our main subscription tab that's right there at the top of the page. If you go on desktop it should be there automatically. But yeah, it is 18% off an annual subscription and that'll be available through the end of spring football.
Doug Lee Maurice
So we'll talk a little bit about what what we know so far. Obviously Ohio State got in on Sunday. They're an eight seed against number nine tcu. They're opposite number one Duke in Greenville, South Carolina. It feel is is it not true that this NCAA tournament appearance for the basketball Buckeyes is primarily about two people and those two people are Bruce Thornton as a crowning achievement for the the greatest scorer in Ohio State basketball history who is finally getting his chance to play in the NCAA basketball tournament and Jake Diebler, the second year coach who was promoted from within after the firing of Chris Holtman and after a not great year last year. But like how this season is like how's it going? And for the two of them like this is a pretty huge deal for I think how like Thornton may be remembered and just that he gets this opportunity. And also it's like for like almost for the legacy and kind of the past of Thornton but then for the future of Diebler like this how big of a deal do you think this is for those two guys?
Bill Landis
Yeah, it's a huge deal for both of them. I do think Bruce has had like a remarkable career at Ohio State to be so productive and so important and to be Kind of like primarily defined by losing more than anyone would have liked is a difficult spot to be in. But. But I also give him sort of a ton of credit for not bolt in town when he could have at several different times and had been a pretty highly coveted transfer had he done that. And so like, you know, his name's the top of the record books is the program's all time leading scorer. There's a, there's a graphic or like a whatever decal on the basketball building of all the program's top scorers and hasn't been updated yet, but it will be updated with Bruce Thornton at the top. Right. And he's a guy who's. Whose name is going to be somewhat unavoidable when you're talking about sort of, sort of the history of Ohio State basketball. But then to think like all of that being true and him not playing in the NCAA tournament would just be like kind of sad honestly. And he's getting to do it I think is cool. He actually is, is getting to do it kind of close to home. He's from Georgia, I looked it up. His town of Fairburn is about like two and a half hours from Greenville, South Carolina. So not quite a homecoming but, but close enough maybe that he can have some folks who otherwise wouldn't be able to go see him play. Go, go do so assuming you can get tickets from Duke and Carolina fans who are going to be in Greenville on, on that day as well. So it could be a difficult tick. I don't know that I have like a ton of expectations or like Bruce Thornton needs to do this in a tournament or we're going to think about him a certain way. Like I kind of feel like the fact that he's ended his career this way by, by sort of, you know, in some ways like willing Ohio State to this point with some of the ways he was playing for me, almost feels like enough. But, but boy, wouldn't it be a heck of a thing if he can get them a win or two before his career is over. And then yeah, for Jake Diebler it's. You're kind of laying the foundation of expectations moving forward, right? Like it's. He has coach now Jake Diebler. This is his first NCAA tournament as a head coach obviously. But he has coached 15 games in March and he's 10 and 5. Like college basketball coaches are sort of defined by like what you win when it's March. And the only thing that really matters is that and that is NCAA tournament games. And this will be his first, but like, he's coached pretty well in this time of the year, kind of since he's been ahead coach. So I'm, I don't know what that means for, for his first kind of trip to the tournament as, as the head man. But I'm, I'm interested there. I think there are guys who are like, okay to pretty good in the regular season, but it's hard to win consistently in the regular season, but maybe are just like dynamite with extra prep or have a certain style that makes them hard to play against once you get to the tournament. And I'm not saying that Jake Diebler is definitely that, but I'm interested to find out sort of what he is. Right. And the fact that he has, you know, been kind of a 500 coach in every other month, but is 10, 10 and 5 in March. Maybe it's just a statistical anomaly with too small of a sample size for that to mean anything whatsoever. But I, but I do find it interesting
Doug Lee Maurice
if Thornton had never played in the NCAA tournament, I think when you look back in the history books on him, you would have thought one of two things. And I'm not saying that either of these things are fair, but like, people who didn't watch him, you're just looking at stats, whatever. You either would have thought, like, okay, this guy's the all time leading score, but he's not a winner. Like, he just, like he was just the best player in a bunch of sucky teams and he scored a lot, or he would have been a tragic figure. Like, oh my God, how did Bruce Thornton never even get to feel like what it is to practice at March Madness? And neither of the. You don't want, you don't want to be out of those things. So, like, it is. I, I think as you already said, I, I don't think anything else has to be done because he's here. Like, I did a story one time when I was covering baseball about like just getting one hit in the major leagues as opposed to being like someone who's called up to the majors and gets a cup of coffee and never gets a hit, right? It's like, oh, we didn't even. Oh, for four. It's like I didn't belong. Did you belong there? Right? It's like he belongs here now. It's just like a, it's a stamp a little bit, you know? And so like, I just, it felt like. Did, did you not feel like there was like a national narrative around, like, get Bruce Thornton to March Madness. That was Developing.
Bill Landis
Yeah, definitely. Because he's, you know, opposing coaches hold him in high esteem because he didn't transfer. I think national college basketball media does the same that the, the list of. I don't have the number, but I, I heard somebody say it like a week or two ago. Like, the list of guys who have, like, played at the same program over the last four years is pretty short. Oh, wow. And. And obviously Bruce. Bruce has done that. So. Yeah, I think in a, In a sport that is because we're getting used to this in college football. Right. Like, sort of like how transient college football is becoming. College basketball has been this way for, For a while now, and I think people have come to accept that and, and. And not bemoan it quite as much, but it's probably, I don't know, 15, if not more than that, less fun than it used to be because guys don't stick around the way that Bruce has for Ohio State. So the fact that he has done that and been productive and now gotten here, I think there are a lot of people outside of the Ohio State sphere who are. Who are very excited about that. And yes, there was a, like, mid February. It was like, oh, boy, they're not going to do it. They're not going to get there. And then they started to play better. It's like, oh, my God, they're going to do it. They're going to get there and Bruce Thorne is going to get to play the tournament. And I think there was a lot of momentum behind that. Yeah.
Doug Lee Maurice
And. And this is like, I don't know that a version of, like, the highest compliment to me that you can, like, give a. An Ohio State basketball player just because, like, what, what I've experienced in my career around Ohio State basketball, like, you could drop Bruce Thornton onto the David Lighty, Aaron Craft, William Buford, John Dbler, Dallas Lauderdale, Jared Buckeyes, like, and it'd be like, let's go. Like, he'd be right in there. And what those guys were, were great players who stuck around, who developed relationships with fans, who represented Ohio State basketball in the best possible way. And, like, the only difference between Bruce Thornton and them is, like, they all had each other and Bruce Thornton's guys, like, all left, and then as a result, he didn't win at the same level. But I thought it was, like, instructive. The. The. And obviously, I mean, they played Michigan three times this year, but, like, you just watch like, Roddy. Were Rodigale and Bruce Thornton in the same class? They were, right? Yes. And like, What? Rodigail. Rodigale transfers to Michigan, so he plays two years at Ohio State, transfers to Michigan his second year there, and he's playing for a number one seed, but he's like. He plays, like, 20 minutes a game. He's like a kind of a good energy guy off the bench, right? He's like. It's not like the team is built around him, but I think it. It says, like, a little bit of maybe about, like, the difference between Ohio State basketball and men's basketball, because Rodigail is more than that at Ohio State. So he has, like, a lesser role kind of at Michigan, but they're winning more. But it's like, it's the two roads traveled, right? And I'm not saying that Roddy Gale made a mistake by leaving, but it's just, like, you think about what could have been, and, like, you keep him here, and if, like.
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And.
Doug Lee Maurice
And Bruce Thorton is the road less traveled in this day and age. And so this is the final stamp that I think. You think he will be remembered how? By Ohio State fans, his Ohio State legacy. The people who say, man, I was there for all four years of Bruce Thornton, and he was blank.
Bill Landis
I think he would be baseline. Will be remembered as, like, a. Like a stalwart Buckeye. Like a guy who was Buckeye through and through. Could have bailed. Never did. And not, like, the reception that he got when they beat Indiana in the shot and he broke Dennis Hobson's program record. Like, that was a great night in the shot. It was. It was probably the best crowd I've seen in my time covering Ohio State in that building. And they were all there for Bruce. Like, they.
Doug Lee Maurice
He's.
Bill Landis
He's. He's beloved, right? Like, and I think deservedly so. And now that he's gotten the team to this point, that just sort of cements that. But the other thing that can happen is, like, he's gotten the team to this point, and now let's see what the program becomes from here. And there's a chance people say, like, Bruce Thornton turned the program around like they were. They were lost for whatever, five or so years, and Bruce got them back to where. Got them back on the right track to get them back where they. They should be. So there's. There's an opportunity for that to enhance. But, like, say that doesn't happen. Say whatever. You know, God forbid they go another four years without making a tournament or something. I. I do think Bruce will still be looked upon fondly for being a guy who stuck it out and and ended his career on the right note. By the way, that recruiting class, I just like looked it up as you were talking about it. Five man recruiting class in 2022 for Ohio State. Bruce Thornton, still a buck guy, playing in the tournament. Roddy Gale in the tournament for Michigan. Felix Akpara in the tournament, playing at Tennessee this year. Bowen Hardman in the tournament, playing at Akron this year. And then the fifth guy in the class is Bryce Sensible, he's playing in the NBA. Oh wow. It was one and done. So like the class ended up being pretty good. They just weren't together.
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Doug Lee Maurice
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Bill Landis
I about mental health.
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Doug Lee Maurice
Second guy, Jake Diebler. You and I were at the NFL combine in our roomy residence Inn where we did splurge independent journalists and we each had our own bedroom. That's night we went out to Cheddar's lovely midwestern chain restaurant. Your first experience at Cheddar's, you gave it a thumbs up, right?
Bill Landis
Yeah, the, the like a fried apple pie thing for dessert. It was out of bounds. Yeah. Yeah.
Doug Lee Maurice
And then I think afterwards you said I should not have eaten that fried apple pie. And it was like, no, you should have. It was worth it. I had cheesecake. So we went back to the room and Ohio State lost to Iowa that night and they were up 34 to 3, I think in the first half. And then they blew that lead and they lost to Iowa and they fell to 17 and 11 and 9 and 8 in the Big Ten. And I thought they were dead. Did you think they were dead?
Bill Landis
Yes. Yeah. Yeah, that was. That was probably their worst performance of the season.
Doug Lee Maurice
I think it was actually, like, 14, two, I think, was their lead in that game. And then they completely blew it and weren't close in the second half. From that, they won four straight games, three to end the regular season. They beat Iowa, then avenged that loss. They beat Iowa in the first round of the Big Ten tournament and then pushed Michigan to the wall in a Big Ten quarterfinal. And, like, that is a feather in the cap of Jake Diebler. Yes. That run the way they finished this season.
Bill Landis
Yeah. Because not only did they win three in a row, they. They beat Purdue. That just won the Big Ten tournament. Like, it wasn't.
Doug Lee Maurice
Yep.
Bill Landis
And, like, beat, like, a desperate Indiana team. And the sure, like, the needed to win to keep his tournament hopes alive and, like, kind of kept them at bay pretty strongly and shot the crap out of the ball at Penn State. Penn State's not any good, but it's like, boy, that was. That was a heck of a display by Ohio State in that game. So it wasn't that they won. They played really well. They weren't. They weren't like, pulling wins out of their butt. They were kind of the better team start to finish in all three of those games.
Doug Lee Maurice
It's hard because I think maybe I. I think until this March. How many years back would you go to say that the primary conversation around Ohio State basketball was whether they should fire their coach?
Bill Landis
Oh, boy.
Doug Lee Maurice
Because I think, like, you would have said until March. I think that was the primary conversation this year around Diebler. I think last year, it's like, are they gonna fire Jake Diebler after year one? Like, probably not. But I think most of the conversation was, is this the right guy for the job?
Bill Landis
Yep.
Doug Lee Maurice
The year before that was the year Chris Holtman got fired. That's all that conversation was all that year. And I think the year before that, you would have said the conversation. The primary conversation was, is Chris Holtman should be. Should he be fired or not? So when you talked about, hey, he's like, hey, you want to talk about how to say basketball? It's like, yeah, what do you want to talk about if their coach stinks? Was there any. Like, there just wasn't. That was the number one topic for three and a half years, wasn't it?
Bill Landis
Yeah. And I think even so, yeah. Because the year before Holtman got fired, they lost, like, nine games in a row going into March, and then obviously didn't make the tournament. And even the year before that, they did make the Tournament. They, like, kind of limped in so that people weren't feeling great about where the program was that March either. I'm going back, I guess the year before. It's weird. Like, the year before that was the year they. The bubble year where they went on the run in the Big Ten tournament. But they had. They lost their last four regular season games before they went on that run in the Big Ten tournament. So, like, there's not really been like a regular season end to get you super fired up in Ohio State basketball, I guess, like since the year they canceled the NCAA tournament.
Doug Lee Maurice
That's a. Because I'll tell you what. And I don't blame the fans at all. It's exhausting when that's the number one topic around any team. It's exhausting for fans. And it's not that fun because you're almost. It creates this vortex where you're almost. You as a fan, you might almost wind up rooting against your team because you kind of want the coach to be fired. So then it's like, well, we stink. It's like, oh, we want a couple. I guess they're not going to fire him. And it's just like, that is no way to live, man. And this program has basically lived that way for half a decade and they climbed out of it like two weeks ago.
Bill Landis
I had not thought of it that way, but I do. Yeah, I do think you're right. And I think that's partly what contributed to the atmosphere in that Indiana game, too. It wasn't like it was primarily Bruce and going for the record and Ohio State being in a position in that game to sort of like lock up an NCAA tournament bid before the Big Ten tournament even started. But I also think there was just a little bit of like a end of February. March has kind of sucked if you're Ohio State basketball fan for like four or five years. And this was like an opportunity for it not to suck. And I think the people who were in that building on that day just like kind of let it all out. Yeah, they were pretty fired up to. To be in that position. And. And it did. I've said this before, like, I didn't cover. I, I started covering the team the last two years of that. So I. So I missed the peak of Thad. But it, it felt you were in the, the Mickey.
Doug Lee Maurice
The Mickey Mitchell sad era.
Bill Landis
Yeah, that was why. That was the first. Like, those guys were freshmen. My first year covering the team. Mickey Mitchell, Austin grand staff in that class. But that, that last home Game of this year against Indiana is sort of what the peak that era was like has is in my mind just like 17,000 people who really care about Ohio State basketball going nuts because this game matters and this team's fun to cheer for. So that's like, that's, that's sort of what they were for a four or five game stretch here to end the season.
Doug Lee Maurice
Yeah, we talked about this to some degree with Blake Biscardi and Professor Steve Hellwagen on Around the Shoe on Monday. If you want to go back and make sure you catch that in this YouTube and podcast feed, you're gonna have, I think, on our sub stack. We'll talk about it a little bit here. We'll talk about it in depth on our sub stack show. You're gonna have a great breakdown of like, what's up, tcu, Ohio State? What's the deal with this? This is still early. We're, we're recording this late Monday just as a heads up in case something happened overnight. What's your initial gut instinct about this Ohio State TCU matchup?
Bill Landis
I think people will look at like, you can look at like, Ken Palm, where Ohio state's like about 20 spots better than TCU. You can look at TCU's sort of like, lack of size, not a very big team, and think to yourself like, boy, this is a good matchup for Ohio State. The one thing the TCU does really well is defend. They are top 25 nationally in defensive efficiency, high turnover team, high pressure team, generate a lot of steals. And I was just, you know, poking around on Ken Palm looking like, who are the best defensive teams Ohio State's played this year. Ohio State played 10 games against teams that were top 30 in defensive efficiency this year, and they went 2 and 8. And six of those losses are like their six worst offensive performances of the year. So I think some of that is less about defensive profile statistically and more about, like, size. For instance, like, you know, when Ohio State plays Michigan, Michigan puts 6 foot 8 Yaxol Lindenberg on Bruce Thornton. And that's a tough matchup because Bruce is 6:2. So I don't want to say that it's all the same thing and Michigan's the best defensive team in the country. But when Ohio State has played elite defense this year, it has struggled. And, and TCU has had games where it's been really good defensively, including against Michigan. It almost beat Michigan early this year. It has beaten Florida. It has played three of the four number one overall seeds. They've had kind of a weird schedule. Played Michigan, tough, beat Florida. I think they were less competitive against Arizona. But TCU is also, like, lost. They lost their opener to New Orleans, which was like, you know, I think they're weird. Like, eight games this year. They had, they have, they have some great wins.
Doug Lee Maurice
They beat Wisconsin, they beat Texas Tech.
Bill Landis
Awful, awful losses. Yeah.
Doug Lee Maurice
Like, what do you think? Would you rather be, like. Because the whole thing for Ohio State was they didn't have very many bad losses, but until, like, the last month of the season, they had no quad one wins. So TCU has high ceiling wins. And down in the depths of the basement losses. Ohio State for much of the year, like, kind of was beating everybody they should beat, but wasn't beating anybody good. What, what type of team would you rather be going into the NCAA tournament? More variants, up and down or slow and steady wins the race.
Bill Landis
I think I'd probably rather be the, the more stable team.
Doug Lee Maurice
Okay.
Bill Landis
Which I think is what Ohio State is. I guess if TCU were like, sort of that volatile, but volatile because, like, some nights they go berserk and shoot 60 from three. Maybe, maybe that'd be one thing. But I think, I think Ohio State's like, baseline offense has been very good all year, and lately they've been playing better defense. So, like, if you look at.
Doug Lee Maurice
There's a.
Bill Landis
There's a really good website. I like Bart. Bart torvik.com, which is basically like Ken Palm. It's slightly different, but it's free.
Doug Lee Maurice
Is that the, the comedian who doesn't wear a shirt?
Bill Landis
No, that's Bert Kreischer.
Doug Lee Maurice
Sorry, I thought he had it.
Bill Landis
I get it. I get it. Yeah, yeah. No, I understand the confusion. So, like, whenever I put my bracket together, I like to look. And people like to do this too. Like, you like to look at, like, recent form or whatever. But I like Bart. I like Bart Torvik.com because you can just say, like, show me how everyone's played since. Whatever. February 1st.
Doug Lee Maurice
Cool.
Bill Landis
Ohio State, since February 1st has a worse record than TCU. Ohio State is 7 and 5, but they're 14th in the country in terms of, like, efficient play, offense, defense, how they play. They're 14th in the country with a 7 and 5 record. TCU with a 9 and 3 record over that span, is 47th in the country. So, like, TCU better record. Ohio State better. Better, like, quality of play for a more prolonged period of time. So, okay, it's the. Yeah, it's, it's. I, I just. There are. It's one of those things, like, if I say like doesn't turn the ball over a bunch, they're probably going to win. But TCU has turned teams over quite a bit, especially like very good teams. So like that's the thing you have to kind of look out for. But otherwise, you know, TCU doesn't have a seven footer. Ohio State has two. Tcu, you know, doesn't really play anybody bigger than like six, eight in. Ohio State has two seven footers. Amari Bynum, Brandon Noel coming back off an injury, who's 69 like Devin Royals, like a big wing forward. And I think maybe if you, you probably would worry about Ohio State encountering a team that has big guards because neither Bruce Thornton nor John Mobley are the biggest guards in the world, but both of TCV's guards are six foot. Like Ohio State actually has a size advantage of guard. Oh. In this game. So there are things that point guards.
Doug Lee Maurice
An Iowa transfer. Right.
Bill Landis
So they've seen that before. Yeah. He's an Iowa transfer who I say to see before. Yeah. So there are things in the matchup that I think, you know, favor Ohio State. But it's also, it's, it's, as we mentioned, It's Jake Diebler's first NCAA tournament game. And this will be Jamie Dixon's 16th NCAA tournament. Yeah. And he's, he's taken pit on some deep runs. And this is his fifth tournament at TCU and prior to him being there, in like 100 years of TCU basketball, they had seven NCAA tournament. So he's a really good coach with a lot more experience than Jake Diebler, especially in this tournament.
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Doug Lee Maurice
If Bruce Thornton's Bruce Thornton, who's the guy that you would say is like the guy that's gonna, especially against this good defensive team that's going to be like, I'm like, I see X Factor. Who's the key guy for Ohio State?
Bill Landis
I probably say Devin Royal. If Devin Royal is making threes, Ohio State's really hard to beat, so I would probably go with him.
Doug Lee Maurice
Okay, so give, give the good folks a lay of the land. Your plans, when media availability is, when practices are, when people can maybe expect some stuff@billanddugosu.substack.com and also then on this YouTube and podcast feedback.
Bill Landis
Yep. So hopping in the car Tuesday morning. We'll be getting there sometime Tuesday evening. Ohio State's interviews are around 11 on Wednesday, so that'll be when the open locker room is and they'll have an open practice after that. So I'll, I'll shoot some video the open practice. I'll put that up on the Substack page. I'll have some written things off of those interviews as well. And then we'll bring some of that of what I hear to this channel as well when we give our picks and our in our final four picks as well on that show. So, yeah, I like, I don't, I don't post a lot on Twitter. I don't really post anything on Twitter because we don't get paid to post on Twitter. So if you're interested in following any of that, I only post some stuff on Substack in the chat, on the notes on the Substack app, photos, video, thoughts, whatever. But yeah, it all kind of starts around 11am on Wednesday. And then the game obviously is Thursday at 12:15.
Doug Lee Maurice
Okay, good time to go check out the substack. Football's off this week, but this would be a good time. Like, it's just a very convenient schedule here. Ohio State's on spring break. There's no football practices, but it's hoops time. And Ohio State is back in the tournament for the first time in four seasons. Bill Landis will be there giving you great coverage of everything you could ask for. So, you know, make sure you're, you're subscribed here on YouTube here on this podcast feed. Make sure you're subscribed. If you want to drop reviews anywhere on Podcast up, you want to leave comments. We love all of that stuff, but we also would invite you if you haven't sampled the substack yet. This would be like spring football plus basketball. This is like even if you come over for a month, you don't have to do the 18% off for the full year. You can come over and, and try a month and see what you think because there's like a. There's a lot popping brother. And like if you did it now, man, if you subscribe like on Wednesday, that's the 18th. And then the spring game is April 18th. You would get like what Bill's writing from Greenville. And then I think you'd get through the spring football game and then you could tell us Sayonora if you want.
Bill Landis
Sure. You could do. Yeah. I mean we'll, we'll, we'll take whatever we can get. But. But also like I do think the annual deal, like if you, if you signed up on that 18 discount before the end of spring practice, like that means you'll get everything we do from now through start of next spring practice for. Yeah, for a nice discount. And then you can decide after that if we're for you or we're not. But no, we're appreciative of anyone who tries us out at any time in any fashion.
Doug Lee Maurice
We'll take, we'll take it and we appreciate you guys being here right now. Safe travels to you Philly. Billy. Heading down to South. You've been to South Carolina a lot in your life.
Bill Landis
I have been to Myrtle Beach.
Doug Lee Maurice
Okay.
Bill Landis
And I've been to south of the border on. There you go off I95. But I've never been, never been to Greenville.
Doug Lee Maurice
Those are the big ones. Our good buddy tissue down there in Greenville.
Bill Landis
Yeah, I'm gonna, I'm gonna say hello.
Doug Lee Maurice
Yeah, yeah, say hello tissue. All right. Thanks to you guys as always for joining us here. For now, he is the traveling man, Bill Landis. I am Doug Lee Maurice and that was the Bill and Doug show.
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The Bill and Doug Show: Ohio State Basketball in the NCAA Tournament March 17, 2026 | Blue Wire
In this special episode of The Bill and Doug Show, hosts Doug Lesmerises and Bill Landis turn their extensive Ohio State football focus to the Buckeyes basketball team, who just secured an 8-seed berth in the NCAA Tournament. The discussion zeroes in on two central figures: Bruce Thornton, Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer, as he finally makes his long-awaited March Madness debut, and Jake Diebler, the second-year head coach carving out his own legacy after a turbulent recent history for the program. The hosts talk legacies, program trajectories, and preview the important first-round matchup against TCU.
| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|-------------------------------------------------------| | 01:30 | Bill prepares to cover Buckeyes in Greenville, SC | | 04:39 | Bruce Thornton’s legacy, loyalty, and significance | | 06:10 | Diebler’s March record & potential as a tournament coach | | 08:02–08:33 | What if Bruce never played in the NCAA Tournament? | | 09:18 | Thornton’s unique status in transfer-heavy era | | 13:01 | How Thornton will be remembered by Buckeye fans | | 16:51 | Turning point: Win streak after loss to Iowa | | 17:25–20:00 | Exhaustion & emotional drain of the “hot seat” years | | 22:05 | Initial matchup analysis: Ohio State vs. TCU | | 24:52 | Advanced stats: Ohio State/Torvik efficiency vs. TCU | | 28:38 | X-Factor for Ohio State: Devin Royal | | 29:02 | Coverage plans, Substack info, and game schedule |
For Buckeye fans who have just tuned in: This episode is a thoughtful, insider look at how legacies are shaped (and saved) in March—for players, for coaches, and for programs that desperately need a shot of optimism.