Happy Friday once again, and happy college football season! The start of college football means that college basketball is nearly on our doorstep, but having college football back is itself a reason to celebrate! So much, in fact, that we are talking about both for this week’s debate.
There’s not any breaking news on the Ohio State men’s basketball front, but we did sit down and speak with head coach Jake Diebler this week for about 40 minutes. For Episode 215 of “Bucketheads,” we talked to Diebler about the team’s
trip to Puerto Rico this summer, last year’s loss to TCU in the NCAA Tournament, and whether he’s an aisle seat guy or a window seat guy on the plane. You can listen to that whole conversation at the link below.
Last week, Connor and Justin each picked one of the five players that transferred from Ohio State this past spring and talked about why they would find success with their new program. Justin said that Devin Royal was by far the biggest loss for the Buckeyes, and thinks that the senior from Pickerington could be an All-Big East honoree this season at Villanova. Connor went with Taison Chatman, citing his impressive shooting numbers at Ohio State despite not getting a ton of runway to see if those could result in consistent production. At Utah, he’ll probably be a starter and we’ll finally find out what he can do with starter’s minutes for a full season.
This week, we’re looking at the Week 1 college football scoreboard and trying to decide which game would make the best college basketball matchup. No, we’re not talking about the football teams playing basketball. Look at each game on the schedule for this weekend, and pick out one game that would be a ton of fun if those schools’ basketball teams played, too.
This week’s question: Which Week 1 college football game would be the best basketball matchup?
Connor: Baylor vs. Auburn
Neither Baylor nor Auburn have been very good at football the past several years — the Bears haven’t won 10 or more games since 2021, and Auburn hasn’t done it since 2017 — but the basketball programs have both been pretty darn good and consistent lately.
Baylor men’s basketball went 17-17 last season, but before that had won 20 or more games each of the past seven seasons, including a national championship during the 2020-21 season. Auburn went 17-16 during the regular season and was the second team left out of the NCAA Tournament, despite a thorough and shameless social media campaign by the team touting their tough schedule. Auburn did go on to win the NIT, finishing with a record of 22-16. The Tigers won 20+ games in seven of the past eight seasons before that, including two 30-win seasons and two Final Four appearances. So even with last year included, these two programs have been consistently good for almost the past decade.
Neither of these squads are being accompanied by a massive hype train this summer, but both will probably receive some AP Top-25 votes and it shouldn’t surprise anyone if either Baylor or Auburn ends up being really good.
Baylor and Auburn were to play, the battles between the guards would be the most intriguing part of the game. Auburn brings back both of its starting guards from last season, Tahaad Pettiford (15.4 PPG) and Kevin Overton (14.1 PPG). Baylor, on the other hand, has the Mingo brothers — Dylan and Kayden. Dylan is a five-star recruit in the 2026 class and the No. 12 player in the nation. His older brother, Kayden, was one of the best defensive players in the Big Ten last season, averaging just over two steals per game while also scoring 13.7 points per game at Penn State as a freshman. He transferred to Baylor this spring, so Scott Drew will have one of the most entertaining backcourts in the country.
Justin: Kent State vs. South Carolina
This game would not have the fireworks that a Baylor vs. Auburn would have, but Kent State quietly brings in one of the best backcourts in the Mid-American Conference and could really give the Gamecocks a run.
Chansey Willis comes in after averaging 17 points per game for Western Michigan, and Dhani Miller is a top-50 recruit in the country. Quinn Woidke is back after a solid freshman season. Dezmon Briscoe and Jaymen Townsend are both ready to take jumps from their freshman season to sophomore season. Jakhi Calloway is another freshman they will look to contribute early.
I don’t think they would beat South Carolina with Davion Hannah, Cam Heide, Jakun Necas, Nasir Hines, and former Ohio State commit and four-star freshman Marcus Johnson, but anytime a MAC school keeps it close with a power-five program, especially an SEC school, it’s a fun time.
Plus, Rob Senderoff is a great coach, and he can help on the margins in this one.
