The NBA’s “One-Year Rule” insists that players be one year out of high school before entering the NBA Draft, causing an influx of “one-and-done” players in college basketball. The NBA has improved itself, but was it at the NCAA’s expense?

Tommy Freeman was very blunt about his game-winning shot.

“Honestly, I thought it was off when I let it go. It didn’t feel good leaving my hands. But I’m glad that I was wrong.”

The two-week Olympic break for the National Hockey League means a jumbling of the schedule, players risking injury for their countries and no All-Star game. But is it worth it for the NHL?

And then there were two. The biggest game of the season is not only the last until next September, but also the sweet end to a brutal postseason’s worth of picks for Speakeasy Sports.

It happens every year: a “bubble” team is outraged because they were snubbed for the NCAA Tournament. Virginia Tech head coach Seth Greenberg said last year that anyone who thought his Hokies didn’t belong was “clinically insane.” Should the NCAA switch to a 96-team tournament?

After an awful Wild Card weekend, the leaders in our playoff picks are now… mediocre! Way to go, fellas! A pair of 2-2 weekends was good enough to hold first place, but we keep plugging along anyway.

Ohio’s quartet of talented freshmen is leading the up-tempo basketball revolution that hopes to peak after a rough conference start. The incoming class had plenty of hype coming in – all four were honorable mention McDonald’s All-Americans coming out of high school – and each member has already made strides toward living up to it.

To quote Cosmo Kramer: “Well, that didn’t work.” Wild Card weekend wasn’t so kind to Speakeasy Sports, with the four of us picking games for a combined 2-14 record. We currently have a tie for first place with a white-hot 1-3 record, but, hey, someone has to win this. When did we turn into the NFC West?

And now we’ve finally arrtived. Four teams’ season will end here, and with the following small dissertation Justin wrote, let’s hope the Bengals win, for safety’s sake. We will keep track of records, with a surprise to come for the Super Bowl.

This crucial week could make or break some teams. As the playoffs draw ever closer, Speakeasy continues its NFL picks into week 15.

The NBA prospect and preseason pick for the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year, Osiris Eldridge, brings his considerable talents to the Convo Wednesday night. The 6-foot-3-inch Illinois State combo guard is the most talented player to visit Athens since Stephen Curry faced off against the Bobcats with Davidson in December 2006.

As the season winds to a close, Speakeasy Sports appears to be getting a grasp on the National Football League. Sort of.

New York Jets @ Buffalo Bills, Thursday (Jets won 19-13)
Justin: BUF 20 NYJ 13 – Is this game supposed to get Canadians excited about football?
Matt: NYJ 28 BUF 14 – The NFL Network really knows how to pick these Thursday Night games.  Did the league require them to pick their telecasts three years in advance?
Nick: [...]

It may be hard to believe given the relative success of the Frank Solich era, but Ohio University has not won the Mid-American Conference football championship since 1968. To put that into perspective, ‘68 was also the year that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and Richard Nixon was elected to his first presidential term. It was the final year of the golden era of Bobcats football, with the squad winning the school’s fourth MAC title of the decade. It is doubtful that even the biggest pessimist foresaw the drought that followed.

There is more to Noah Keller than shoulder pads and tackling drills.
The junior defensive leader for the Ohio Bobcats is known best for his hard hits and instinctive playing style, but most people are probably unaware of his life off the field.