​Welcome back to another heart-stopping, tear-jerking, knee-slapping edition of “You’re Nuts,” where our basketball writers pick a basketball-related or basketball-adjacent topic and defend their sides until they hit a word count or run out of meaningful things to say. This week has been pretty big for college basketball fans in the Buckeye State. For the first time, the state’s four marquee programs—Ohio State, Xavier, Cincinnati, and Dayton—will all take the floor on the same day, in the same event. The twist is that there won’t be a roof overhead, because the CareSource Invitational is being staged on the tennis courts at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason, Ohio—the same venue that hosts the Cincinnati Open. Ohio State will meet Cincinnati, while Dayton will take on Xavier. There’s no promise this event will return next year, but Ohio State head coach Jake Diebler called it a “good first step” toward potentially arranging something similar during the regular season, even acknowledging the logistical hurdles involved. More on this later.
Last week, Connor and Justin debated whether the Buckeyes’ four freshmen—Anthony Thompson, LJ Smith, Vuk Lazarevic, and Alex Smith—would collectively average over or under 30.5 points. Connor leaned toward the over, predicting that both Smiths will contribute more than many anticipate. Justin argued for the under, noting a wider range of outcomes for Thompson, including the possibility that he averages around 12 or 13 points per game.
This week, we’re taking a lighthearted look at the outdoor angle of the CareSource Invitational. Ohio State has never played on a tennis court before, and weather could influence how the game unfolds. It’s also appealing that the venue is reasonably accessible for fans of all four schools. With that in mind, what other outdoor venues would be fun, hilarious, and iconic for Buckeye Nation? We’re loosening the constraints to allow practicality, even if it isn’t perfectly feasible—though it shouldn’t be physically impossible.
For example, staging a game inside a protective glass dome at the bottom of Lake Erie would be very quintessentially Ohio, but it isn’t practical or even possible in the near term. On the other hand, a floating basketball court just off the Lake Erie shore at Maumee Bay State Park isn’t practical now, but with an unlimited budget it might not be entirely out of the question. Then there’s the cornfield spectacle near Dublin, Ohio, at Frantz and Rings Roads, where more than 100 six-foot-tall corn statues line a grid-like arrangement. You can walk between the rows in every direction, but there’s no obvious, self-evident purpose for the corn beyond its sheer spectacle—and there isn’t a big sign to lean on for search engine optimization either. We’re aiming for a minimum 500-word exploration here, so let your imagination roam and consider venues that could deliver memorable, if not perfectly practical, Buckeye moments.
With all of that in mind, what outdoor venues would you propose that would be equally entertaining, audacious, and emblematic of Ohio basketball culture? We’re encouraging bold ideas, balanced with a touch of feasibility, and we’re curious how far you’d push the envelope while keeping the spirit of Buckeye hoops at the center.