I caught the second half of Ohio State’s victory over Illinois at Geez on Far Hills Avenue. When Ohio State completed its one and only pass of the game, one patron stood up, yelled and fell on the floor. He didn’t move. There was talk of bringing in a defibrillator. After a short debate, the consensus was to use it on OSU coach Luke Fickell, who later said it “didn’t really matter” that the Buckeyes completed just one pass. One?

The Big East is desperately trying to make its conference name make as much sense as campaigning for president a year before the general election. In an attempt to impress the BCS, the New York-based league has invited a bunch of schools — including Boise State — to sign on.

I know many of us aren’t interested in geography, so allow me to help. Boise is in Idaho, which is close to Washington (not the D.C. one).

The insanity that has overtaken the college conference dominoes game is mind-boggling. At least TCU (in Texas) had the common sense to rethink its Big East commitment and accept an invite from the Big 12. The 10-school Big 12 also should take a hard look at Boise and consider what it would add to the league, not Boise’s 112th-largest TV market.

The NBA season is in jeopardy. The owners want a 50-50 split of revenue, but the players — who make more than NFL guys without risking life and limb — want 53 percent and a guarantee that officials will never call traveling.

Like most Americans, I’m confident I can make it through an entire winter without constant LeBron James updates. The NFL was smart enough to figure out that missed games would’ve done serious damage to its product. The NBA? Well, the shot clock is running out.

Hard to believe the Bengals have a winning record, but they do play in the NFL. Cincinnati is 3-2 heading into today’s home game against the winless Colts. A 4-2 record headed into the bye week might just get area fans to reconsider their boycott of Paul Brown Stadium.

Nelson Cruz has about 40 runs batted in during the playoffs. How good are the Texas Rangers? Cruz bats eighth for Nolan Ryan’s crime-fighters. The Reds had Ramon Hernandez batting seventh a month ago. He drove in 36 runs in 328 plate appearances this season.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2163 or bkollars@DaytonDailyNews.com.