Please Dick Vitale, tell me you are better than this:

(Excuse me, I am paraphrasing from ESPN's telecast of the Ohio State at Wisconsin men's basketball game on Saturday).

"The Buckeyes are legitimate contenders to win the national championship this season," said Vitale, as OSU was racing to a 15-point second-half lead, only to lose its first game of the season.

This just in, Dicky V: The Buckeyes were No. 1 entering the game and 24-0. This isn't college football, where one loss can eliminate a team from the national championship chase.

The Buckeyes have been in the discussion for some time as one of the favorites to win it all in Houston in early April.

Yet, Vitale's rant about the legitimacy of Ohio State made it sound as if the Buckeyes' March Madness chances weren't cemented until Dicky V told us.

Sorry Dicky V, even with the loss Saturday, the Buckeyes have been a legit national championship contender for some time. In this case, he's a day late and a dollar short.

- Mark Podolski