By the time this hits newsstands, the outcome of the 100th edition of the OSU vs Michigan game will be history. So what’s the big deal? Why does everyone outside of the state of Ohio hate the Bucks? Call it luck. Call it what you will. But sloopy always finds a way to hang on. Cries and chants of “overrated” are never far away when the topic of Buckeye nation claiming another national title is up in the air. But why?
First, how strong is the Big Ten, really? According to one disgruntled football fan, there is no dominant team in the conference. How is a conference weak when, as of Friday, it has five teams ranked in the Coach’s poll and another two getting votes? I guess parity means a league stinks anymore.
“But the Big Ten hasn’t beaten anyone,” they rant. Teams such as Miami(OH), North Carolina State, Bowling Green and West Virginia are not worthy victories in the eyes of some.
However, the 19th ranked Redhawks’ only loss on the season comes at the hands of Big Ten member school Iowa. Our 25th ranked Falcons apparently are not a victory worth beaming about either. Is there still this nonsense that beating MAC schools is just a routine thing done in preparation for league play?
Did anyone tune into week 5 when the MAC “shocked the football world?” The Wolf Pack is no good? Before last weekend’s over time loss to the Seminoles, they were still in the hunt for the ACC title. The Mountaineers stink too. All they did was beat then number 3 Virginia Tech and were a play away from ruining Miami’s(FL) season a few weeks earlier.
Friday’s newspaper let the campus know that the conference has lost to such foes as California, Missouri, Miami(OH), Nebraska and Bowling Green. Big Ten fans should be ashamed of this? Missouri at 7-3 beat Illinois early in the year.
Is Illinois in the upper tier of the league this year? No. So why does this matter?
Illinois also lost at the hands of the Golden Bears in a squeaker. Did anyone tune in on Sept 27 when the “Men of Troy” fell to the same California team? “Teams are getting credited with a tougher strength of schedule and since the strength of schedule which is a main category in the BCS, that’s what’s going to screw USC.”
How’s that for irony. Oh, and we can’t forget that losing to two MAC schools simply makes the Big Ten a joke this year.
Okay, so the Big Ten isn’t so bad, but the Buckeyes are still a joke, right? Not so fast my friend.
The Scarlet and Grey are 24-1 over the past two seasons. This makes a football program weak? Yeah, I’ll be the first to agree that they don’t win pretty, but they do find a way to win.
Tough defense and perfection on special teams doesn’t generally account for high thrill shootouts, but it has worked thus far. So, for all the haters, laugh if you will, but if B.J. Sander earns team MVP, that would be okay by a lot of people.
One can’t say that of University of Southern California, Ohio State University and Louisiana State University, that any one team is more deserving than the others to go to New Orleans. You can’t spell BCS without BS, but it’s the current system and there’s nothing anyone can do. So don’t hate the team that wins the right to battle for the title —- hate the system.
One last thought for the out of state Buckeye haters; if you’re so sick of hearing about O-H this and I-O that, why come here? Buckeye football is a tradition the state of Ohio is proud of and it’s something that’s going to be talked about.
Might I also suggest you don’t move to Ann Arbor, Tuscaloosa, State College, South Bend, Montgomery, Norman, Lincoln, College Station, Austin or Madison if you don’t want to listen to every detail regarding one particular team.
