Just One Tweak: Episode I
You can do it! (Source)We have a spirited and growing community of readers that do a great job of adding to the running conversation. To recognize a few of these, we have asked them each to write a guest post about what they’d tweak to ensure the Buckeyes got (yet another) shot at redemption in ‘08. First up is 11W resident Reaganite Joe Fox.
Ohio State’s only chance – and it’s an infinitesimal one – of getting to the BCS title game is to have the entire Big T(elev)en man up and play better football in ‘08, particularly against out-of-conference opponents.
Michigan saved the conference’s bacon by beating Florida earlier this month, but Ohio State’s two cataclysmic losses to SEC schools, coupled with poor showings by Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan State in their bowls lead outside observers to the conclusion that we are an insular, quaint, soft league.
Right now, the Big T(elev)en looks like a glorified MAC. We simply don’t win the games that matter, when they matter, and Ohio State has no one but itself to blame for being viewed as a paper tiger.
Ohio State can make a solid statement by beating USC on the road, but in a conference without a title game, and an archrival in the midst of a serious transition, the Buckeyes’ only hope of being viewed as a legitimate contender is to play in a competitive conference that wins big games. Beat USC, have Michigan and Penn State play like the conference powers they purport to be, and we have a shot. Not much of a shot, but a shot. And if we show up and win a title game (and that’s a big “ifâ€), we won’t have to read stuff like this anymore.
21 Responses
What a disgusting article that (reference) was. In a year where everyone else totally blew their chances to reach the title game (even OSU blew it with Illinois) somebody, please, convince me that a comprehensive playoff system would have produced an unambigous National Champion out of that mess. Regardless, we all gotta suck it up until at least the USC game.
Ron - January 31st, 2008 at 3:20 pm - #
Joe Fox, I gotta disagree, I think tOSU’s only chance is to beat USC w/o the oppurtunity for fan nation to blame it on poor officiating. They also have to play good solid football. They don’t need to blow them out…..they just can’t look sloppy in the win.
Wil - January 31st, 2008 at 3:21 pm - #
neat feature idea. Though sometimes I wonder just how futile of an endeavor this would be made worse by there existing some haphazard system for “determining” a national champion, where emphasis is eschewed away from “just win, baby” to “just win enough to be eligible above all but one other to compete against some other team in a national title game, baby”.
The Buckeyes will just have to deal, and just focus on winning in the interim. In the event that the Big Ten does win the Conference Cup (or whatever that thing is) just like it did at the end of the 2002-3 Bowl Season, then it could work to restore conference prestige by serving as an instrument for violence in which to bludgeon Mark May, Pat Forde and Trev Alberts to death.
Until then, if the people stare, then the people stare, I really don’t know, but I really don’t care.
There, now no one say it’s impossible to work in Morrissey into college football discussion.
vico - January 31st, 2008 at 4:03 pm - #
Please tell me more about the bludgeoning of Mark May, Pat Forde and Trev Alberts. I like that part.
Wil - January 31st, 2008 at 4:15 pm - #
May some of the rest of us write guest-posts about the glory of tOSU? Heheheh.
J Money - January 31st, 2008 at 4:17 pm - #
Well, Wil, it’s the sweet sweet dreams that dance around in my head as I sleep. And, it’s the daydream that gives me the necessary happy thoughts to get through the work day. Sigh… I’m happy just typing about it right now. :) (
vico - January 31st, 2008 at 4:36 pm - #
whoops, I threw in an XHTML tag at the end. my mistake.
vico - January 31st, 2008 at 4:37 pm - #
Vico, that sounds like a wonderful place….oh how I loathe Mark May. I also checked out your site today…….sweet gig you guys got going there.
Recommended read for all 11w bloggers:
http://www.ourhonordefend.com/
Wil - January 31st, 2008 at 4:43 pm - #
If anyone is an insider on espn.com please check out John Hollinger’s Draft Rater. Basically, he puts Kosta Koufos 20th if the draft were held today. I laughed.
ShoeWorker - January 31st, 2008 at 6:57 pm - #
thanks for the good words, Wil. Always appreciated for a newbie on the internets scene.
vico - January 31st, 2008 at 8:18 pm - #
My Gawd. That looks exactly like Kirk Ferentz. It’s like a perfect clone. Bizarre.
I desire Mark May’s and Pat Forde’s doom. But until OSU a) plays in a conference that goes out and whoops up on some folks, and offers competitive intra-conference games, and b) stops choking in big inter-conference games, with all the marbles at stake, we’re stuck. I just don’t think any win over USC will propel OSU to the title game. Not with a poor m*ch*g*n team on the slate, and a p*nn st*t* team that can’t win any game not played at home, and at night. Besides, I can already hear May and Forde discussing ad nauseum how USC is rebuilding, is distracted by the Reggie Bush saga, etc.
I think OSU is a victim of their own success. In hindsight, it would have been better for OSU to have finished third in the conference and beaten Tennessee in a bowl game. By overachieving in ‘07, they’ve placed themselves behind the eight ball in ‘08, and that’s a real shame, because this ‘08 squad has a chance to be special.
A chance, but I still say they’re 10-2 or 9-3. I’ve just got a funny feeling about this group.
Joe - January 31st, 2008 at 8:46 pm - #
Joe,
The rest of the world may have their doubts, but OSU is probably in a better position for ‘08 than just about anyone else. The only fly in the ointment was the manner in which the previous season ended. Think of our bitter rivals, the team from up north: They actually finished the season with a very impressive win over Florida and the much-hyped Tim Tebow. They had all their old swagger and attitude. They looked very good. But … Look at the comments at MGOBLOG these days (100’s of comments for the most pedestrian articles) . Michiganders are totally uptight about next season, and rightfully so. Their world is turned upside-down. No conventional points of reference, no comprehension for what the future holds. They have growing reservations about their coach, aren’t sure they want Pryor either. The whole team will be defacto freshmen next year, needing to learn and practice a whole new system. They don’t even have a quarterback! Jesus! Talk about your funny feelings…
The Buckeyes are anchored to the rock of Gibraltar, by comparison. Everyone is coming back, the recruiting class is stellar, the coaching staff is stable, and Pryor is simply an recruiting option, not a life or death matter. We got it good. I continue to have a great deal of confidence in Jim Tressel’s leadership, even with consecutive NC losses. Hey, he got there! Getting there is a tougher ordeal than playing there (but next time, a win would be much appreciated).
A entire season coming up, starring: Beanie!! DEFENSE!!!! Robiskie! Hartline! 4&5-star recruits out-the-whazoo! Offensive line-to-die-for!! God! It’s tough to type with both hands holding my ding-aling-aling!
Cheer up!!
Ron
Ron - January 31st, 2008 at 9:55 pm - #
Well said, Ron. Unfortunately national media and fan perception is a bit different. The USC game is everything right about now.
Jason - January 31st, 2008 at 10:06 pm - #
Jason,
The national media is just a virtual world to me. It doesn’t matter. What does matter to me are the players and staff of Buckeyes. That’s real world. As a fan, of course, I can only have an opinion. Likewise, the national media can only have opinions. Coaches and players don’t have opinions, they have say. So, I care about what they’re thinking and doing, although good information is very hard to come by.
The best I can hope for is that, along with his opinion, Mark May develops the piles next season trying to explain away an undeniably powerful Buckeye team. The team is loaded. I hope the staff and players aren’t, in any way, dissuaded by national media diatribes.
But, like you said, it all kind of hinges on a convincing victory over USC. I expect that USC will be pretty tough, but they’ll be breaking in a new quarterback too. So, like the Texas victory against a green Colt McCoy, there’ll be excuses to explain away a win. Like a give a rat’s ass about excuses. Just win.
Ron
… and the bad news is: that it’s everyones opinion that determines who goes to the NC game in the first place. Maybe I need to polish-up my butt-kissing techniques? Our Honor Defend, I will butt-kiss to the end (if necessary) for O-HI-O … But under no circumstances will I butt-kiss a piles infested Mark May.
Ron - January 31st, 2008 at 11:19 pm - #
“… and the bad news is: that it’s everyones opinion that determines who goes to the NC game in the first place.”
That’s precisely my point. Ohio State in ‘08 has much going for it: a good out-of-conference opponent early, on the road: a favorable schedule vis-a-vis p*nn st*t* and m*ch*g*n (albeit a very unfavorable one in regard to Wisconsin and Illinois); a lot of returning experience, etc. *But it doesn’t matter.* If outside opinion is what propels a team into the title game - and it does, unless everyone else loses and we come out totally unbeaten - then we’re screwed. I don’t believe *any* performance on Ohio State’s part will get them into that game, unless all other contenders fall flat on their face - and that will not happen. Ohio State will lose at least two games next year. This team will not go unbeaten.
Respectfully, your allusions to m*ch*g*n’s turmoil and troubles heading into next year are not good for OSU - they’re bad. We need m*ch*g*n and p*nn st*t* to be strong, tough football teams to boost our own credibility. If the annual game we play against what is supposed to be a powerful arch-rival is anything less, it diminishes us. We lose credibility when the rest of the Big T(elev)en is weak.
I hope Ohio State licks USC 49-0, and rolls through the Big T(elev)en. But other teams from strong conferences will *also* be playing big out-of-conference games, and I don’t see the national media allowing an Ohio State team coming off two bad performances in the title game to get a third chance.
OSU will go 10-2, probably play in a BCS game, and hopefully get redemption against an SEC opponent. And that would be very good for the program.
Joe - February 1st, 2008 at 10:41 am - #
The whole National Championship process has been tinkered with to the point of near irrelevancy. It really is just a beauty contest. For all the talk of “determined on the field” the real BCS process is entirely away from it. Beating USC, winning the Big Ten and winning the bowl game are the priorities. Of course, any loss would drop the Buckeyes from the national consciouness like a hot potato.
I agree, that we need strong competitors in the Big Ten to boost our own national standing, and that isn’t likely to happen next year. Even with an N-0 record, there could be a problem getting to the NC game. AP poll doesn’t matter. Coaches vote a little differently than the media. Computer rankings are wierd (they’re programmed by subjective people anyways.) We’ll see.
10-2? Who are you predicting they’ll lose to? USC? and who else?
I’m anticipating, naively and optimistically, that they’ll be good enough be a festing boil in the national consciousness: “too good to ignore, but they’re OSU so we can’t rate them too high” Kinda like happened last season, except more so next season … or so I hope.
Ron - February 1st, 2008 at 11:17 am - #
“… coupled with poor showings by Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan State in their bowls…”
Gotta differ with you here, Joe. Wisconsin played SEC runner-up Tennecheat, and they took Fat Phil and the boys to the limit. Remember that Erik Ainge almost single-handedly cost them the game against LSU with two critical 2nd half INT’s. Also remember how badly they crushed Georgia. I thought Wisconsin manned up pretty well considering they didn’t have Luke Swan and P.J. Hill was not 100%. As for Michigan State, they took ACC runner-up Boston College to the limit before bowing out under a flurry of bad throws by Brian Hoyer. If they had gotten even mediocre QB play from Hoyer they would have won. I don’t care what Herbie and the rest say, the Big Ten this season was the third best conference after the SEC and the Big 12. Don’t forget that the Big Ten had 5 teams finish in the ESPN/USA Today final Top 25, matched only by the SEC and Big 12. The Slack 10 and ACC had only 3, and the Big Least had only 2 (that’s pretty sad when UC is your second-best team).
GoBucks89 - February 1st, 2008 at 3:07 pm - #
Ron wrote:
“10-2? Who are you predicting they’ll lose to? USC? and who else?”
Ron, I totally agree with you vis-a-vis the inanity of the current selection system, and I won’t try to defend it. All this should be decided on the field, and the BCS doesn’t do that, so we’re in agreement there.
I think Ohio State drops one or the other of the Illinois and Wisconsin games, and probably drops a game to USC. I would not be surprised if there’s a third loss in there somewhere - either to Illinois/Wisconsin or - and this would indeed be an upset - m*ch*g*n State. That’s just my gut.
Only by running the table in glittering fashion, and doing it against a resurgent, competitive Big T(elev)en, can Ohio State even *hope* to be mentioned as a contender. The “stupidest thing ever” link mentioned under today’s Pryor highlight is a perfect example of what the national perception of OSU is right now. It’s dumb, it’s overblown, but it exists, and it isn’t going away, and OSU has no one but itself to blame for that, and will be paying the price for some time to come.
GoBucks89 added:
“Wisconsin played SEC runner-up Tennecheat, and they took Fat Phil and the boys to the limit….Wisconsin manned up pretty well considering they didn’t have Luke Swan and P.J. Hill was not 100%. As for Michigan State, they took ACC runner-up Boston College to the limit before bowing out under a flurry of bad throws by Brian Hoyer.”
Tennessee was hurt *far* worse than Wisconsin in that game, but were indeed a feisty bunch during the season. And I can’t imagine that the Boston College team I saw play six times during the season would finish anywhere in the top half of the Big T(elev)en, even considering how poorly the conference performed in ‘07. Even Purdid should have been able to beat Boston College.
But, yeah - Hoyer sucks. And I should know better than to expect any Spartan team to hold a lead. Ugh.
Joe - February 1st, 2008 at 3:32 pm - #
You guys are getting way out of control. The National MEDIA and Fan Nation have NO say in who goes to the National Championship game. If OSU runs the table they WILL end up back in the National Championship game…….think of it this way If we run the table we take USC (the only real Pac-10 contender) and all of the Big Ten out of the mix. That leaves the Big-East, SEC, and Big 12 and Notre Dame. Give me 2 teams that have a REAL shot at going without a loss all of next year out of those choices…..and don’t be retarded and say Florida and Georgia because they play each other (that’s for all the idiots who were about to say that). The Big East blows, the Big 12 was decimated by juniors leaving early and will be down and for us to go undefeated we would have to beat the only real contender in the Pac-10.
People may not like this…..but it looks like another SEC vs. Big-10 National Championship game….my guess is Georgia……but then again their QB, in my opinion, is very inconsistent. Florida’s defense sucked this year after key losses, which is what I think, is going to happen to LSU after losing Craig Stelz, Glenn Dorsey, and Ali Highsmith. Watch out for Tennessee which has 17 returning starters, and Auburn who seems to be right on the cusp every year. If Florida can fix their defensive woes I would give them the nod over Georgia……but their going to need some young guys to step up big in order for that to happen.
Now for those of you predicting OSU to lose 3 games, you’re idiots. Illinois loses its best player from a team we SHOULD have beaten; Wisconsin is breaking in a new QB and lost its best defensive player, and Michigan State? Whoever said that should be band from this site…they have 12 returning starters and that INCLUDES the kicker and punter. If there is anyone for us to look out for in the Big Ten it’s Penn State who returns 20 starters and losing their QB isn’t that big of a deal considering he sucked.
So to all of you haters:
Quit drinking after Mark Mays, you seem to be coming down with a case of idiot@$$holeitos.
Wil - February 1st, 2008 at 4:24 pm - #
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