The Soft Bigotry of Lowered Expectations
It’s that time of the year again. The time when nerds across the country cook up scenarios in which their team can get into the national championship game. When our conversation turns to who really is getting a raw deal and who is receiving too much love. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s BCS season.
The first release (PDF) of the official BCS standings came out yesterday and thanks to the BYU loss and the win over Michigan State, the Buckeyes find themselves 9th, right behind Texas Tech and just a hair ahead of the Gators.
The computers — all of them have Ohio State as a top-six team — are the reason that they’re in front of Florida, because the humans certainly don’t agree. In fact, it will probably take splitting Lake Erie for the voters to even consider putting the Buckeyes back into the championship game.
After getting pummeled by USC and falling from 5th to 13th in the AP poll, the Buckeyes have strung together five victories, three of which sit firmly in the quality column, and are just now sniffing that 10th spot in any poll generated by humans. The Blogpoll, perhaps sadly the most susceptible to emotional ordering, has consistently put the Buckeyes three spots below the AP and Coaches Poll. At times that may have seemed justified, but as upsets and close calls keep piling up, not so much anymore. One of the top players in the nation healthy again and a game-breaker at quarterback, you say? Who cares, it’s the Suckeyes!
The two BCS collapses and the loss to Southern Cal are barriers to the team getting any sort of benefit of the doubt and honestly the Buckeyes don’t have anyone to blame but themselves for that. Welcome to a mid-major’s life for this season, at least. Collecting wins, but there’s still that "but it’s X", when discussing the team. Even the Michigan State victory was soon spun as the Spartans perhaps being overrated.
Buckeye fans know that the team that takes the field against Penn State is a much different team than the one that made the trip out West last month. IF — and that’s a big if — the Buckeyes play Penn State the same way they did Michigan State this past weekend and continue to play like that, there’s no doubt in my mind that they could play with any team in the country.
But they won’t get the chance to prove it.
And I can’t blame people for not wanting to see it.
I agree completely. We have no one to blame but ourselves. Imagine for a minute that this is any other team. We would be right in on the bandwagon screaming to high heaven to keep the team out of the title game.
Only when you step back and honestly pretend that any team other than the Bucks have done what we have done over the last few years that you realize that perhaps its better to be quiet and stay in the background a little this year.
Then – no matter who plays in the title game. Root for an absolute blowout again so the talk changes from “the Buckeyes should not be in the title game” to a “the BCS cannot get it right” talk
I’m not sure I’m want to see it. A third NC game loss? that would be devastating! and I’m still not convinced this team is as good as they looked Saturday. Sparty got totally out of their game plan and the rout was on. Granted our offense was clicking and our D got them out of the game plan – but still, they are Sparty. choking is what they do best.
beat State Penn, Illinois, NWestern and scUM like we did Sparty and I’ll be on board for taking on Nicky Satan and Bama. until I see consistent, top level play I’d much rather go to some other bowl against an opponent we can defeat AND GET A BOWL WIN.
I’m rooting for a late season BCS disaster and another BCS MNC game blowout, but only this time we’re playing in Pasadena. I agree that OSU hasn’t done anything yet to warrant another BCS title game, and they may not this year even if they beat Penn State. Fans, other coaches, pollsters, the media, the terrorists, and Mark May all hate us.
Honestly, as a Buckeye fan, I’m tired of hearing stuff like this post. “The media doesn’t like us”. “They’re holding last year against us.” “Emotional backlash”.
How about…the OSU season doesn’t justify anything higher than where they’re at? Let’s break it down since Pryor took over:
Best Win: Michigan State. Looked great, MSU is a mediocre Big10 team (and mediocre nationally, judging by their close lost to Cal). Hard-fought, sloppy win over crappy Purdue. Close-until-the-4th win over Troy. Escape in the last 2 minutes against a potentially BAD Wisconsin team.
Remember LAST WEEK, when we were all very concerned about the offense scoring against a weak Purdue team?
All this, without even mentioning a thorough ass-kicking by USC. What about this season “deserves” anything more than edge-of-the-top-10, no real shot at the title game ranking?
I’m loving the Pryor era. It’s great to see Beanie and the Defense rounding back into form. Let’s not ruin it by setting up unrealistic expectations – I’d be thrilled with another Big10 championship and a BCS game.
Yeah Buckeyemark, Imagine if Purdue Buckeyes team shows up. It wasn’t that long ago we saw a zero offensive TD output by this team, and that was against one of the worst defenses in the country. Imagine if we faced a fast and highly ranked SEC defense (if we faced a Big 12 team, we would put up 50 pts I’m sure)
We need a bowl win in the worst way.
This team is a work in progress…. nothing more and nothing less. The D is getting its act together (finally) and the O is in the process of finding its indentity……. all we as fans can do is continue to support the team and hope that both sides of the ball come together well enough to finish and win the Big-10, Beat Michigan, and win a Bowl game…. momentum for next year (please Beanie, come back!!!!) will be huge and Pryor will be in the groove.
Buckeyeexpat, why leave Minny out? Was that not a good win?
And do you think the Buckeyes will be the same team at the end of the season when Pryor has 9 starts under him than they were @ SC?
Buckeyeexpat
Nice post and 100% agreed. Count me in with the group of fans that quite believe the criticism is unfounded.
there is one and only one reason this team is ranked where it is: the name.
Imagine if it was Minny or Northwestern or Michigan St that had our exact schedule and results so far. In other words, imagine it was one of those teams that went out to USC and got throttled early in the year and then played the same as we have this year against Troy, Ohio etc … that team would not be in the top 10 and no one anywhere would be talking about a possible NC appearance.
let’s go play in a game where we really deserve to be in. There is a reason that ND doesn’t have a bowl win for over a decade and it isn’t because none of their teams were good enough to win a bowl, it was because none of their teams were good enough to win the bowl games they kept being placed in
having said what I already posted, I do believe this team is a work in progress and is getting better. I also think that it is capable of winning the Big ten and maybe getting good enough to win a BCS games against a quality opponent from the SEC or even USC. But, there must be solid improvement every week. No more lapses and we need to pummel the big ten teams we play aside from Penn St
BuckeyeExpat – Sorry you are tired of hearing this stuff. I was only trying to point out that the Buckeyes are probably a better team than they will get credit for this season and I’m okay with that. They’ve earned that much.
by the end of the year this may be a BCS caliber team. but we need to play consistently like we did during that first quarter against MSU for that to be a reality
Honestly, I’d be happy with a couple of bowl-wins, then Pryors Junior year, with the class coming in next year playing as sophomores, We make a real run for the title.
Maybe by then we’ll see a new O-Line coach.
and frankly, I’d love to see USC play in the MNC, so Georgia can get the at-large bid for the rose bowl. It’s a stretch to think they’d be the at-large, but I think we pair up well with them, and could finally shake that SEC losing streak.
I’m not worried at this point. IF Pryor continues develop and IF the o-line continues to improve then I might be own board with a NCG appearance. The MAIN reason being the HUGE potential for Pryor. We haven’t even scraped the surface with him (versus Boeckman where we fully know his capabilities). If the team has a bad game from here on out I have to say that I would not want to see the Buckeyes in the NCG.
I, like most of you, want to see us win a bowl game more than anything (about as much as beating the skunk bears) to break the cycle. So if you gave me an option of seeing the Bucks beating an SEC team in the Capital One bowl where are chances look very good or the option to play in the NCG against Florida or Texas or USC (where our chances look not so good), I would have to think long and hard about it.
Going for all the marbles is great, but at this point I think I’d take SOME marbles to restore some lost luster a bowl win would give us.
Georgia would be the #1 SEC team I’d like to play in a bowl game. Right behind Florida, but beating Georgia would shut alot of people up, people that are not named Mark May or Pat Forde that is. We all get together on Saturdays up here in Albany, NY to watch the Buckeyes play. Most of the guys are former alumnus, and myself, I was born a buckeye, but our group up here has decided that Mark May would pick a school for the blind/deaf/dumb to beat us if the choice was there. In any event, here’s to a big win over PSU and having JoePa crap his depends at the ‘Shoe again. LOL I would almost rather play the Fiesta Bowl and an SEC team than USC in the Rose Bowl, but I’ll take either one.
Silver.Bullets
Looks like a lot of agreement, and I must say rational fan talk here. There are other places that will remain nameless where people don’t allow honest self assessments as a team. I mean, seriously, who knows this team better than us fans that have been watchng EVERY game for years and years.
I personally want an SEC team in a bowl game more than anything. All the pressure would be squarely on the SEC team considering
1) USC already beat us badly this year
2) LSU and Fl “took care of us”
I would love to see someone like Richt or Meyer having to make the case that the Bucks are better than given credit for after we beat them in a bowl game.
That is how we start to rebuild our reputation.
Good discussion here today in the comments. And Jason, I totally respect what you guys here at 11W do – in most cases, it’s a very honest assessment of the Buckeyes.
I hate to see this site ever slip into the pattern I’ve seen with most other Buckeye sites/commentors: “We’re the best/Oh crap we lost/the media hates us/we’re still the best”. I only said negative things because I want you guys to keep up the previous level of intellectual honesty.
Just based on THIS SEASON, I don’t see any way OSU deserves to play in the title game, for reasons mentioned previously. And I’m totally fine with that. By the end of the year, they may possibly be playing at a level consistent with a top 5 team. But we shouldn’t overreact to killing MSU.
Yeah Expat – there are places where being honest about the team gets you killed and you are questioned about whether you are actually a fan if you don’t think OSU should be favored in every game and are not outraged if it is suggested that they should not play for the title.
11W is definitely the best site out there as far as ohio state focused honest discussion about college football goes. The voting is honest and the questions they raise are legit and the type of stuff that fans like to discuss, IMO
We are all homers a little bit for sure, but many of our fans fail to have an objective outlook and that fuels the national backlash, actually. If there were not the thousands of outcries by our fans claiming we are being slighted at every turn, the media wouldn’t take as many shots at us … it’s like shooting fish in a barrel sometimes.
I would be George Wallace-bigoted about OSU getting into the title game this year if I were from another fanbase, and why the hell not? We have not shown we can compete with the best the nation has to offer with any consistency the last three years.
Beating Penn State will partially silence the cacophony, but winning a big OOC game or bowl game is all that will silence our very justified “doubters”
I believe we were content last year, the Sunday after the Illinois loss, thinking, “well…it’ll be nice to go back to the Rose Bowl, finally.” The next two weeks were utterly unpredictable.
I’m content now in accepting something other than a MNC appearance. However, I believe these Buckeyes can win out. What that means on December 7th is anyone’s guess. Regardless, we will go where we go based on what everyone else does.
There is so much football left to be played one can get lost in the speculation. I just hope we continue to see improvement and intensity from this team.
All we can control is Penn ST and the teams after that. If we beat penn st and win out nothing can stand in the way from a 3 straight trip if everyone infront of us lose except USC. So right now we need to be big USC fans and hope they get to #1. Texas still has the big 12 championship, Florida has Georgia and the SEC championship game. Bama is in the same boat SEC. So chances are good we might be standing we the smoke clears.
We have a good case for a rematch with USC in miami if we keep winning and looking good doing it.
It was great to see this team open it up on offense. If they continue to play this way on offense we can’t be stopped. The d-line is starting to play some great football. Who saw that coming?
I’d like to point out I called the msu game 41-17.
I’d like point out that one of Joe Pa’s old flames got arrested for the most hilarious of reasons: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081020/ap_on_re_us/odd_football_charge
So, what’s your prediction for this game, Nostradamus (and I don’t mean that in a bad way)? Do tell.
If PSU is smart they will pull out a ton of option read runs against the Bucks and see whether or not we have finally learned how to defend an athletic QB who can throw. Just sayin’ it worked with my boy Juice is all.
Teams that run the spread get beat all the time on field of play. You just have to have better talent (than they have) and play-calling to beat it.
Purdue runs the spread and they suck. It’s funny how people try to make it out like the spread is Ohio State’s achilles heel. There are many factors at play.
Wow, does anyone remember what happened last year? All the so called serious programs lost late and often. We dropped late one to Illi and the train wreck in the last two weeks opened the door for us again. We need to win out and let the rest of the schedule sort out the the contenders and pretenders. Win out and secure a Rose Bowl bid and lets see what happends. Go Bucks!
Buckster – ha – I nail approximately one out of every 50 predictions I make, so take ‘em with a grain of salt.
This is the first time that I will say that I am nervous about Pryor getting the start…
Don’t get me wrong, I know Pryor is our guy, but this game is HUGE on more levels than just #2 vs. #9 or Big 10 Championship.
In addition to the above, the kid is going against a team that he grew up with in his own back yard… A team his own father wanted him to attend. The kid has stepped up his game when we needed it the most, but if he plays lights out on Saturday…The kid just isn’t human!
Yeah, it doesn’t matter if a team runs a spread or a zone read-option against Ohio State. LSU didn’t run a read-option against the Buckeyes, but the pace of the game and the ability of the OSU defense to stop it was about the same as it was in the Florida game. Same goes for USC – don’t run that offense, but they beat OSU’s defense in other ways.
What matters for the Buckeyes has more to do with not getting frustrated. Part of me likes how Purdue and Michigan State was able to get some plays to work. It’s almost like taking the first pitch in baseball. I think OSU’s defense is settling down, going out there at first watching what the opposing offense is doing, NOT overcommitting, just getting a feel for it. Then, they switch to disruption. It’s not lazy, it’s just getting a sense for how the offense is playing, and then adjusting. In the first half of the season, and in the games OSU lost, it felt more like they broke down when their game plan fell through. Now, they’re just going out there and creating things on the fly…forcing fumbles, scoring TDs, stuff like that.
What OSU’s defensive strategy should be going into Saturday is not to get frustrated. AND, don’t let the Offense feel frustrated that the defense gives up a few points. Last year, Penn State came out and scored a TD on the opening drive. But, the team didn’t get down. The offense went out there and moved the ball effectively and scored. Same deal. Go out there, don’t get frustrated with any success Penn State might find early. Play to potential, play with a short memory.
Ohio State has the talent. They have the ability. They have the playmakers. Most importantly, we have a QB that took the ball with 5 minutes left in the game in Madison and won the darned thing. Most importantly, they need the desire to just go out there and absolutely kick Penn State’s butts back to State College. Just go out there and spank them. Show them what real football is, and that we’re Ohio State, not Costal Carolina!
“Teams that run the spread get beat all the time on field of play. You just have to have better talent (than they have) and play-calling to beat it.”
Pardon my abruptness, but…horse-hockey!
Football, no matter what type of offense is being run, has never been about talent alone. It is all about preparation, planning, desire, discipline, and teamwork. There have been way too many games where the less talented team has won to even think this statement holds water.
Buckster, I wasn’t saying that Purdue could beat us the the option read because they don’t have the horses. Teams who run that read play as a integral part of their offense who also have excellent players (mendenhall, juice, tebow) give us problems. I watched the last few years of Buckeye football too.
You’re right, brotherbuck. It’s more than just talent and play-calling.
My point was that just because a team runs the spread, that doesn’t mean Ohio State will look weak and slow. You have to look at WHO is running it and all those other things you mentioned. The fact that Penn State has this “Spread HD” thing (lol) doesn’t scare me. It’s has to do with them being great team all-around that makes me nervous. We’re not talking about Purdue here.
“…the Buckeyes have strung together five victories, three of which sit firmly in the quality column…”
Jason, I’ve just looked at the schedule again. Troy is 4-3, Minnesota is 6-1, Wisconsin is 3-4, Purdue is 2-5, Michigan State is 6-2.
With all due respect, I’m not trying to be a contrarian, negative or snide, but follow me on this. I see 2 wins you might be able to say are quality wins, but Minnesota is the only team in the top 25 in any poll you want to look at, and they’re barely there at that. They’re #25 in every poll except the BCS, and they’re #24 in that one. To say that Minnesota and MSU are quality wins are honestly a stretch of the imagination, and I have no idea where the 3rd could possibly be.
Couple that with the fact that they’ve beaten YSU and Ohio, then got thoroughly pounded by USC tells me this team hasn’t beaten anyone of substance, and they were smoked by the only quality team on their schedule thus far.
“Buckeye fans know that the team that takes the field against Penn State is a much different team than the one that made the trip out West last month. IF — and that’s a big if — the Buckeyes play Penn State the same way they did Michigan State this past weekend and continue to play like that, there’s no doubt in my mind that they could play with any team in the country.”
Now, I enjoy reading your posts and your comments, but I’m just not seeing what you’re talking about here.
If they beat Penn State, then I think we, as Buckeye fans, have a reason to expect a little more love nationally, but that game is still 5 days away and we don’t know what team is going to show up yet. The one that got every break to go their way last Saturday, or the one we’ve seen scratch by all year long against mostly inferior opponents.
Let’s imagine for a moment that they do beat Penn State. OSU has Northwestern, Illinois, and Michigan left on the schedule after that. Only one of those teams is ranked in any of the top 25 polls, and that’s Northwestern. Plus, they’re only ranked in the top 25 in 2 of them, the USA Today Coaches Poll at #24 and the BCS at #22.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m as big of a fan of OSU as anyone, and again, I’m not trying to be contrarian or difficult. But realistically speaking, Ohio State will only play 2 quality opponents all year long, Penn State and USC.
Given all of this to chew on, there is no way this team or it’s fans, me included, could possibly argue that there is a conspiracy in the making to keep them out of the National Title Game this year. Especially since they began the year in the top 5 in all of the polls, whether Ohio State pounds Penn State into the ground at home this Saturday night or not.
Now, maybe they are a better team than people would want to give them credit for. The problem is, they haven’t proven that on the field all year with the possible exception of the MSU game. So from what I’ve seen, and until I see that kind of performance again, please forgive me if I chalk that one off as their fluke game of the season so far.
Alright. All that being said…GO BUCKS!!! BEAT PENN STATE!!!
Tom I see Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan State as quality wins. No, not knocking off a top 10 team, but a quailty win in my book is over top 30 competition. If you want to argue that Minnesota and MSU are not quality, then the way the Buckeyes beat them certainly was.
And yes, Wisconsin was pounded by Penn State and virtually every one else since playing Ohio State, but they’re emotionally and physically spent. I think the Buckeye game sucked the last bit of life out of them. At the time, they were a formidable threat and a worthy adversary and a freshman quarterback handing them their first home loss in a couple of years counts as quality to me.
We could probably argue this forever, but… my point of this post is not that there’s a conspiracy to keep Ohio State out of the MNC, but that climbing polls was going to be difficult this season. Given past big game performances, I can understand that sentiment.
Oh, and with the defense going, Beanie revving up and the continued emergence of Pryor I’ll take this team against a lot of teams right now. Perhaps the ultimate homer in me, but Mike Vick almost won a title with less of a supporting cast.
“We could probably argue this forever, but…my point of this post is not that there’s a conspiracy to keep Ohio State out of the MNC, but that climbing polls was going to be difficult this season. Given past big game performances, I can understand that sentiment.”
LOL! Nah, I see where you’re coming from. I think we’d probably be closer to agreeing on that topic if OSU had given USC more of a game. If it were a 3-7 point game like it was predicted to be, then I’m right there with you.
“Oh, and with the defense going, Beanie revving up and the continued emergence of Pryor I’ll take this team against a lot of teams right now. Perhaps the ultimate homer in me, but Mike Vick almost won a title with less of a supporting cast.
Well, I sure do hope OSU takes it to PSU Saturday night, I think it might give them a little more respect nationally. Although there are those who are convinced the Big 10(11) sucks, and since Penn State is a Big 10(11) team…*sigh*. If they can do that though, and beat an SEC team in the BCS bowl game, then…vindication, anyone?
Have a nice night, bro.
buckster, I’d be surprised if Penn St can stop us at all. They did allow Michigan to get 17 points so 31 should be easy. Beanie and Pryor mean business. If the d-line gets pressure it just makes it too easy for the back 7. I think nothing has changed between these two teams since last year with the exception of T Pryor(big change). The crowd will play a big factor and Penn St hasn’t played anyone near the talent of Ohio State. We are starting to look like Oregon didn’t last year and I hope we keep it up.
Buckeyes 31 Penn State 17
I agree 100% with BUCKEYEEXPAT. Forget about the NC for this year. OSU took care of that on September 13th. Just keep winning, getting better, and and the rest will take care of itself. Am I starting to sound like Jim Tressel?