Eleven Warriors

I know I'm in the minority but I'd rather see them go 0-12 every year than beat us 5/10 times in some big games. The latter looks like it has already started. Hoke is right there with Meyer as a head coach. We will lose our fair share to them in the coming years. The 37-7 beatdowns are over, and I'm not happy about it. 

I love how it's going to be more competitive.

Let's be honest here, we're actually going to fear Michigan now. Going into the game, we'll both likely be looking for BCS berths in the next few years. We're going to be afraid to lose, especially knowing that it's a very realistic outcome. The games will go down to the wire. We'll all be anxious the whole time, on an emotional roller coaster.

And that's going to make victories so, so much sweeter.

I agree that the victories will feel better, but it still felt really good going to Michigan and taking over that stadium in 2009. I went to that game as well as every Michigan game during the Tressel era and that was my personal favorite up there. However, going up there in 2003 and getting destroyed by Braylon, Navarre, and Chris Perry was the lowest I've ever been as an Ohio State fan and soon to be alum. Every loss to Michigan is more devastating than the victories, that's how sports work. That's why I'd rather just kick their ass every year than have them be great, which they will be now, and split with them over 5-10 years. But that's just me, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I just don't want to go up there with high hopes in 2013 and come back devastated  again, but thats part of the fun I suppose. Hopefully I'm worried about nothing and Urban is Tressel reincarnated and we enjoy another 9-1 stretch. 

Go Bucks!

^ x a billion.      a great recruiter - looks like it.    a coach who "gets it" - sure      two-time national champ and bad-ass extraordinaire - NO!

Brewster is right. It seems like the conference is destined to be headed back to UM & OSU at the top and then everyone else. 

It's very tough to guage Hoke as a head coach, and it's extremely unfair to judge him versus Meyer.  Meyer is hands down the better coach today, and probably for at least 5-10 years.  Will Hoke be an elite coach?  Only time will tell.  If you compare his and Meyer's resumes, this the equivalent to Urban's 2nd year at Florida.  Urban went undefeated at Utah and Hoke went 12-2 (lost the conf championship and bowl game) at Ball state in their best years beforehand.  Other similarities would be a great surround cast of coaches.  If you take Mattison, Borges, and Fred Jackson away, Hoke might be a 7-5 type of coach.  Personally, I think that the values he preaches along with the pride in his school and team are contagious, but you can't argue having one of the better groups of assistant coaches doesn't help. 

@Xtreme

Sometimes there's more than meets the eye.  If you're naive enough to believe that last year's meeting would've played out the exact same way except adding points to the board had Braxton hit Posey on those deep balls, you need to rethink things.  Even if they connect on the last drive, Michigan had 96 seconds to kick a field goal.  I think those games are the ones you can attest to the most, about a coaches ability.  Hoke and company didn't make any bad decisions in the OSU, ND, or VaTech games.  Were they at their best?  Definitely not in the ND or VaTech games, but the coaches kept the kids focused and in good spirits to allow them to make the comeback or hold on for the victory (not including the miracle 30 seconds of the ND game; that was luck, but they still believed).

@ Hail,

Hoke will certainly have the opportunity now to prove his worth. He's recruiting well and has top level assistants.  He also seems to have the support of the university and alumni.  If he loses, it's on him.  One thing I have to point out, however, is that this is not "the equivelant to Urban's 2nd year at Florida."  It might seem like nit-picking but Hoke (53) is 6 years older than Urban (47) who actually won his 1st national championship (that's right, he's won 2) when he was just 42.  Because of Urban's early "retirement" from football, there's a tendency to think of him as old, and Hoke in contrast is portrayed as some kind of young gun.  Maybe Hoke is just a late bloomer, but it is a misrepresentation of his career to compare him now to a place where Urban was 7 years ago.

Michigan can be great for 11 games as long as they suck when they play us.  But they won't suck.  Victories over them will be much more meaningful for purposes outside of the rivalry.  They'll get us into BCS bowls and be signature wins for us as far as national title arguments go.  Beating Michigan circa 2008-2010 was nice for us, but it wouldn't have helped much if we were in the middle of a 3-team debate to get into the MNC game.  Plus, ruining a great season for them is much more satisfying.  It's not the same if their season is already shit going in.