Our beloved Ed-die George was on the Dan Patrick Show this morning, and had some wonderful things to say about the Buckeyes and Braxton Miller. However, he also said at the end of his segment that he while Ohio State is a very good team coming out of the Big Ten, he wouldn't put them in his top five.
Now, I'm no genius. Obviously. But I have followed college football for the better part of 12 years, and have studied its history beyond that mark. And seeing as how no one in college football besides, maybe, Alabama (and I want to stress maybe, because their offense hasn't exactly blown anyone away) has a complete team, how can you not respect Ohio State's undefeated high powered offense and emerging defense as top-5? When the Buckeye attack is in "the zone" I have no doubt in my mind that there is nothing that can stop them.
Seasons like 2005 when you have 2 clear-cut complete teams are pretty rare. Everyone in the top-10 still has major question marks, even with only a month left in the season. So, these teams basically are who they are.
And I don't see anyone ranked below us with a legit case for being ranked higher. So, I wish Eddie was a bit more of a homer on this one.
I think this is more of Eddie just being tough on the team to motivate them. He did the same at convocation last year by making a few remarks about the team that were a bit critical. On to your other points, I do think every team left has a few question marks, even Alabama, because their defense was exposed by an awful LSU offense.
Well, last year we had one of the worst Ohio State teams ever, so any criticism was warranted probably.
I didn't hear Eddie's comments, but to the extent that you have recapped them, I would have to say I agree with him. With what in my view are our 2 toughest games yet to be played, I hope to have a different opinion after Nov. 24, but I still think this team has something to prove.
side note - does Rod Smith remind anybody of Eddie George &/or Beanie Wells? I know it's early in his career, but there's a little resemblance there. If Rod Smith puts on a little more muscle, he has that frame - he just has to run mad. He has the quick athleticism for that size already. Love his potential.
Let's hypothetically say that the first rankings didn't come out until week 8. Are you telling me that any of you would be ranking Georgia, Florida, LSU, Florida State or Clemson higher than the 10-0 Buckeyes right now? I think they're ranked about right...roughly the worst undefeated team (excluding Louisville...which is another conversation altogether). But to say they're overrated?! C'mon.
I think we should be top 10, but not top 5. We haven't beaten a marquee team, although I would argue that our schedule was filled with decent teams and we haven't looked well in our wins. However, we have a chance to prove ourselves in the final two games.
If we end the season with two convincing wins and are 12-0 then we can be called a top 5 team. We haven't beaten anyone of substance yet. We also had a few squeakers against shit teams. So top ten not top five. Talk to me in a few weeks and we'll see.
What has Georgia done to warrant themselves as a Top 5 team? Beat Florida in a game in which both teams demonstrated their offensive ineptitude? I can name 4 teams better than us in the country and they would be Oregon, Alabama, Kansas State, and Notre Dame, and Hell I think we'd beat Notre Dame. Clemson, FSU, LSU, Georgia, and UF aren't better teams than OSU. Clemson and FSU were/are perennially overrated/undercoached, and LSU, Georgia and Florida have no concept of the term 'offense'. College Football is down this year folks, and whether or not this team matches up to those in the past, it is a Top 5 team this year. Also we beat Nebraska 63-38, that is a decent win.
Why does the ranking mean that much to us anyway? The AP championship thing is not gonna happen, so the ranking is just not a big deal to me. I honestly don't know who we could beat or not. Have you guys really been convinced that this is a top 5 team nationally? And I'm not saying that to downplay the significance of being 10-0. I am super happy to be 10-0, but I'm not gonna sit here and say we are better than some other teams ranked before us or around us. I mean, did you guys watch us play Indiana and Purdue? I think because of our record, we're easily a top 10 team, but I don't know about top 5.
The Buckeyes still have 2 more games to win before they can be called undefeated and if that happens I think Eddie will change his ranking of the Buckeyes.
O H I O is the Buckeye State
Good point, William. Nebraska is the only other ranked B1G team, and the Buckeyes humiliated them on a national stage. "The best teams play their best in big moments on big stages....except if it's Ohio State football, wherein whoever they played was overrated."
I just don't know who you would put above OSU at this point? I would put Bama Oregon KSU and FSU above us....then who? ND is a maybe but I think that game would be a tossup. Florida plays right into our Ds hands, and UGA isn't consistant enough to think they are better than OSU (about even like the AP has them).
You know what I don't think this is a top 5 team? URBAN doesn't think this is a top 5 team. He basically said this is the worst team he's had ranked this high the other day. It really doesn't matter what they are ranked though, I love this group of players. It's been a great year, but I really think people are kidding themselves if they think there are only 4 teams better. The D has been better the last few weeks, but they played Purdue, PSU, and Illinois. That's not exactly Murderers Row. Is this team capable of beating Georgia or FSU probably so. Ask yourself this though, if Ohio State was playing their best game and FSU plays their best game, would Ohio State win. From watching FSU this year a few times, I don't think so.
I think of any of the teams ranked ahead of the Buckeyes right now, Notre Dame is the one they would have the best shot at knocking off. I think a case can be made for 2 loss teams that are better than the Buckeyes and there's nothing wrong with that at all. Sure OHio State could beat a lot of teams, but I don't think they would beat many of the highly ranked teams out there because I think a lot of the top 10, if both teams were playing their best football, the other guy wins. Ohio State just isn't there yet. There are teams they couldn't afford a slow start against. Teams who this defense would just be destroyed by too. Teams that would force Braxton to throw the ball well. The good news is if the team ends up 12-0 and in the top 5, 20 years from now, no one will be saying yeah, but they weren't REALLY a top 5 team.
Wow, is this the almost perfect example of a homer thread or what...lol
We really do not have a quality win, cause the entire conference is garbage this season... and we struggled with the two decent teams we played out of conference... so I would rank plenty of teams ahead of us... Bama, Oregon, Kstate, ND, FSU maybe even LSU and Clemson... I wouldn't like our chances against any of those teams on a neutral field...
As Doc said above, let's see us finish 12-0, and then we can call ourselves a top 5 team... But don't knock Eddie for ranking us outside the top 5, cause I think most with an objectional mind would agree with him...
^ Exactly. It's pretty hard to call yourself a top-five team when your best win is against a team that gave up over 600 yards to UCLA. Teams nearby in the rankings all have at least one quality win. We don't.
Let us beat the hell out of wisky and scum back to back and I'll feel way more confident about a top five spot. Finish 12-0 with two convincing wins to end the season and send Brax to NY riding a then legit top five spot.
I know there's a game saturday, and my ass will be there.
Fake Buckeye. Lets burn Eddie in effigy and give him a sweet nickname like "Ol frosted dome" or something to that effect.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
There are a handful of guys that have earned the right to say what they want about OSU football teams and they include: 1 Eddie George and peers, and 0 11W Armchair QBs.
Seriously, even the title of this post is offensive to me because witty or not, it questions the loyalty of a guy that was not only an OSU legend, but also a guy that came back and devoted a ton of his NFL earnings to the infrastructure of Columbus.
I agree with his sentiment, but even if I didn't, I'd think twice before I called out Eddie.
Neither Wisconsin nor Michigan can be considered quality wins...certainly no better than beating Nebraska or Sparty. So why would that suddenly be the deal breaker for many of you? I don't see the fact that we don't have any "quality" wins as indicative of anything, since "quality" can be so subjective...and it's often based on how good a poll of people thought the teams were in August before anybody saw anyone actually play a game.
No, I don't necessarily think we're being homerish to think that the Urban-Braxton-Simon show is a top-5 team. Why is it so bad to think your team is good despite the teams they've played? USC seemed to have no problem accepting praise in the 2000's beating up on a woe-ful Pac-10. Outside of the 2 games against the Buckeyes, Texas didn't play anyone of substance over the last 12 years in their nonconference schedules. And don't get me started on the SEC, where 90% of their teams play a 1AA opponent the 3rd week in November.
This will ALWAYS be a problem for Ohio State, because they're the favorites in 90% of their games EVERY year. It's really hard for Ohio State to play someone "good" and have that win hold up. There are other ways to measure quality. Like this:
Or this:
i wish i could give you more upvotes bucki.8.... there are certain ppl that have earned the right to say what they want. eddie is a class act bleeds scarlet and grey and was giving a unbiased opinion i dont think we should crucify him for that
mark may wins douchebag of the year... again
Sir Rick, you and bucki.8 need to check yourselves. No one's crucifying Eddie here.
For as bad as last season was 6 of the 7 losses were by a TD or less, so a few plays here and there we could have, with no offense, been a 10 or 11 win team. This year it's almost reversed although our D is pretty good we just give up too many big plays, but we match up well with power teams, it's teams with speed on the edge that get us in trouble. I'd like to see the Bucks vs any team in the top 5 just to see what would happen. B Miller would be hard to stop for any D and our D usually plays up and down to its competition this year so basically if we played a top notch team, our D would make a good showing.
But still an undefeated season is an undefeated season. It's always tough to do no matter what. If the Bucks finish undefeated they should finish the season top 5 and be a preseason top 3 team next year.
Why would beating Wisconsin and Michigan in back to back weeks validate a top 5 ranking? Beating both would mean at the very best both teams are 4 loss teams. I don't need this team to be top 5, but I have a feeling in 3 weeks if this team is sitting at 12-0 there are going to be people on here saying the Buckeyes are the number 1 team and making casese for us beating anyone in America etc.
Fact of the matter is, there were years where TCU and BSU went undefeated where we all said they didn't play anybody, where their schedules were tougher than this years Ohio State schedule. This is an amazing team, I love watching them and they have far exceeded my expectations. Urban has them on the right track. I just don't buy that they truly are a top 5 team. Are those making the argument for the Buckeyes in the top 5 also championing Louisville? They have played a dogshit schedule, beat some teams badly struggled with others, and they are barely considered a top 10 team.
Great, you brought up Louisville, BT. I mentioned above that Louisville was a different conversation. But if you must know, yes I absolutely am championing for Louisville to be ranked higher. Again, I'm in the "The BCS national title is unfairly crowned in August, not January" camp. Louisville plays in a BCS conference, has beaten a 3-loss UNC team as well as a 1-win Kentucky (can't have it both ways, either you beat an SEC team or you didn't...shouldn't matter how shitty that team was). Cincinnati doesn't suck, either, and they played Pitt about as tough as Notre Dame did.
Louisville isn't a top-10 team ONLY BECAUSE it was barely a top-25 team to begin the year, and the Big East was already written off. They're top-3rd in passing yards, top-3rd in points scored, and top-3rd in points against. There is no reason not to rank them higher other than you think they're crap. Gonna be hard to justify that with numbers, though.
@BTALBERT
its not that Wisconsin or Michigan are anymore valuable than any of the wins we already have, its that we finish the season undefeated, which no matter what conference or teams you play, is an incredible achievement, and gives more ground to the "top 5 team" argument... just my opinion...
This is always an interesting divergence of opinion. Some of the crowd will say that 12-0 is 12-0 and the guys can't control the quality of the teams they play. And that's true.
The other side will say that the ranking should reflect who you think is the best 5 teams, in order. That has subjectivity built into it. Is a 12-0 team from OSU better than a 12-0 team from Louisville? Nobody can say, so you like at the teams they have played and how they have won. If you do that with OSU and compare them to Bama, Oregon, KSU, we just don't stack up. We haven't beaten anyone close to USC, Oklahoma, or LSU. We just haven't. I don't need LSU's high ranking to tell me that they are by far better than any team we have played.
I think you can make an argument that OSU is a top 5 team. You can also argue that we're not, based on our resume, better than a couple of the 1 loss teams (meaning we'd be 7-10). It's not absolutely cut and dried that we are top 5, and it's just homer bias to say otherwise. We'll never know, since we don't get to play any of the top-10 schools.
When told OSU set school record for 50+ games this year, UFM said "That's good. We're gonna break that next year."