First off, I want to tip my hat to Coach Cignetti. The job he has done is remarkable. He has truly set the tone for other newly hired coaches. He completely removed the "give me time to build" and I think that is something to appreciate. Now, on to the B1G Championship game.

I'll admit I was completely taken by surprise at how much of a "home" game this turned out to be. I was sitting in the endzone and could feel the pressure from all of the IU fans erupting almost every play. I understand OSU was literally in their back yard, but OSU travels VERY well (reference TTUN last week) we all know this. I think OSU may have been taken a bit by surprise by this, and it made Julian look not so Super Sayin. The good news is it may be OSUs biggest blessing of their season to lose THAT game.

Looking into Nick Saban's title game history he made it to 9 NCG during his time at Alabama. His record was 6-3 in those games. 4 of the 6 he won he had 1 loss on the season (one of those losses being earlier in the year in a 1 vs 2 matchup with LSU and Bama lost by 3, sound familiar?). Coach Saban has spoken on those games and how the impact of their loss earlier in the year helped them ultimately win the titled because of what the loss taught them. The 3 title games he lost ended up being their first and only loss on the season, no second chance at improvement.

We have seen this first hand last year at the hands of TTUN ironically 13-10.

Watching the replay of the game SO much happened in favor of IU. Decisions by Julian, lack of some crucial calls, distractions during the week leading up to the game (coaching & recruiting). It was all a recipe for IU to win. I do not want to disrespect IU in any way. They flat out won the game and called a better game. I don't think any one call by a referee cost OSU the game I think much like TTUN last year it was more of the questionable play calling that stalled OSU and IU made the plays when it mattered so hats off to them.

I am skeptical as to how IU does in the CFP. One major thing I noticed from the game was that this was their super bowl. I know it sounds stupid but it was. The IU band was in awe of TBDBITL, the fans really acted like they had never been in a big game before (they haven't so I can't really blame them). IU essentially had 3 weeks to prepare of OSU. OSU was coming off of an emotional "Monkey off the back" win vs TTUN which was priority #1 this season. Lumping all of that together and OSU lost by 3. This loss can be summed up simply as self inflicted. Vs the #2 team and they lost. by 3. Re-watching the game it really wasn't as bad as I initially thought it was in terms of what caused OSU to lose.

I do have the privilege of being a football coach, and something that I learned was that I had gained so much knowledge from a loss over any win I have ever had. One thing I love about Coach Day is that when he sees a problem, he doesn't just correct it, he attacks the problem. I have ZERO doubt he will learn from this loss and fix it in a big way. I am excited for the playoff. I think another run is about to happen. I hope all of you are as optimistic as I am about what's to come, Coach Day has given us no reason to not trust him.

Go Bucks