FLORIDA FOOTBALL: FOOD FOR A MAN'S SOUL
Ohio State Charlatans
When confronted with the season schedule of the Ohio State Buckeyes on The Colin Cowherd Show, Chris Spielman asked “What is the purpose of college football?“ Spielman, an Ohio State graduate, defended his alma mater’s place at number one in the polls despite having a current strength of schedule 49 spots below second ranked South Florida. His reasoning is that it’s not the job of programs to play in compelling matchups and entertain the fans, it’s to win championships - Big 10, Pac 10, Big East and National Championships. Therefore he is not at all embarrassed by Ohio State’s pathetic schedule as long as it helps his school attain a shot at a title.
But when we examine Ohio State’s schedule we see some very disturbing trends. First we look at the Buckeyes Out Of Conference (OOC) opponents - Youngstown State (a Division 1-AA school), Akron, Kent State and Washington. Since these schedules are made years in advance (but not really that far in advance when scheduling the mid-major schools like Akron, Kent State, etc) we shouldn’t just focus on their current record but their state as a PROGRAM, aka recent success. So what were the Ohio State Athletic Director and Head Coach Jim Tressell looking for in an opponent?
First we will dismiss Youngstown State as a credible opponent since it is Division 1-AA school. Sure, everyone knows about Appalachian State’s upset of Michigan. But the percentage of wins of a 1-AA school against a 1-A school are EXTREMELY low. This is what made Appy State’s win so incredible. But Youngstown St. was scheduled before the upset so even if the Buckeyes had second thoughts it was too late. This is a win is a win is a win of a game that is regularly referred to as a “paycheck game“. YSU picked up their big paycheck, got pounded 38-6 and left town bloodied but richer.
Next Ohio State turned their attention to mighty Akron. Akron is nicknamed the Zips and that’s the same chance they stood against the Buckeyes . . . ZIP! Currently Akron has a record of 3-4. They have played 3 BCS teams and lost by a combined score of 36 points for and 105 points against. What makes this all the more interesting is the other two BCS teams scheduled were perennial doormats Indiana and UConn. This means even dismal programs view a school like Akron to to provide a rare win. Last year (2006) the Zips went 5-7 and the year before (2005) were 7-5. Ohio State knew this school was a mediocre mid-major at best and therefore an easy win.
Their third game of the year was against the University of Washington. Washington is a school with a great deal of tradition but without much recent success. Currently they sport a record of two wins and four losses. Prior to this year they went 2-9 in 2005 and 5-7 in 2006. While the Huskies might easily be the toughest of all the out of conference teams that the Buckeyes have played, the fact that they are 2-4 is a very damning statement. The last OSU OOC game was against the mighty Kent State Flyers whose record that last three seasons is 1-10 (2005), 6-6 (2006) and 3-4 so far in 2007. Again . . . cupcake city.
Alas, Ohio State DOES play in a BCS conference. So the OOC schedule is purposely kept weak for a young team (Per OSU shill Chris Spielman) and because of the grueling conference schedule. That schedule thus far includes wins against Minnesota, Northwestern and Purdue. The best of these teams is Purdue who similarly feasted on early season patsies to reach their 5 wins (in fact Purdue scheduling makes Buckeye scheduling seem downright respectable) and the three Big 10 opponents have a combined record of 10-11.
This leads one to believe that Ohio State is the least proven and most questionable of the top 3 undefeated teams. South Florida has beaten a 5-2 and ranked Auburn team on the road and a 5-1 and ranked WVU team at home. Boston College has beaten both of the ACC Championship Game participants of a year ago Georgia Tech and Wake Forest (both of whom are competitive again this year) while Ohio State’s statement game thus far is . . . . Purdue???
That’s right, the Buckeyes’ big game has been against Purdue. The same Purdue whose biggest win was a 33-19 win against Notre Dame. And we need not go into how unimpressive the Irish have been in 2007. In the next 5 weeks Ohio State plays 5 consecutive bowl caliber teams in Michigan Staet, Penn State, Wisconsin, Illinois and Michigan. Buckeye title dreams will soon come to a screeching halt as they lose at least 2 of those 5 games! Ohio State is not battle tested, they haven’t faced difficult competition and they will be unprepared to play at a high level for 5 weeks in a row to defeat teams as talented or nearly as talented as they are.
Up until now Ohio State has been able to roll their helmets out onto the field and declare victory against inferior competition. That streak ends this weekend. Prepare for the Buckeyes to be exposed as the weakest number one team since . . . ummm . . . LAST YEAR’S OHIO STATE TEAM!!!
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11 Comments so far
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Well said. What is going on up there? This is a conference that a REAL coaching staff could dominate. Where are the innovators? Ron Zook? You could argue that the reason Zook has so quickly resurrected a traditionally dismal program and is being successful is because he saw real football played while at Florida. He has carried that perspective up to the Illini.
By bckhdgator on 10.18.07 1:55 pm
Last year’s OSU wasn’t exposed by any Big Tweleven team… Kent State are the Golden Flashes.
However…I agree. USF should be #1 based on what they’ve accomplished, if the #1 slot must be occupied by an undefeated team. If you ignored the helmets and team names, and just looked at the accomplishments ie. 6-0 team A beat 1-6 team B, USF looks much better. People ranking teams should have to do that, instead of ranking teams by their tradition.
OSU will probably lose…maybe USF, too! Wild year of CFB, more to come.
By UFGatorDMD on 10.18.07 4:50 pm
Nice. I hate when SEC teams schedule Div II and patsy D I schools, but at least they have an excuse. What a joke OSU and the Big 10 are.
By Gator Boys on 10.18.07 5:18 pm
Keep up the hate! With Michigan playing a non-BCS games this year and 2 SEC teams in the BCS look for the Big Ten to roll through their bowl games.
Your big mouth really helped USF last night. All college football is really about is just win. Do that and the polls and bowls will line up just right.
By Jim on 10.19.07 8:41 am
Also why on earth do you Gator fans keep making light of your temas accomplishments. If Ohio State sucks so does your Nationl Title, just throw the crystal football in the trash, no need to let that piece of junk clutter up the case of SEC Championships.
By Jim on 10.19.07 8:43 am
Just because you’re a team in the Big 10 doesnt mean you HAVE to suck. It just means you probably play a really easy schedule and are overrated. If you play in a conference as weak as the Big 10 is right now(with no championship game) you’re OOC schedule should at least be somewhat difficult, like when OSU played Texas last year and the year before. Otherwise its a pathetic schedule and you’ll get no respect.
WHAT HAPPENED TO PICKS?????????? I was TOTALLY going to win that
By Gator Boys on 10.19.07 10:47 am
[…] Florida fan jumps OSU and keeps swinging until Bucks admit to being overrated [Orange and Blue Hue] […]
By Big Ten Tailgate : Booze, Ladies and Football » Daily Dump: Blown Call, OSU Hatred, An Erin Andrews Interview, Minnesota Eliminated on 10.23.07 6:41 am
Due diligence, please. OOC schedule is tailored to the expected strength of that year’s team? Bollocks. (Youngstown State, I will concede — added recently when the 12th game was made available.) But Washington was scheduled years ago, when Ty Willingham was expected to bring a semblance of consistency and, more importantly, Rose Bowl appearances abound. Jump ahead to the Buckeyes’ future home & home opponents through 2011 and beyond: USC, Miami (FL), Cal, Virginia Tech — all scheduled with the intent that each matchup will bring together two Top 15 teams year in and year out (although Miami is slowly trying to claw its way back into relevance in that regard).
Ohio State may not have your respect. But the evaluation of teams based on commutative relationships needs to end.
By Armando on 10.28.07 8:14 pm
1. Big Ten does not have 12 members so it cannot have a Conference Championship! ( NOT OHIO STATE’s FAULT)… blame notre dame if you have to.
2. Ohio State’s regular conference schedule is normally supposed to be pretty strong with most teams played having a winning record if not an excellent one. (michigan in 2006)
3. Soon to come is USC back to back with other non conference games being army and new mexico state. ( NOT GREAT, but better than kent state and youngstown state)
4. SEC has more speed and an effective spread offence in some cases against the big 10 but is in no way better than the Big 10 and at any time programs like Penn State, Michigan, Ohio State, and Wisconsin could compete and win against top tiered SEC teams.
5. One loss against the Florida Gators of all teams does not mean that Ohio State’s whole program is a fluke and the big 10 is slow and it sucks. Play that game over again with both teams being 100 percent healthy and 6 times out of 10 Ohio State will win.
6. We’ll prove it to you and gain our respect back when we beat LSU’s corn dog lovin arses on their home turf on Jan. 7th. PERIOD.
PS. Missouri got screwed, jayhawks suck
By gobucks on 12.04.07 1:04 pm
I love the “We don’t have to play a tough OOC schedule because we play in the SEC and have a championship game” arguement. The only reason you have a championship game is because of $$$$. That’s it. Period. This year, by the end of the season, Georgia and LSU were clearly the best teams in the SEC, but Tennessee was the pathetic division winner that allowed LSU into the championship game. As an SEC fan, honestly, who do you think is better Georgia or LSU? I don’t think LSU would have been within a TD of Georgia, so when Ohio State beats them, that will be your arguement.
By the way, like everything in sports, there are cycles. Two years ago, college football analysts ranked each BCS conference by strength; after all bowl games were finished. Guess who was No. 1 and who was No. 5? Big Ten No. 1, SEC, No. 5. This year, I would agree that overall the SEC is a tougher conference, but you are an idiot if you think that is the case year in and year out.
The Big Ten right now is 3-4 in bowl games, including a win against your mighty SEC Florida Gators. Most of the Big Ten’s bowl games they are unfairly outmatched, thanks to the Rose Bowl for taking a three loss team that would have matched up much better to Florida then USC. Michigan would have played BC not MSU and by the way Michigan performed against Florida, I’d like their chances against BC. MSU would have played in the Motor City Bowl, not Purdue who would have stayed home. This would have given the Big Ten a better chance of being 4-2 right now instead of 3-4, but the Rose Bowl stuck to tradition and set the Big Ten up for failure. If the Big Ten goes 4-4, I’d take it.
By Buckeye Boy on 01.07.08 11:45 am
It’s true and college football needs a
playoff system.
By Bob Smith on 01.08.08 12:51 am
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