Bowl preview, part 5

For all those who may have freaked out over Donald Washington being suspended for the National Championship....you may relax. As of now, he will play. Read that article further, too...LSU is handing out bulletin board material.

On with the bowl preview;

Purdue vs. Central Michigan
Motor City Bowl
Wednesday, December 26th - 730pm

Rematch! With the same results, probably.

These two teams met back in mid-September, with the Boilermakers crushing the Chippewas 45-22. Both teams have seen their fortune change since that game, with Central Michigan winning 7 of their last 9 and Purdue losing 5 of 7. But take a look at the schedules and the scores...you'll soon agree with me that Purdue will most likely win in another walk.

It's true, Purdue may be fat on cupcakes. The only bowl team they beat was Central Michigan. But the Boilermakers have discovered that they could get REALLY fat on those cupcakes....they average 42 points per game in their 7 wins.

Meanwhile, the Chippewas have allowed 31+ points in 10 of their 13 games this season. And when you give up 48 points to Eastern Michigan and 44 points to North Dakota State, maybe bowl games are not something you should be playing in. Add to that the 70 they surrendered to Clemson and the 52 that Kansas scored, and you're looking at The Blowout City Bowl.

Purdue's probably feeling a bit low after their last-second loss to Indiana, and that kind of doldrums could affect the Boilers...but Joe Tiller doesn't allow those kind of memories to sink in too much. He'll have the team ready. Make it a high-confidence choice.

Purdue 41
Central Michigan 21
Actual score
Purdue 51
Central Michigan 48
The BBC - 6-1

Bowl preview, part 4

Let's continue with the bowl previews....

Boise State vs. East Carolina
Hawaii Bowl
Sunday, December 23rd - 8pm

I'm thinking that this game might be a huge mismatch. Boise State still has a large nucleus of players that beat Oklahoma a little over 11 months ago, and they finished this season 10-2. Only an early loss to Washington (back before Jake Locker had the holy bejeezus scared out of him by Little Animal) and a late-season loss at Hawaii prevented the Broncos from consecutive unbeaten seasons.

Meanwhile, East Carolina is lucky to be in bowl game. They ended up 7-5, and have some rather embarrassing defeats on their resume this season. They lost by 41 points to West Virginia, but that is not their most embarrassing Saturday of the year. So what was that loss that was worse than the WVA one?

They lost to Marshall by 19 points....Marshall went 3-9 this year. Yes, I said 19 points.

East Carolina has no business being in a bowl game, and unless Boise State overlooks the Pirates, you should have full confidence in the Broncos winning this one.

But Boise State knows plenty about being overlooked....I doubt it'll happen to them.

Boise State 47
East Carolina 21
Actual score
East Carolina 41
Boise State 38
The BBC - 5-1

That takes us through Christmas. We'll pick up again with the Motor City Bowl next time.

Ohio State fans take over Big Ten stadiums

These are pretty cool. Home videos of Ohio State fans dominating opposing teams home games.

At Indiana.....


At Purdue....


At Northwestern (the marching band and the loudspeaker cat couldn't even drown us out)....


And of course...at Michigan.....


Show those to anybody who says Ohio State fans don't travel well.

Yes, it was a fumble

For those of who have ever wished to see a bad ref sent to jail, the Big Ten proudly gives you Stephen Pamon.

Just posted at Rivals.com;

A Big Ten football officiating team that came under scrutiny for its performance in two conference games last month was led by a crew chief with a history of bankruptcy, casino gambling, child abuse and allegations of sexual harassment, a Yahoo! Sports investigation has revealed.

The revelations about the Big Ten referee, Stephen Pamon, come four months after an NBA referee pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from allegations he bet on NBA games in which he officiated and provided inside information to high-stakes gamblers.

And in case you're wondering if Pamon and his crew called any of your favorite team's games....if you're a Buckeye, he called a pretty big game for us.

Pamon's crew was responsible for the Illinois game, the same game with the blown fumble call in the first minute of the game. That horrible non-call gave Illinois a TD and sent Ohio State to a 7-point loss.

Fortunately for the Buckeyes, it did not irreparably harm OSU's National Championship hunt. But imagine the implications if it had.

So what the hell was the Big Ten thinking by letting a guy with that much of a checkered past officiate a game, let alone LEAD a frigging crew? The child abuse and sex charges are alone disgusting....but you let a guy with a GAMBLING problem be in charge of an officiating crew?

Hello, fox. Here's your henhouse. Guard it well, OK?

Jim Delaney has a lot to answer for.

Bowl preview, part 3

Here's hoping you didn't put money on Florida State to win the Motor City Bowl.....

On with Part 3;

New Mexico vs. Nevada
New Mexico Bowl
Saturday, December 22nd - 430pm

Ah, the benefits of having a bowl game played at home. Gee, what are the odds that the New Mexico Bowl would pick New Mexico to play?

Anyway, as much as I hate to see a team win a bowl that was pretty much created for them, New Mexico's going to win this one. Take the Lobos and the points.

I've watched Nevada play three times this year, including a 3-point loss to Hawaii, a 69-67 thrilling loss to Boise State, and a 5-point early loss to Northwestern. They were all great games, but they were all losses. Plus, Nevada is 6-6 and they got their bowl eligibility by beating Nicholls State, Louisiana Tech, and Idaho. I can't respect that.

New Mexico's schedule wasn't much easier, having lost to some pretty weak teams. But if you ever get asked "who's the only team besides Oklahoma to knock off Missouri", you can proudly proclaim that you know the answer and that it was New Mexico.

It's the weakest bowl game of the season, and probably the only one I'll have absolutely no interest in watching. How the hell a 6-6 team gets to play a 6-5 team during bowl season, I'll never know. But it is what it is.

New Mexico 28
Nevada 27
Actual score
New Mexico 23
Nevada 0
The BBC - 4-0
--------------------------------
BYU vs. UCLA
Las Vegas Bowl
Saturday, December 22nd - 8pm

Our first rematch of the bowl season, and a pretty good game actually. UCLA knocked off the Cougars in the second week of the season, 27-17. But since then, BYU won nine straight games, and UCLA lost to Notre Dame.

I think the only edge for the Bruins will be their strength of schedule. They went 2-2 against ranked teams...but one of those wins turned out to be against a fraud of a Cal team and the other was against a Dennis Dixon-less Oregon. They have also lost four of their last five games and practically limped into their bowl selection.

Meanwhile, BYU plays in the much weaker MWC, but they blew through it at an 8-0 clip. They beat Air Force and Utah, but were fortunate enough to have both games at home.

It could be a tough game to call, but I'm going to have to go with the missionaries on this one. BYU didn't play as many tough teams, but they knocked off the ones they had to down the stretch.

BYU 32
UCLA 22
Actual score
BYU 17
UCLA 16
The BBC - 5-0

Bowl preview, part 2

Before I get into the second part of the series, please note that I have cleaned up my links on the right side of the page. I removed a lot of blogs that have not been updated in a long time, and I added a few new Big Ten blogs. If you have any recommendations, please let me know!

Florida Atlantic vs. Memphis
New Orleans Bowl
Friday, December 21st - 8pm

I'll be honest...I don't know much about either of these teams, so I took a long look at what each team has accomplished this season, mainly how they fared against good teams vs. their fate when they challenged poor teams.

That was enough for me. I'm going to call this game for Howard Schnellenberger and Florida Atlantic. Here's what I saw inside the schedules that gave me this call;

Memphis has not played a single team that was ranked at any time this season. The two best teams on their schedule were Mississippi and Central Florida. Both teams are below average (in the grand scheme) at best. Meanwhile, FAU played Oklahoma State, Kentucky, South Florida, and Florida.

Both teams finished at 7-5 on the year, but FAU earned their five losses against teams that SHOULD have sent them to defeat. How Memphis made a bowl game losing to five bad teams, I'll never know.

One last point - Memphis lost to Middle Tennessee and Arkansas State. Both those teams show up on FAU's schedule too....but FAU beat them both.

Florida Atlantic 38
Memphis 28

Actual score
FAU 44
Memphis 27
The BBC - 2-0

--------------------------
Cincinnati vs. Southern Miss
PapaJohns.com Bowl
Saturday, December 22nd - 1pm

I think this game might be a big mismatch. Cincinnati has a powerful offense when they are on, and their schedule has prepared them enough to play a MUCH better challenge than the one Southern Miss will pose.

The Bearcats played four ranked teams this year, and went 3-1 in those games. They also were only 5 points away from knocking off West Virginia. And now that Michigan has found their head coach, Cincinnati can relax a little more and focus on their bowl game. Brian Kelly will end up coaching somewhere more prestigious someday soon, but it's not today.

Check out the Conference-USA standings, by the way. Southern Miss finished below Memphis, and you just read what I think about them. Yeah, I think I'm done talking about this game.

Cincinnati 33
Southern Miss 14

Actual score
Cincinnati 31
Southern Miss 21
The BBC - 3-0

Late night wrapup

OK, so there's a few things going on....here's a summary.

Michigan football

Michigan's got their new head coach. Rich Rodriguez is making the jump from West Virginia, and will be taking over at TTUN. It's not official yet, but it's "official"....RR told his team already that he'd be leaving.

Just think about it....if West Virginia had beat Pitt, WVA would have been in the National Championship against Ohio State. Rodriguez would have become Jim Tressel's bitch for one night only. Now, he gets that honor once a year.

Cleveland Browns/AFC North

Three months ago, they were "the worst team in the NFL". Now their Magic Number to get into the playoffs stands at one. One Browns win (against either 5-9 Cincinnati or 4-10 San Francisco) or one Tennessee loss (against either the 3-11 New York Jets or 12-2 Indianapolis Colts) and the Browns are in.

But that's not enough, and the prospects are potentially better than a mere playoff berth.

Cleveland is now tied atop the AFC North with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 9-5. The Steelers hold the tiebreaker, so the Browns need to win it outright. Pittsburgh has a somewhat easy schedule too (at 3-11 St. Louis and at 4-10 Baltimore), but I wouldn't count anything out yet. Aside from a brief spurt in the 4th quarter today, Pittsburgh has not looked good for a few weeks. Plus, their last two games are both on the road....the Steelers are 4-2 away from home (including losses to other non-playoff teams like Arizona, Denver and the Jets).

Two weeks ago, the Steelers had a 2-game lead (and the tiebreaker) with 4 games to play. They began printing "AFC North Champiopns" t-shirts. Tonight, the suicide hotline in western PA has a busy signal.

If the Steelers end up losing the division to the Browns, it will be the biggest embarrassment to their franchise in a long, long time. Even making the playoffs will not cover that stench.

And I'm loving every minute of it.

Troy Smith

I hate the Ravens, and I don't want to see them win much. But they're going to win more and more now that they have found their new QB.

With two minutes to play in the game, Smith started his first potential game-winning drive at his own 40 yard line. Three beautiful passes later, he had Baltimore at the Miami 21. With 8 seconds left, Smith had Baltimore at the half-yard line, facing a fourth-and-goal. Brian Billick then turned into a giant pussy and sent in the kicking team. The Ravens tied the game, then blew it in OT.

Seriously, you've got a mobile QB and a great RB in Willis McGahee. You're 18 inches away from a touchdown against the worst team in the NFL. You're not going to the playoffs. Why the hell would you go for a tie?

Rather than show some balls, the Ravens did what they do best this year...they found a way to lose. Billick led the way by lacking any courage whatsoever, and the Ravens defense followed suit, allowing a long TD pass in OT to give the Fins their first win, and officially turn the Ravens into the NFL's laughingstock.

Troy Smith deserves better than you, Billick.

The BBC

I came close to scoring tickets to see the National Championship. But no, I will not be in Louisiana for that event. Instead, I'll be running the show at Damon's Grill in Canton, Ohio. It's actually pretty cool to be the event coordinator at a restaurant with multiple 10-foot screens on a night like that....and getting paid to do it.

If you'll be near Canton, come on in. We've got a live radio broadcast before the game, a sporting goods store coming in to give away prizes, and a beer vendor setting up shop with some good specials. Before the game (3pm-7pm) we'll have beer and appetizers at half-price.

Prior to that night, I'll be all over the place. Two weeks from today, I'll be front-row in the end zone at the Browns/Niners game. Three days later, I'm off to Vegas, baby, Vegas! Heading out there for a little vaca with the girlfriend. Tix were pretty cheap, and I'll get to add a few thousand SkyMiles points.

In the meantime, the blogging will continue on a daily basis again. Part two of the bowl preview is tomorrow morning!

Thanks,
Jeff

Bowl preview, part 1

Quite a few days late, but we're back on track and ready to start bowl season! Over the course of the next few weeks, we'll all be sitting back and watching a lot of college football...and The BBC will be previewing each and every game.

And as much as we'd like to preview the bigger and better games right away, it's best if we do our capsules of each game in the order they will be played. Thus, the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl must come first. And yes, that's the actual name of the bowl.

Utah vs. Navy
Poinsettia Bowl
Thursday, Dec. 20 - 9 p.m.

We may be starting the bowl season off with a VERY good game. The Poinsettia Bowl might have picked a pretty good matchup here.

Navy uses a triple-option rushing attack that is very hard to defend. The Midshipmen lead the nation in rushing yards. You should expect them to score a lot of points......but, you should also expect them to give up a lot of points. Keep in mind, this is the same Navy defense that allowed Notre Dame to score 44 points. Yes, they still beat ND, but so did a LOT of other teams....but nobody else allowed that horrific Irish offense to cross the goal line as much as Navy did.

Here's a quick look at how many points below-average teams have scored against Navy this year;

- Duke scored 43 points
- Pittsburgh scored 45 points
- Wake Forest scored 44 points
- Notre Dame scored 44 points
- Delaware scored 59 points. Delaware's not "below-average", but they ARE "below-Division 1-A"
- North Texas scored 62 points

All that defense, and Navy still went 4-2 in those games. Yeah, we might have a shootout.

Utah's not a team that many would fear, but they do have a lot of talent. They were on a big roll, having won 7 straight games before falling to BYU in their big in-state rivalry, 17-10. They're looking to get the bad taste of losing to Mormons out of their mouths*, and I think they'll be successful.

Finally, I feel that Utah will get the win because of the intangibles - specifically, experience and coaching. Navy will play without their Head Coach, Paul Johnson. Johnson has accepted the job at Georgia Tech and will not be on the sidelines for the SDCCU Poinsettia Bowl. As for experience, no player on the Utah squad has ever lost a bowl game. They are 4-0 since 2003, having reached a bowl game in every season.

Utah 48
Navy 41

Actual score
Utah 35
Navy 32
The BBC - 1-0

* - Yes, I know that BYU doesn't have a monopoly on Mormons in the state of Utah. But how many chances will I ever get to write the phrase "Mormons out of their mouths"?

Playoffs for the Cleveland Browns? It's almost a reality.....

Heading into this year, a large number of NFL experts pegged the Cleveland Browns as the worst team in the NFL. Not a single one of those pundits will admit to that prediction anymore. As a matter of fact, instead of being placed at #32 in the NFL, a lot of those same experts have the Browns in the top 10.

Now the Browns have an excellent chance to prove their worth, as they now control their path to the playoffs.

Earlier tonight, the Denver Broncos fell to the Houston Texans, clearing the path for the Browns to get into the postseason for only the second time since the team returned to Cleveland.

Currently the North Coast boys own sole possession of sixth place in the AFC, enough to gain the coveted final wild-card spot. The four division leaders....New England (13-0), Indianapolis (11-2), Pittsburgh (9-4), and San Diego (8-5) .....and Jacksonville (9-4) all sit ahead of us. We're right behind at 8-5.

Two wins in their final three games will get Cleveland in, but one of those wins must come this Sunday at home against Buffalo (7-6). Beating the Bills will eliminate Buffalo, and will put Denver (7-7) out of the playoffs at the same time. A win on Sunday against Buffalo will keep us one game ahead of Tennessee with two to play, and Cleveland holds the tiebreaker.

Even better, a win against the Bills, and a Tennessee loss to Kansas City on Sunday afternoon will clinch the wild-card spot immediately.

It's a little muddied, but it is right in front of us. However, if you're not into the whole "if this happens and that happens and this happens" scenarios, just look at it this way. If the Browns win, they're in. Nobody else can stop us as long as we keep winning.

But if you want to look ahead a little bit, how about this....Pittsburgh is reeling from their curbstomping at the hands of New England last week, and they face off against Jacksonville this week. Then it's a road game against a pretty bad St. Louis team before finishing up on the road against Baltimore.

If Pittsburgh manages to lose two of their last three games, and the Browns win all three of their contests (7-6 Buffalo, 5-8 Cincinnati, and 3-10 San Francisco), Cleveland is the champion of the AFC North.

It's not favorable for Browns fans, but St. Louis has re-emerged from their 0-7 start to win 3 out of their last 5.....and if you think Baltimore isn't licking their chops at the chance to fuck up the Steelers' division hopes, you'd better call a shrink.

It probably won't happen, but I'm still looking at it as a possibility. And I still am the guy who said Ohio State would go from #7 to the BCS Championship Game hours after we lost to Illinois.

---------------------------------------

As for that Buffalo Bills game, don't let their 7-6 record get you too worried. They're not a very good team.

Their wins? Baltimore (4-9), Cincinnati (5-8), Washington (6-7), NY Jets (3-10), NY Jets (3-10), Miami (0-13), and Miami (0-13).

They've only had a 100-yard rusher 3 times all year and two of those came last week....against Miami.

Their QB has thrown for LESS than 200 yards in 9 of their 13 games. Twice, the leading QB threw for LESS than 100 yards. By the way, of the four times they had more than 200 passing yards...once was against Miami, another against the Jets.

Yeah, I'm not impressed either.

However, they're hungry. But hell, so are we. The team cannot underestimate them, and I certainly hope we don't overlook them like I just did.

Phew! I have my computer back

Had to wipe the whole hard drive clean....lost all my MP3s and movie files, but I was able to save my pictures. Pictures of my daughter and girlfriend were top priority.

Anyway, I'm a few days behind on my bowl preview, as promised. We'll start fresh tomorrow.

Down time

My computer is being repaired, I will begin the bowl previews in the next day or two.

I'm posting this from my cell phone....damn this sucks.

Jeff

2007-08 Bowl Season preview

Last year, I picked every bowl game and ended up going 19-13. If I wasn't such a home-state-homer, I'd have been 21-11, but I took Ohio and Ohio State for the last two bowls. I am what I am, and I'd do it all over again. I probably will go with the two Ohio teams in the last two games. maybe they'll give me better results this time.

So go ahead and mock my 19-13 record if you want, but see if you can guess who wrote this sentence?

I want to take Oklahoma. I really do. But I'm going to be the guy who likes storybook endings today. Just like I did with Rutgers, I'm taking the team that nobody knows over a Big 12 school. Boise State in a squeaker

Yeah, that's right bitches. Bow down to superiority.

Starting on Monday, I will be giving a short preview of every bowl game and predicting a winner. So far this season, I've been the king of the mountain among the Big Ten Bloggers, winning the regular season Pick'Em amongst some of the best college football bloggers. Let's see if the magic carries over.

Here's the games we will be previewing;

Utah vs. Navy
Poinsettia Bowl
Dec. 20, 9 p.m.

Memphis vs. Florida Atlantic
New Orleans Bowl
Dec. 21, 8 p.m.

Southern Miss vs. Cincinnati
Papajohns.com Bowl
Dec. 22, 1 p.m.

Nevada vs. New Mexico
New Mexico Bowl
Dec. 22, 4:30 p.m.

UCLA vs. BYU
Las Vegas Bowl
Dec. 22, 8 p.m.

Boise State vs. East Carolina
Hawaii Bowl
Dec. 23, 8 p.m.

Purdue vs. Central Michigan
Motor City Bowl
Dec. 26, 7:30 p.m.

Arizona State vs. Texas
Holiday Bowl
Dec. 27, 8 p.m.

Boston College vs. Michigan State
Champs Sports Bowl
Dec. 28, 5 p.m.

TCU vs. Houston
Texas Bowl
Dec. 28, 8 p.m.

Maryland vs. Oregon State
Emerald Bowl
Dec. 28, 8:30 p.m.

UConn vs. Wake Forest
Meineke Car Care Bowl
Dec. 29, 1 p.m.

UCF vs. Mississippi State
Liberty Bowl
Dec. 29, 4:30 p.m.

Penn State vs. Texas A&M
Alamo Bowl
Dec. 29, 8 p.m.

Alabama vs. Colorado
Independence Bowl
Dec. 30, 8 p.m.

California vs. Air Force
Armed Forces Bowl
Dec. 31, 12:30 p.m.

Georgia Tech vs. Fresno State
Humanitarian Bowl
Dec. 31, 2 p.m.

South Florida vs. Oregon
Sun Bowl
Dec. 31, 2 p.m.

Kentucky vs. Florida State
Music City Bowl
Dec. 31, 4 p.m.

Indiana vs. Oklahoma State
Insight Bowl
Dec. 31, 6 p.m.

Clemson vs. Auburn
Chick-fil-A Bowl
Dec. 31, 7:30 p.m.

Wisconsin vs. Tennessee
Outback Bowl
Jan. 1, 2008, 11 a.m.

Missouri vs. Arkansas
Cotton Bowl
Jan. 1, 2008, 11:30 a.m.

Texas Tech vs. Virginia
Gator Bowl
Jan. 1, 2008, 1 p.m.

Michigan vs. Florida
Capital One Bowl
Jan. 1, 2008, 1 p.m.

Illinois vs. USC
Rose Bowl
Jan. 1, 2008, 4:30 p.m.

Hawaii vs. Georgia
Sugar Bowl
Jan. 1, 2008, 8:30 p.m.

Oklahoma vs. West Virginia
Fiesta Bowl
Jan. 2, 2008, 8 p.m.

Virginia Tech vs. Kansas
Orange Bowl
Jan. 3, 2008, 8 p.m.

Rutgers vs. Ball State
International Bowl
Jan. 5, 2008, Noon

Bowling Green vs. Tulsa
GMAC Bowl
Jan. 6, 2008, 8 p.m.

LSU vs. Ohio State
BCS Championship Game
January 7, 2008, 8 p.m.

Cost per win (aka "Lynch deserves a raise")

An interesting chart went up on USA Today (and it wasn't a pie chart! Will wonders never cease?).

It details Division 1 schools, what they pay their head coaches, and what they paid per win in 2007.

Lemme give you the Big Ten results;

School-------------Coach-------salary----------paid per win
Minnesota--------Brewster----$1,000,000---$1,000,000
Iowa---------------Ferentz------$3,030,000-----$505,000
Purdue------------Tiller----------$1,764,806-----$252,115
Ohio State--------Tressel-------$2,367,000-----$215,182
Michigan----------Carr-----------$1,482,884-----$185,361
Michigan State---Dantonio----$1,150,000-----$164,286
Wisconsin---------Bielema------$1,394,638-----$154,960
Illinois-------------Zook----------$1,055,000-----$117,222
Indiana------------Lynch----------$293,297------$41,900

Penn State was not included, as they do not officially release Paterno's salary (despite what you read last week). Same thing goes for Northwestern.

Indiana has themselves a sweetheart deal with Lynch. And I know that a lot of that was based on emotional performances in honor of Indiana's fallen coach Terry Hoeppner. But Lynch deserves a ton of credit for turning that heart=break and that pain into a winning team. He will add tradition to IU, and will give that school their $41,900 worth.

The whole list can be found here.

Enjoy.

Cross your fingers, fans of The BBC......

A friend of mine is a student at Ohio State (she's actually in TBDBITL). I asked her this morning if she had any access to tickets for the BCS Title Game as a member of the band.

Her response was no.......but.......

She just told me that she is entering the student lottery, and promised to sell the tickets AT FACE VALUE to me if she wins. Plus, she's asking her friends to enter for me too!

I have a few chances to go to the game for 185 bucks a ticket. Oh, hell yes!

Cross your fingers.

UPDATE - For those of you who have e-mailed me saying that the tickets might need to be picked up at the venue with a student ID.....that scared me, until I remembered that my friend is in the marching band and will be at the game too! So if whe wins, she can get the tickets for me in NOLA!

How the coaches voted

There's an interesting website where you can see how every coach voted in the final Coaches Poll.

Notice some of the unbelievable rankings some of these morons give.

-Bobby Bowden had Oklahoma at #10, while putting Missouri at #6 and Kansas at #7
-Mario Cristobal (FAU) had Ohio State at #6
-Bob Stoops had the following - #1 Oklahoma, #2 Ohio State, #3 Missouri, #4 Kansas

Ah, I'm too pissed off. Look for yourselves and report the atrocities.

Slow sports news day today....

....not really much to talk about. Here's some headlines of other Ohio State blogs. Maybe they have something to say on such a boring evening.

"It's On" - Eleven Warriors (What's on? Oh, I forgot. It's Robot Chicken night!)
"Bowl selections announced" - Around The Oval
"It's official - Ohio State vs. LSU" - Buckeye Commentary
"Don’t let ESPN convince you the BCS is at fault" - MotSaG

Hey, wait a minute....there seems to be a pattern here. Am I missing something?

Ohio State goes to the National Championship game! Thank you, Oklahoma and Pitt!

As you can see, everything is back to normal. Everything is in it's normal place and it's just the way you expect to see things.

Oh, and I changed the blog back too!

Tonight, Oklahoma did what I honestly believed they would do. They manhandled a team that doesn't know how to handle success. they've never been there before and they blew it on the big stage.

But West Virginia....wow, did they choke on the big fat one or what? They let lowly Pittsburgh destroy them on their HOME FIELD! That mighty offense that literally ran up the score last week against UConn couldn't cross the end zone more than one time against Pitt? You knew when they missed two early chip-shot FGs that it was going to be a weird night....but there's no denying it. West Virginia does not belong with the big boys, and they proved it by failing BIG TIME. Win and they're in, and they choked. That defines failure in so many ways.

So here we are, headed for New Orleans. Ohio State versus somebody else. Who? We don't know yet. I'll bet it's Georgia, but it won't shock me to see LSU leapfrog two teams to get in. Personally, I think a 1-loss Kansas has more of a claim to it than LSU, who lost to two unranked teams. At least Kansas lost to the team that became #1.

Anyway, a Michigan blog owes me an apology. Six days before the Michigan game, I detailed how Ohio State could get to the BCS National Championship game, and UM Tailgate linked to it, calling it "the definition of grasping at straws".

UM Tailgate, you owe me an apology.

Go Buckeyes!

UPDATE - It took UM Tailgate a mere few hours to post a thread on the topic. That is a classy thing to do. I'm impressed by that, and I'm impressed by the blog too....you deserve a lot of recognition for some fine work.

Today's the day!

What bowl game will we play in? Who will be our opponent?

Today is the day we learn our fate.

The two most important games (as far as Buckeye fans are concerned) take place after sundown. West Virginia plays Pitt at 745pm, and Oklahoma plays Missouri at 8pm.

All I've gotta say is GO OKLAHOMA!!!!

Eleven Warriors has listed five reasons the Sooners will get it done. Me likey.

It wasn't me, I didn't do it!

In my opinion, the Sex Pistols are the most influential band of all time. They took a stagnant music scene in the 70s and they turned it upside down. Bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Linkin Park, and a lot of the modern rock that you hear would not be around if not for the revolution brought on by the Pistols.

On this day, 31 years ago, the Sex Pistols released their first single, "God Save The Queen". It was immediately banned by the BBC. To atone for that other BBC's error in judgment, The BBC (being yours truly) now brings you "God Save The Queen";


In 1996, I was fortunate enough to see the Pistols perform live in Cleveland with their original lineup (no, Sid Vicious was not an original member, and yes I know he's dead). One of the best shows I've ever seen (Johnny Rotten flipped me off too...of course, I was front-row-center, crushed up against the wall).

No, seriously? They posted it online?

Michigan posted the job for head coach online....no kidding.

Honestly, I can't possibly write anything funnier than that.

Mid-day roundup

A few different topics to discuss, and I've been remiss on blogging the last couple of days.

The BBC/Boomer Sooner
I started this blog a little over a year ago, and I've noticed the increasing traffic as time goes by. Obviously, traffic increases during college football season, but it's been getting better and better. I have to thank you for returning to my blog, and spreading the news to your friends. Also, the support of the best Buckeye blogs in the world is nice too (I'm looking at you, MotSaG and Eleven Warriors/Eleven Sooners). Plus, the Big Ten Bloggers has been a nice support system for all of us involved. i see trackbacks from every blog in that group, and it's nice to know we're all supporting each other.

Having said that, November has been the best month The BBC has ever had. We're going to have 10,000 page views this month, if we just keep up the average for these last three days. Our previous best month ever was 7,100 views, and that was fueled by the National Championship and the infamous Ted Ginn injury rumor. So again, I thank all of you for reading and for making me feel like my page actually matters.

Where will we be in January?

Our location will be one of two places. Ohio State will either play in Pasadena on January 1st, or New Orleans on January 7th. That's the easy part.

The tough part is who we're going to play. There are literally about 12 different teams we could face in our bowl game. No kidding.

Take a deep breath, here we go;

Kansas, Georgia, and Ohio state are all idle. Ohio State has a VERY wide margin over Georgia and Kansas (and the rest), so we're safely locked into the Top 3.

National Championship possibilities
- WVU wins, Missouri loses = Ohio State/West Virginia
- WVU loses, Missouri wins = Ohio State/Missouri
- WVU and Missouri lose = Ohio State/Georgia OR Ohio State/Kansas - it's unlikely to have Kansas jump over Georgia, but the margin is close and a 1-loss Kansas team might leapfrog a 2-loss Georgia squad. It's possible.
- WVU and Missouri lose, and Virginia Tech beats Boston College by 35 points = Ohio State/Virginia Tech. Tech is 6th right now, but a complete destruction of a one-time surefire BCS team like BC might push a lot of voters to land VT in the big game. Again, doubtful but still possible.
- WVU loses, Missouri loses, Va Tech loses, LSU destroys Tennessee by 4 or 5 TDs = Ohio State/LSU. Again, unlikely. But an overwhelming winner of the SEC will surely get more consideration than Georgia or Kansas. I don't see it happening, but we're talking possibilities here...and yes, it's possible in a very remote kind of fashion.
- WVU loses, Missouri loses, Va Tech loses, LSU loses, and Oklahoma beats Missouri 42-0 = Ohio State/Oklahoma. No way do I ever see that happening...but if you beat the #1 team 42-0 and win the Big 12 at the same time, then you SHOULD jump over teams that lose or are idle. it'd probably cause mass hysteria amongst college football fans if it happened. But yes, it is still possible.

Rose Bowl possibilities
- If USC beats UCLA = Ohio State/USC
- If USC loses to UCLA and Arizona State beats Arizona = Ohio State/Arizona State
- If USC and Arizona State both lose = Ohio State/UCLA

I've gone over the numbers - it's true. If UCLA beats USC and ASU loses, the tiebreakers ALL fall in favor of the Bruins. How f-ing disappointing would that be, to have to play UCLA in a BCS game?

Cleveland Cavaliers

I usually take a few weeks to get revved up for a Cavs post, but after they beat the Big Three and Boston last night, I've just gotta take my hat off to the wine and gold. The news of Anderson Varejao's whining about 6-point, 6-rebound per game players not getting a fair-share contract of 9 million a year must have really fired up the guys to show they are contenders even without Wild Thing.

And if we can play like that without AV, I say fuck him. Make him sit as looooong as possible. No team will want to pay that much, and no team will sign him to a short-term deal knowing that he'll try to break the bank once the contract expires. He's ruining himself and he doesn't even know it yet.

Buckeye Basketball

We saw signs of excellence when we beat 21st-ranked Syracuse, and we saw signs of inexperience when we got crushed by 15th-ranked Texas A&M. Which team will show up tonight when we face top-ranked North Carolina tonight? Who knows...but if we play within 8 points of them, or even knock off these guys, it'll be a HUGE step towards success for the baby Buckeyes. I have faith in Thad Matta. Let's see where he's got the guys at right now.

Why I've rededicated my blog

I've received more than a few comments and e-mails regarding the new name for The BBC. I don't approve negative or derogatory comments (nice try, all you "anonymous" Michigan fans from two weeks ago), so a lot of the "what the fuck" comments have gone into the trash bin. Those of you who understand, thanks. This post is for the ones who don't seem to understand.

Ohio State is ranked #3 in the penultimate BCS standings. We have no games left, so we're going to stay at #3 if one of the teams ahead of us do not lose. #2 West Virginia is playing Pitt, a rather weak opponent on Saturday. I don't see the upset happening there...but in this season of upsets, who knows?

That leaves Missouri at #1. They will play Saturday night at 8pm in the Big XII Championship game. If they lose, we're in. That's a fact. Their opponent is Oklahoma.

If Oklahoma wins, it puts the Ohio State Buckeyes into the National Championship. That's it. That's why I am an Oklahoma Sooner fan this week. It is for one reason and one reason only....to get my team a chance to win a BCS Title.

Sunday morning, I will re-re-dedicate my blog, and it will be called "The Buckeye Battle Cry" once again. It will be re-re-dedicated with one of two topics;

A) "Ohio State goes to the National Championship game! Thank you, Oklahoma!"
or
B) "Crap! Oh, well.....Pasadena, here we come!"

If we get the help we need, I will be ecstatic. But if Missouri wins on Saturday, and we go to the Rose Bowl, it will be because Missouri earned it. Hell, my hat is off to any team that can beat 11-0 Kansas and 10-2 Oklahoma in back-to-back weeks. THAT, my friends, is a team that will have earned their shot at the title.

Finally, as for the people who have stated in my comments, on other blogs, and on various sports shows, etc etc etc that Ohio State is "backing into the BCS game" by having other teams lose....I have only this to say.

After Week 5, West Virginia was ranked 13th, and Missouri was ranked 17th. Having 12 and 16 teams lose so the Mountaineers and Tigers could climb to the top....do you also consider that "backing in"?

No, of course not. teams that continue to win climb to the top. Teams that lose fail to achieve their mission. If LSU does not want a title so badly that they can beat middle-of-the-pack Arkansas on their own field, they they FAIL. It doesn't mean anybody "backed in" to anything, but instead it means that 117 other teams were not good enough to make the Top 2 for the final BCS Standings.

Thanks for reading. Go Buckeyes and Go Sooners!

Jeff

P.S. For the benefit of the haters....."penultimate" means "next-to-last". That'll save you a headache or two.

Michigan has a rare chance at history

While all the Michigan talk lately has been about their search for a head coach (Kirk Ferentz is the latest rumor....as a Buckeye fan, I pray for that to be true), I'd like to point out that the Wolverines have a rare chance to add to the historical data that is their 2007 season.

Michigan could be the only team in history ever to lose to two National Champions in the same season.

If Oklahoma knocks off Missouri, Ohio State goes to the BCS title game. Ohio State need only win that game, and they are crowned champions.

Meanwhile, Appalachian State is preparing to take on Eastern Washington in the 1-AA playoffs. This win, plus two more Mountaineer wins will give them their own championship.

Can't wait until someone asks Mike Hart "which would you rather lose to, the BCS National Champion, or the 1-AA National Champion"?

Boomer Sooner!

I have no idea what "Boomer Sooner" even means, but let's all become fans of Oklahoma football for one week!

If Oklahoma wins the Big XII Championship Game, Ohio State will play for the National Championship. So let's join our brothers down south in victory!

Buck fans - become fans of Connecticut and Tennessee today!

ESPN is oing College Gameday live from the Kansas-Missouri matchup. Frankly, this is possibly the least enticing game between two Top-4 teams I can ever recall.

As far as Ohio State fans are concerned, this game means nothing. We need the winner to lose next week in the Big 12 Championship to Oklahoma...and it doesn't matter which team gets there, they just need to lose once they arrive.

The BCS standings (as of this very minute) look like this;

1. Kansas
2. West Virginia
3. Missouri
4. Ohio State
5. Georgia

Either Kansas or Missouri will fall today, knocking that team out and bumping everybody else up one.

Obviously, we need to see one more team knocked off amongst the top 3. West Virginia may have an easy route, but it's not THAT easy. They have 20th-ranked Connecticut at home today. WVA is fired up and they know that if they win out, they get into the National Championship Game. But how many other teams have had that scenario and failed to win at home?

Buckeye fans, become Connecticut fans today. If the Huskies win, Ohio State will be ranked #2 when the BCS Standings come out on Sunday night.

Unbelievably, that might not be enough to get us in....sadly, the SEC has ramped up their whine-fest, and the media is still hugging onto the nutsack of that conference. The pundits have already begun the chant of having Georgia leapfrog Ohio State if they win the SEC Championship Game over LSU.

Therefore, let's knock that little pipe dream out of the sky while we have the chance.....Georgia does NOT control their own destiny. If Tennessee beats Kentucky today, the Volunteers get to play in the SEC title game, and not Georgia. There's NO way the leapfrog happens for a team that doesn't even get into the championship game for their conference, no matter how hard the SEC cries.

So, for today....we don different colors.

Tennessee plays Kentucky at 130pm
Connecticut plays West Virginia at 330pm.

Go Vols!
Go Huskies!
Go Buckeyes!

BCS Championship Game still alive!

We're #3! We're #3!

Two weeks ago, we outlined a plan to get into the Championship Game.

It's getting closer and closer.

#1 LSU just lost (on their home field) to Arkansas, 50-48, setting up the possibility for Ohio State to win another championship.

ONE of these two things needs to happen, and we're in.

-Oklahoma wins the Big 12 Championship Game
-West Virginia loses to Connecticut
-West Virginia loses to Pittsburgh

Just ONE of those happens, and we're in.

Not so far-fetched, is it?

Piling on

I've been absent the past couple of days, but I wanted to pop in and pick on Mikey Hart one more time.

4 years against Ohio State
Mike Hart - 262 total yards

1 year plus 1 play against Michigan
Beanie Wells - 274 total yards

Nuff said.

H-2-0-and-4.

OK, now it's nuff said.

From 7th place to Champion in two short weeks

Following Ohio State's loss to Illinois, the Buckeyes dropped to 7th in the BCS rankings. At the time, I said they had a potential road to the BCS Championship Game if things fell the right way.

Now I have a little historical data to back up that projected rise to fame.

Two weeks ago, The BBC was in 7th place in the Big Ten Bloggers Pick 'Em contest.

Today, The BBC is crowned champion of the regular season.

I took Michigan State over Penn State and Indiana over Purdue in the final week. I figured you need a couple of upsets to go from #7 to #1 so quickly. I was right.



Oh, and by the way....I finished in first place, ahead of second-place Michigan Sports Center. Blogging impersonating reality?

All-Big Ten teams released

There's a few surprises, and a couple that should anger the true football fans...but here's the coaches list for All-Big Ten football players.

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: RASHARD MENDENHALL, Illinois
OFFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: Jake Long, Michigan
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: JAMES LAURINAITIS, Ohio State
DEFENSIVE LINEMAN OF THE YEAR: VERNON GHOLSTON, Ohio State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: ARRELIOUS BENN, Illinois

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB: Chad Henne, Michigan
RB: RASHARD MENDENHALL, Illinois
RB: CHRIS "BEANIE" WELLS, Ohio State
WR: JAMES HARDY, Indiana
WR: MARIO MANNINGHAM, Michigan Receiver
C: A.Q. SHIPLEY, Penn State
G: Martin O'Donnell, Illinois
G: Adam Kraus, Michigan
T: Jake Long, Michigan
T: Kirk Barton, Ohio State
TE: TRAVIS BECKUM, Wisconsin
K: Taylor Mehlhaff, Wisconsin

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
LINE: GREG MIDDLETON, Indiana
LINE: MITCH KING, Iowa
LINE: VERNON GHOLSTON, Ohio State
LINE: MAURICE EVANS, Penn State
LB: J Leman, Illinois
LB: JAMES LAURINAITIS, Ohio State
LB: Dan Connor, Penn State
SEC: VONTAE DAVIS, Illinois
SEC: MALCOLM JENKINS, Ohio State
SEC: JUSTIN KING, Penn State
SEC: JACK IKEGWUONU, Wisconsin
P: JEREMY BOONE, Penn State

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB: KELLEN LEWIS, Indiana
RB: Mike Hart, Michigan
RB: JAVON RINGER, Michigan State
WR: DEVIN THOMAS, Michigan State
WR: Dorien Bryant, Purdue
C: RYAN MCDONALD, Illinois
G: RICH OHRNBERGER, Penn State
G: KRAIG URBIK, Wisconsin
T: XAVIER FULTON, Illinois
T: ALEX BOONE, Ohio State
TE: Dustin Keller, Purdue
K: AUSTIN STARR, Indiana

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
LINE: TERRANCE TAYLOR, Michigan
LINE: Jonal Saint-Dic, Michigan State
LINE: Cliff Avril, Purdue
LINE: MATT SHAUGHNESSY, Wisconsin
LB: Shawn Crable, Michigan
LB: MARCUS FREEMAN, Ohio State
LB: SEAN LEE, Penn State
DB: Tracy Porter, Indiana
DB: Charles Godfrey, Iowa
DB: Jamar Adams, Michigan
DB: Dominique Barber, Minnesota
P: Ken DeBauche, Wisconsin

-----------------------------------------

Here's the All-Big Ten teams, according to Big Ten Media.....

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: RASHARD MENDENHALL, Illinois
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: JAMES LAURINAITIS, Ohio State
FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: ARRELIOUS BENN, Illinois
DAVE McCLAIN COACH OF THE YEAR: Ron Zook, Illinois

FIRST TEAM OFFENSE
QB: TODD BOECKMAN, Ohio State
RB: RASHARD MENDENHALL, Illinois
RB: CHRIS "BEANIE" WELLS, Ohio State
WR: JAMES HARDY, Indiana
WR: MARIO MANNINGHAM, Michigan
C: Marcus Coleman, Wisconsin
G: Martin O'Donnell, Illinois
G; Adam Kraus, Michigan
T: Jake Long, Michigan
T: Kirk Barton, Ohio State
TE: TRAVIS BECKUM, Wisconsin
K: AUSTIN STARR, Indiana

FIRST TEAM DEFENSE
LINE: GREG MIDDLETON, Indiana
LINE: Jonal Saint-Dic, Michigan State
LINE: VERNON GHOLSTON, Ohio State
LINE: MAURICE EVANS, Penn State
LB: J Leman, Illinois
LB: JAMES LAURINAITIS, Ohio State
LB: Dan Connor, Penn State
DB: Tracy Porter, Indiana
DB: MALCOLM JENKINS, Ohio State
DB: JUSTIN KING, Penn State
DB: JACK IKEGWUONU, Wisconsin
P: JEREMY BOONE, Penn State


SECOND TEAM OFFENSE
QB: KELLEN LEWIS, Indiana
RB: Mike Hart, Michigan
RB: JAVON RINGER, Michigan State
WR: DEVIN THOMAS, Michigan State
WR: Dorien Bryant, Purdue
C: RYAN MCDONALD, Illinois
G: RICH OHRNBERGER, Penn State
G; KRAIG URBIK, Wisconsin
T: Pete Clifford, Michigan State
T: ALEX BOONE, Ohio State
TE: Dustin Keller, Purdue
K: Taylor Mehlhaff, Wisconsin

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE
LINE: WILL DAVIS, Illinois
LINE: MITCH KING, Iowa
LINE: Bryan Mattison, Iowa
LINE: MATT SHAUGHNESSY, Wisconsin
LB: Mike Humpal, Iowa
LB: Shawn Crable, Michigan
LB: SEAN LEE, Penn State
DB: VONTAE DAVIS, Illinois
DB: Jamar Adams, Michigan
DB: Dominique Barber, Minnesota
DB: Terrell Vinson, Purdue
P: JUSTIN KUCEK, Minnesota

---------------------------------------

Here's my thoughts;

- Chad Henne as first-team QB by the coaches? No freaking way. The media had it right in this case, putting Boeckman as 1st-team and Kellen Lewis as 2nd-team.
- Mike Hart is going to throw a massive bitch-fest over being 2nd-team RB. But there's no way you can put that guy over Mendenhall and Beanie Wells, especially after gaining 42 total yards in his final two games combined.
- The defensive trio of Gholston, Laurainitis, and Jenkins dominated as expected.
- Hopefully, Robiskie's Honorable Mentions will persuade him to give it another year at Ohio State.
- I think whoever won the Ohio State-Illinois game was going to get Coach Of The Year.
- Take a look at the linebackers. If you put Connor, Little Animal and J Leman on any team, they'd destroy any other team you could come up with this year.

3 down, 3 to go

A week ago, I wrote a post detailing how Ohio State could still get to the National Championship.

I was mocked on a few blogs (mainly Michigan ones, so neener neener neener). It doesn't look so far-fetched anymore, does it?

So I said we needed six games to go our way. The results so far?

-Ohio State beats Michigan? Check.
-Oklahoma gets upset in the regular season? Check.
-Oregon gets upset? Check.

What we need to happen?

-Kansas or Missouri to lose - already a guarantee, since they play each other.
-Winner of Kansas/Missouri to lose to Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game

And ONE of the following needs to happen;

-LSU to lose either to Arkansas or in the SEC title game
-West Virginia to lose to Connecticut or Pitt.

This is not so much "grasping at straws" anymore. We get to sit back and see if we're going to play in California on January 1st or New Orleans on January 7th.

Should be fun.....

Michigan offense finally outgains Troy Smith

On Saturday, Michigan's offense had 91 yards more than Troy Smith.

Sooner or later, it was bound to happen. Congratulations, Wolverines!

Hart to return to Michigan for fifth year

(AP) On Saturday afternoon, Michigan Senior Mike Hart announced that he will return to Michigan for his fifth year, with the intention of finally beating Ohio State.

"I totally guarantee that you'll see a different outcome if we get another chance to play them", Hart said following Michigan's 14-3 loss to Ohio state on Saturday. Hart has failed to defeat the Buckeyes in all of Hart's four seasons.

"Their defense is nothing special," Hart said of the Ohio State team, which held the Wolverines to 91 total yards and no touchdowns.

"I'd rather lose to Appalachian State than to Ohio State", he added. Unfortunately, Hart could not recall a time when his Michigan squad defeated either team.

There is still no word if Chad Henne and Jake Long will join Hart for their fifth seasons at Michigan.

I'm off!

It's 844am, and Michigan still sucks!

Off to see the game, everybody. I hope you have a great day, and GO BUCKEYES!

It's Game Day, bitch

"The exit's THIS way? OK, I'm going!

One down, Five to go

We're back in the big picture again, Buckeye fans.

#2 Oregon has just fallen to Arizona, 34-24. Yes, Arizona. That Arizona team that's 4-6 this year.

This will drop the Ducks out of the championship hunt. Two losses to unranked teams equals death for them.

With the Buckeyes at #7 heading into this week, we needed six different games to go our way. One of them (the most unlikely one, in my opinion) has just taken place.

What else needs to happen now?

-Cincinnati needs to beat #6 West Virginia
-#4 Missouri needs to beat #3 Kansas
-#5 Oklahoma needs to beat #4 Missouri
-Georgia needs to beat #1 LSU
-And of course, #7 Ohio State needs to beat Michigan

One down, five to go, and we can play for another National Championship.

But first things first....BEAT MICHIGAN!

...and I never got to use it

I've yet to start earning thousands of dollars writing for this blog (shocking, isn't it?), so I've got myself a paying gig in the real world....I'm the Director of Marketing for a sports-based restaurant in Canton, Ohio. A huge wall of 10-foot TV screens is my home on Saturday afternoons, so that day is always easy to market.

Obviously, I get to go all out for Ohio State games, and the epitome of it all is the week of The Game. I write myself a budget and I decorate the clubhouse. I buy prizes for the guests. I copy my videos to DVD and show the best ones before the game. I emcee the whole day, keeping the crowd as fired up as possible (and getting them to drink more....someone's gotta pay for my budget). It's a really fun atmosphere.

Last year, I had the perfect prop. It was #1 vs. #2, and if we win it ends Michigan's championship season....so I used my connections and I had a tombstone created. It was a rounded-at-the-top gray headstone, and I had engraved on it "Here Lies Michigan - Buried By Ohio State - November 18, 2006"

I picked it up from the office of the cemetery that I ordered it from on Friday morning, and drove into work to begin displaying it.

When I arrived at the restaurant, I carried it in proudly and took it towards the office. On the way, I saw the broadcast from ESPN on the big screens.

Bo Schembechler had died about an hour earlier.

I turned around and took the tombstone back to my car. There was no way I would ever display that prop. There wasn't even a discussion about it. No way, no how.

This morning I was rooting through my garage and I discovered it. I had actually forgotten about that prop.

Saturday will mark the first anniversary of Schembechler's passing. Here's hoping he rests in peace.

My new video

UPDATE - It disappeared from YouTube as quickly as I put it up. Here's hoping the rest of my vids don't get clicked for copyright reasons.

Hmmmm...now it's back. Here ya go. I give you "Ohio State STILL owns Michigan"



Oh, and for good measure, Chad Henne is still a joke too.

...and the winner of the "Douchebag Of The Year".....

Mike Hart!

For giving the Buckeyes the much-desired bulletin board material, Mike Hart has been named DOTY. In a year where both teams have seemingly managed to keep the idiotic statements out of the press, Hart proved once again that he has no ability to control his mouth.

"I'd rather lose to Appalachian State than lose to Ohio State."

Well, if anybody would know what it's like to do both....it'd be Hart.

OK, now this is funny.....

Obviously, it's a pro-Michigan blog we're dealing with...but the total lack of vision added to complete hypocrisy is comical.

Here's what they say on why Ohio State will lose to Michigan;

"- OSU is still in a state of shock. They got beat and they got beat soundly. Right now more questions exist then answers."

I'm sorry, were these guys not watching when Michigan "got beat and got beat soundly" by 16 points to Wisconsin on the SAME DAY?

Bad news - Jim Tressel has misplaced his briefcase with the Michigan plans

In an eerie reminder of Woody Hayes nearly losing his plans for the Michigan game in the early 70s, Ohio State fans and staff are frantically searching for Jim Tressel's briefcase this morning after it was reported missing around 9am EST.

So far, no report of foul play has been alleged.

I'll have more details as I hear more on this story.

-------------------------------------------------

UPDATE - The plans have not yet been completely found, but the first page has been discovered near a dumpster by the Varsity Club. That page included the following goals on how to defeat Michigan;

- Tell Mike Hart there’s a camera in the other end zone. He’ll sprint to get in front of it, and we tackle him for a safety.

- If Hart does not fall for the camera trick, try to lure him away from his team's huddle during a windy moment. If the wind blows faster than 13 MPH, he will sprain something and be unavailable the rest of the day.

- Leak it to the Ann Arbor media that Todd Boeckman is ¼ black. The UM defense will wet themselves.

- When lined up on defense, whisper to the underclassmen on Michigan’s o-line that Carr will be fired if they lose. Monitor which players intentionally allow the sack on Chad Henne, and attack.

- Convince a high-level Michigan “source” to ”confirm” Lloyd Carr’s “retirement” to Brian at MGoBlog. The Michigan Media will spend all week showing Lloyd’s fall from grace, further angering the fans and team….thus distracting them from proper preparation.

- Call Frank in the OSU video department. Have him take a clip of Ryan Mallett talking to a random lineman on the side. Dub in audio over the clip that makes Mallett sound like he’s saying “I’m not throwing to that fucking Manningham anymore. He blows.” Release the clip to ESPN.

- Drop a manila folder outside the players dorm labeled “CONFIDENTIAL”. Inside should be a note discussing Carr’s replacement candidates if he loses to Ohio State. Make sure Jim Tressel and Les Miles are on that list.

As The BBC receives more information from our sources, we'll release more of our findings. Please let us know what you find out in our comments section.

UPDATE! Police have been able to decipher another one of Tressel's notes on Page 1. It reads;

- If Adrian Arrington is headed towards the goal line, Buckeye defenders should point in the opposite direction and shout "bitch has got your keys".

More details as they are released.

Chad Henne is a joke!

Bringing back the old classic....spread it around to your friends!

Do me this favor....send this link - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8bzZEtOcb8 - to as many Buckeye friends as you can. I want to see this video get a LOT of hits this week.

As of 9pm Monday, it has 139,242 views. Let's see what it can get to by kickoff on Saturday. Go!

Lloyd Carr is gone

Courtesy MGoBlog and his sources, Lloyd Carr will retire one week from today.

Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, but I would believe it. It'd be good timing to leak this out now, with Michigan hoping they can get a little Earle-Bruce-in-reverse magic heading their way for The Game.

The BCS Championship Game - It's not over yet

I'm looking over the latest BCS standings (we're 7th), and I'm not as upset as you might think.

As a matter of fact, there's still hope for the Buckeyes to get into the BCS Championship Game. Granted, it's a faint glimmer of hope, but it does still exist. Hear me out on this one.

Here's the current standings;

1	LSU		.9802
2	Oregon		.9383
3	Kansas		.9094
4	Oklahoma		.8540
5	Missouri		.8096
6	West Virginia		.7863
7	Ohio State		.7744

Let's state the obvious....we need to pass five teams to get into the top 2, and reach the title game. So let's look at the possibilities of that. Pay attention, it's gonna get a bit tricky.

#6 West Virginia's remaining schedule
At Cincinnati (8-2)
Connecticut (8-2)
Pittsburgh (4-5)

The Mountaineers are going to beat Pitt, and UConn is not as good as their record will show.

West Virginia's biggest chance at falling is this Saturday when they visit Cincinnati. The Bearcats have completely exposed three front runners in the Big East by defeating Rutgers on the road, South Florida on the road and humiliating Connecticut at home. They believe in themselves, and WVA is not a hard team to figure out. They win with speed. Nullify that speed and Cincy can pull the upset.

Losing to Cincy will drop a 2-loss WVA well below us.

#5 Missouri's remaining schedule
at Kansas State (5-5)
at Kansas (10-0)
Possible Big 12 Championship game

If the Tigers win at KSU and at KU, they get into the Big 12 Championship Game. Let's just say that Mizzou NEEDS to win on their road trip through Our Most Boring State, and then fall to Oklahoma in the aforementioned title game. Their late loss will drop them below us as well.

That loss would drop Missouri to 2 losses, and below us. The Tigers fans will cry "common opponents" and point to their win over Illinois, but it won't help.

#4 Oklahoma's remaining schedule
at Texas Tech (7-4)
Oklahoma State (5-5)
Possible Big 12 Championship game

Their best chance to lose again is in the Big 12 title game...but we just gave them that win, and we need it to knock off Missouri. Traveling to Texas Tech is never easy, and Oklahoma could get their loss here (depending on which defense the Red Raiders decide to put on the field). Oklahoma State isn't a great team, but do not discount the impact that rivalry has....plus, i you tell Mike Gundy that he can ruin the Sooners chances, he'll have his team ready.

But make no mistake, we NEED an upset of the Sooners during the regular season, and then we need them to win that Big 12 title game. By the way, one loss would still get them into the title game, in case you were wondering. They hold the tiebreaker with Texas.

That upset would drop the Sooners below us, and despite winning the Big 12, 2 losses to unranked teams will put them in a BCS Bowl, but not the big one.

#3 Kansas' remaining schedule
Iowa State (3-8)
Missouri (9-1)

Forget about Iowa State. They might be able to beat Kansas...last year. But not in 2007.

Besides, we already said Missouri would beat the Jayhawks about six paragraphs ago. So lets cut this to the chase and end Kansas' season with a loss.

That loss will put Kansas at 11-1, and not winning their conference will drop the Jayhawks below us and out of the picture.

#2 Oregon's remaining schedule
at Arizona (4-6)
at UCLA (5-5)
Oregon State (6-4)

I'll be honest with you. Forget about it. Oregon's got their ticket to the BCS Championship Game punched already. Unless they beat themselves, they're in. Arizona, Oregon State and Notre Dame's only bitch will not be able to stop them.

#1 LSU's remaining schedule
at Mississippi (3-7)
Arkansas (6-4)
SEC Championship Game

Ole Miss is the SEC version of Minnesota...forget about that one. Ditto Arkansas, especially playing at LSU. Our only shot at LSU falling is in the SEC title game, where they will probably play Georgia. We will have to become Bulldog fans two weeks after our season has ended, but it could be our last best chance at another championship game.

Is LSU loses to Georgia, it'll give the Tigers two losses, and a final week defeat will drop LSU out of the BCS Championship Game.

As for Georgia, they'd win the SEC and be 11-2. I do not see how the SEC-driven media will convince enough voters to leapfrog them over Ohio State (they're currently 9th), unless they beat LSU by 28 points.

So there you have it. It's exhausting, but we have a road map to the college football championship.

- West Virginia must lose to Cincinnati on November 17th
- Missouri must lose to Oklahoma on December 2nd (Sunday?)
- Oklahoma must lose Texas Tech on 11/17 OR to Okla State on 11/24
- Kansas must lose to Missouri on November 24th
- LSU must lose in the SEC Championship Game on December 1st

But none of that will matter one little bit if Ohio State doesn't beat Michigan on November 17th. Our win comes first.

Let's earn the Rose Bowl berth first.....and then see if Woody can convince God to help us out a bit over the following 15 days.

It's Michigan Week!

Yes, I know, we just lost to Illinois. The National Championship hopes are over.

None of that matters anymore. It's Michigan Week.

THIS is the game we prepare for in April. THIS is the game we salivate over. THIS is the game that we battle over 365 days a year.

157 more hours until The Game begins. And don't forget....Jim Tressel OWNS Michigan!

"This ball game will boil down to three things. Three things. Number one, the team that hits the hardest and the longest, the team that starts the fastest, and the team that's too damn smart to make mistakes."

-Woody Hayes

Preview Week 11 - Illinois

I've previously discussed the danger of this game, the "Trap Game". The fact that it is Illinois playing us does scare me, but I'm comforted by the fact that it is at home. Buoyed by 105,000 screaming scarlet-clad partisans, the Buckeyes seem to dominate.

We've won 18 straight games at home, out last defeat coming on September 10th, 2005....a span of 789 days (and counting).

Add to that the 20 straight Big Ten games we've won, and the 28 consecutive regular-season victories (29 or 30 overall).

Now the bad news;

Illinois has a devastating running game, the best we've seen and the best we will have to face all year (unless we see Oregon in a bowl game). Rashard Mendenhall has 1,300 yards thus far, and QB Juice Williams likes to take off from the shotgun position, picking up nearly 600 yards himself.

The NCAA ranks the Illini rushing game as the nation's 6th-best (and best in the Big Ten). If it helps put your mind at ease, Michigan State has the Big Ten's second-best rushing game and we held them to 59 yards on the ground.

The passing game...well, that's a different story. Juice Williams may be as good as Troy Smith with his feet, but he's more like Bubba Smith with his arm. Illinois has the NCAAs 113th-best passing offense. Williams has 8 TDs and 9 INTs to go with his league-low in yards.

Guess how Illinois is going to try and score?

Defensively, Illinois plays the same way they do on offense....all-run. Ranked 22nd best in run defense and 81st in pass defense.

So there you have it. Our top-ranked defense will get their big test against the run, and if we shut them down on 1st and 2nd down, it's going to be a long day for Ron Zook.

I'm concerned that we'll allow the most points we have all year, but if we play our usual offense, it'll be too much.

Ohio State 38
Illinois 21

Thumping my own chest

It's been a long time since I've even mentioned the Big Ten Bloggers Pick-Em contest. All of the Big Ten Bloggers get together once a week and pick who they think will win the upcoming weekend's contests. Gopher Nation keeps track of the results (3 points for B-10 games, 1 point for non-conf games).

It's not often that a middle-of-the-pack player thumps his chest (except for the Wisconsin defense...what was up with that?), but I'm in 7th place, and still within striking range of the championship. I'm 5 points back from frontrunner Hoosier Report, and with two weeks to go, I could still win this thing.

So here's my picks for week 11.

Ohio State over Illinois
Penn State over Temple
Purdue over Michigan State
Wisconsin over Michigan
Indiana over Northwestern
Iowa over Minnesota

It's a no-brainer to take Penn State over hapless Temple, and taking Iowa over Minnesota is likely to be an across-the-board pick. Everyone's also going to take Ohio State (except MGoBlog, who always takes OSU's opponent....nobody's ever been more ruined than Brian).

Purdue and Indiana to win are tough picks, but both should happen....neither game will be called an "upset" no matter who wins.

But since I am behind, I need to make picks that will allow me to gain ground. I have to take chances now. So I took Wisconsin over Michigan.

Let's see what happens?

The Danger Week (aka the "Trap Game")

Any true fan of the Ohio State-Michigan game can tell you about a storied tradition. This is The Game for a reason. Your team can go 1-11, and if that one win is against Michigan/Ohio State, it's a success.

But what gets overlooked in the history is the dangerous ground of the week prior to The Game. Often times, the penultimate game of the season becomes the Trap Game, as it is VERY easy to look past their opponent and start getting prepared for Michigan.

Even a superior coach like Jim Tressel has had difficulty with the Trap Game.

In 2001, the Buckeyes got caught looking ahead to Michigan. We lost to Illinois, but the Illini did go on to win the Big Ten, and we had a little problem with a DUI from QB Steve Bellisari 36 hours before kickoff. The DUI ended being a blessing, though. Craig Krenzel went on to beat Michigan, and he got the necessary experience to help him get through big games in the 2002 season.

In 2002, Illinois again gave us trouble. We should have dominated the orange and blue, but we couldn't put them away. Overtime was forced, and the defense was the difference in a 23-16 win. We went on to beat Michigan the following week, 14-9.

In 2003, it was Purdue's turn to put the pressure on us. In one of the most intense games you'll never remember, the Boilermakers forced us into OT. One missed FG by each team (Nugent? What the hell?) just added to the fever pitch. Buckeyes still clawed out a 16-13 win. Michigan dominated us one week later, 35-21.

In 2004, Purdue broke through on our rebuilding year. A frantic comeback from 14 points down was successful, but the Bucks left too much time on the clock for Kyle Orton, and a late TD ended Ohio State's amazing turnaround season. It was Troy Smith's first loss as a starter (he only had three total), and the next week he began his career as the Wolverine Killer, behind a 37-21 victory.

We've been spared the potential loss in the Trap Game in 2005 and 2006, thanks to a lower-echelon opponent. We buried Northwestern 48-7 in '05, and 54-10 in '06. Both years, the Buckeyes went on to beat Michigan (25-21 and 42-39).

This year, Illinois appears to be in the top third of Big Ten opposition. They're hunting down the Capital One Bowl in January, and can get there with a win against us on Saturday.

I'm happy that Jim Tressel is our coach. He understands the Trap Game and will bury it into our guys heads that Michigan Week doesn't start until the clock reads 0:00 on Saturday evening.

Our fans can begin the Michigan countdown all we want...as long as the guys who wear the uniform don't.

12 days to go.....

...but let's not look too far ahead. Illinois can play ball.

It's game day!

But it's on the Big Ten Network. Get to sports bar.....now!

Buckeyes are favored by 15 points today. Weren't the Badgers ranked #5 about 6 weeks ago?

Go Bucks!

If PJ Hill is out for the game
Ohio State 33
Wisconsin 3

If PJ Hill plays
Ohio State 33
Wisconsin 7

Common opponents

MotSaG does a weekly feature called "Data On Common Opponents". They look at the Buckeyes' upcoming game, and they forecast how we'll do based on common opponents. It's stat-based (which I love), and very insightful. I usually tend to stay away from such predictions because I hate treading on anything that a fellow blogger has created a niche for themselves within.

Sorry guys....you know I love you, but I gotta snag a segment of your DOCO this week.

Both Ohio State and Wisconsin have played MSU and PSU in 2007.

Wisconsin's defense allowed 72 points (34 to MSU, 38 to PSU)
Ohio State's defense allowed 13 points (3 to MSU, 10 to PSU)

Wisconsin's defense allowed 1,001 yards (564 to MSU, 437 to PSU)
Ohio State's defense allowed 448 yards (185 to MSU, 263 to PSU)

There's a serious advantage on the Buckeye sidelines. Let's hope they perform up to their potential against their biggest nemesis under Tressel.

One more thing....

My brother just sent me this. Too good to pass up.

Still no word on P.J. Hill

With less than 48 hours before kickoff, there is no solid word on whether or not Wisconsin stud P.J. Hill will be able to suit up and play against Ohio State on Saturday afternoon.

I've been doing some news searches for any amount of information, and nothing new has surfaced recently. Basically, my gut feeling tells me that Hill will be starting on Saturday. I think Wisky's is staying quiet on his injury as part of their game plan, and he'll be active on gameday.

Fortunately, we have Jim Tressel as our head coach and he's surely been practicing the team in preparation for the Badgers' leading rusher.

However, even if Hill suits up, the game takes on a scary outlook without their #1 RB at 100%. As I reported earlier, their #2 RB Lance Smith will not be in attendance. The words "You ain't goin' nowhere, bitch" probably were spoken the night he refused to allow his girlfriend to leave his apartment (right around the time he popped her in the mouth). The irony of the situation is that those are likely the same words spoken to Smith by the Wisconsin Athletic Department when telling him he couldn't travel with the team to away games.

With Smith watching the game from home (provided he has the Big Ten Network), freshman Zach Brown will be called upon more than ever before. Brown is as green as he can get, and he's got to stare down the NCAAs leading defense.

With all these prospects facing Wisconsin, it'd have to be a REALLY serious injury to keep Hill out for Saturday. Expect to see him with the ball 20 or more times. It's too desperate of a situation for him to sit out. If Wisky wins out, they guarantee themselves a January bowl game, and now is not the time to lose a key component.

P.S. I know I'm rehashing a few things I wrote about on Tuesday. But everytime I opened up my own page, that douchebag's picture was popping up first. I had to push him down the page.