Thoughts From the Bye Week

Not even Ohio St being off last week and my internet being down the past three days could stop me from writing a post to hate on michigan. While I'm here, we might as well talk some Buckeyes as well.

Season-to-date
If we pretend like the Wisconsin game never happened, here would be my thoughts on the Buckeyes' 2010 campaign:

- Terrelle Pryor is all we could have hoped he could be, and then some. Just give him the Heisman now.

- The defense is invincible.

- OSU is 7-1 against the spread and made me some bank.

- With the Big Ten title and undefeated season all but wrapped up, it's time to look ahead to Auburn/Oregon/TCU/whoever in the title game. I really think we could beat any of those teams.

Unfortunately, the Wisconsin game did happen, causing all of those statements to not be entirely true. Pryor has still really impressed me this year, but due to his poor performance against the Badgers and the fact that OSU is not a top-ranked team, his bid for the Bronzed Stiff-Arm is out. The defense has seemed flawless in eight of the nine games this season, but they let John Clay and the UW running game make them their bitch. OSU is 7-2 ATS. Still great, but the Wisconsin game really cost me. The undefeated season and National Title are obviously out, but a conference championship is still a possibility, which I'll break down next.

Big Ten/Bowl Outlook
Currently, our beloved Bucks find themselves in a tie for first in the Big Ten, along with Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan St. The good news is that this means OSU controls their own destiny to claim at least a piece of a sixth-straight conference title. If Ohio St can win its last three games, which would include knocking Iowa out of the picture, they would finish the season with one conference loss.

The bad news is that Wisconsin and Michigan St seem poised to finish with one blemish as well, resulting in a menage-a-trois atop the Big Ten. The tie-breaker in this scenario would give the Rose Bowl berth to the team with the highest BCS ranking, which would be the Badgers. No arguments there - they whooped us fair and square.

The Spartans have a bye this week, then close the year at home against Purdue and at Penn St. Winning in Happy Valley will be no easy task, but unfortunately for the Buckeyes, Wisconsin's path the rest of the way is much easier. UW has home games against Indiana and Northwestern, and travels to ann arbor (who was recently found out to be a whore). N'western is decent, and will provide Wisconsin with their only chance to be upset.

Luckily, there is more good news. Assuming Ohio St and Wisconsin both win out, it is almost certain that each team would be invited to a BCS game. While the Rose is obviously what Big Ten teams strive for, I would settle for going to an NCAA-record sixth-straight BCS game in say, the Sugar Bowl. Possible opponents for the Bucks include TCU, LSU, and Nebraska. No one wants to play TCU, because it's really a lose-lose situation for big time programs. LSU and Nebraska both sound very intriguing to me. The Tigers would be a '07 Championship rematch, and the Huskers would be a preview of things to come with Nebraska joining the Big Ten next season. With these two powerhouses on opposite sides of the realigned conference, expect to see them play very often in the Big Ten Championship game.

Let me be clear, these are hypothetical scenarios which all involve Ohio St winning its last three games. Believe me, I am not taking these games for granted. At Iowa is going to be a very difficult game, and Penn St is certainly no slouch either.

michigan Sucks
Now for the fun part - it's rip on michigan time! Sadly, scUM outlasted Illinois last weekend in triple overtime, 67-65. The silver lining here is that there is still plenty of ammo to make jokes. Wow, is their defense bad. Don't think that the stats are inflated because of the 3 OTs - they gave up 45 points in regulation. In fact, it was the first time in the 131 years of the program that they gave up 40+ points in back-to-back games. You just can't make this stuff up.

Not surprising at all, Can't-Tie was banged up again in this game, and T. Forcier was forced (pun of the week!) to come in. I don't want to hear anyone say that CT "would have won the Heisman if not for his injuries." FACT: If you believe this, you are an idiot. I have said from the beginning of the year that he is always going to be hurt throughout his career because of his style of play. You simply cannot be under 200 lbs and carry the ball 30 times a game and expect not to constantly be fighting nagging injuries, especially against the physical defenses of the Big Ten.

It has been quite a few years, so my Geometry might be a little rusty, but let me throw some conditional statements out there for his supporters:

If Can't-Tie were to be considered for the Heisman, then he would have to stay healthy.
If Can't-Tie were to stay healthy, then he would have to change his style of play.
If Can't-Tie were to change his style of play, then he wouldn't be considered for the Heisman.
Ergo - Can't-Tie, Heisman, No.

Meanwhile, The Force came in and actually led michigan to the game-tying drive at the end of regulation, then won it in triple OT. This did not come without embarrassment, however. On his first play, The Force went to throw a pass and just dropped the ball, untouched. Illinois recovered and that obviously led to a subsequent TD because, well, michigan's defense is historically bad.

Oh yeah, and ann arbor is still a filthy, disgusting whore.

Up Next
Ohio St will welcome Penn St to The Horseshoe this Saturday. We all know JoePa picked up win #400 last weekend. What you may not know, is who is the second-winningest active coach in Division I behind Paterno. That's right, the Sweater Vest himself, compiling 237 W's in 25 years between OSU and Youngstown St. After his second impressive performance in a row, it looks like Matt McGloin will be under center for the Lions. I will be one of the 110,000 in attendance for this one, as will Andy, Nick, and my 6-1 record at The Shoe. The picture above is from my last appearance at Ohio Stadium, a 31-13 victory over Wisconsin.

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