The first question I asked the staff of Men of the Scarlet and Gray was — which 3 OSU games they were looking forward to, and which 3 non-OSU games had piqued their interest the most. Here are their responses:
sportsMonkey –
OSU games:
Sorry, nothing original here. Penn State, Wisconsin, and Michigan, natch.
1. It’ll be interesting to see if OSU can play PSU without JoePa changing diapers.
2. It’ll be interesting to see OSU play Wisconsin at home (ya, we’re still fuming over Alvarez managing to pull the back-to-back Camp Randall games off).
3. And it’ll be just positively fabulous to see Henne and Hart go 0-4 against the Bucks.
Non-OSU games:
1. Oklahoma/Texas. IMO, the winner will go to the BCS title game.
2. USC/UCLA.
3. UM at Wisconsin. However this game ends will make the OSU/UM game the following week that much more interesting.
Zeke –
OSU games:
1. Wisconsin – We have not played them for two years now. The Badgers are receiving a lot of pre-season hype. It will be nice to put them in their place when they visit Columbus.
2. Penn State. I have to give some props to the student body at PSU, I think they put on a good show at night in State College. It will be nice to avenge the loss a couple years ago.
3. Not much to say here, but in my opinion this list would not be complete the Michigan game. It is going to be so sweet to watch Henne, Hart, & company go winless against the Buckeyes.
Non-OSU games:
1. Penn State @ Michigan 9/22 – who is a bigger contender for the Big Ten title
2. Tennessee @ Florida 9/15 – I just want to see Florida lose
3. USC @ Nebraska 9/15 – ditto, I just want to see USC lose
I picked out games from only the first month of the season. It is hard to predict the games that will mean the most toward the end of the season.
4. For selfish reasons, BYU @ UCLA 9/8 – I am looking forward to visiting the Rose Bowl in person.
Sylvester-Yon Rambo
OSU games:
1. Wisconsin
2. scUM
3. Youngstown St. (if the Buckeyes don’t put up 60 points against the Penguins people will call us bad names)
Non-OSU games:
1. USC @ Nebraska
2. Virginia Tech @ LSU and Florida @ LSU
3. Texas vs Oklahoma
el Kaiser
OSU games:
1. Youngstown State – Lots of reasons here. First, I’m very excited about the chance to see Buckeyes for the first time this year in person. Season openers in the ‘Shoe are always fun. The whole Tressel/YSU connection is interesting. I think it’s safe to say he won’t be throwing 60 points on his old team, but will he put them in their place? Finally, mrs. Kaiser is a YSU alum (she even went to the ’94 championship game against Boise State) so I’ve been schooled in all things YSU.
2. Washington – I’ve got to break with the consensus here. I’m not sure if Washington will pose any kind of threat, but Husky Stadium isn’t the easiest place to play. Being away from the comforts of Columbus will hopefully give the new Buckeyes (especially Boeckman) a nice little baptism of noise.
3. Michigan – Count me in with those that can’t wait to see H20-3 and Henne go winless against OSU.
Non-OSU games:
1. Virginia Tech/LSU – Two great defenses slugging it out.
2. West Virginia/Louisville – Who needs defense?
3. Miami/Oklahoma – Watching Miami descend into irrelevance is such a beautiful thing to watch.
So those are the games we’re excited about. What about you guys?
And if it helps, you can always download the handy 2007 Helmet Schedule (Right-click to save) to help you pick them out.
Tress will never let the Bucks put up 60 on anyone, let alone the extended family that is Youngstown State. It always steams me in the “pre-season” where you watch ESPN and see Texas, USC and all the others put up 50 and 60+ points on all the scrubs and OSU only wins by two touchdowns. Classy, yes, awe-inspiring in the polls, no. Jim, let loose the dogs of war …
OSU Games:
1. Washington: There’s something about playing the PAC 10 that reminds me of better days that involved Rose Bowls and tradition.
2. Wisconsin: They’re trying to make the Horseshoe the extension locale of Camp Randall in the Tressell era and he can’t have any of that.
3. Michigan: To echo the sentiments above – 0 and 4 would be life altering.
Non-OSU Games:
1. Anything that Notre Dame plays on the way to a 3 win season. It’ll be awesome.
2. LSU @ Alabama: Perhaps a little bit of humble pie for Nick Saban. Hopefully.
3. USC @ Nebraska: The only reason we’ll call this an upset is because USC is being dry humped by everyone in the College Football writing world.