Before we get started with this week’s round-up, I just wanted to make sure I understood the ramifications of Rutgers resounding defeat of South Florida. As USF was ascending in the polls, their victory over Auburn “looked more and more impressive” as Auburn beat Florida and squeaked by Arkansas. The victory over Auburn was one of USF’s feathers in its cap, something the pundits used to justify why their 7-0 was more impressive than OSU’s. Now that USF has been defeated (no surprise here at MotSaG), does that cheapen the victory over Auburn? Does that cascade its way down the chain? I could go on, but it’s probably pointless. Either way, OSU still controls its own destiny.
Now to the round-up:
Our first link, this piece of written vomit is just more Big Ten bashing. Look everyone! Ohio State hasn’t beat anyone of merit! Am I the first writer to write that! I bet I am! (via Buckeye Commentary)
Did that get your blood pressure up? Now you can cool down a little with this piece from a Fox Sports blog by “MrPressbox,” whoever that is. I like the cut of his jib.
“But when it comes to talking about conference powerhouses, the SEC is king, but the Big 10(11) is a close second. No conference is more talented from top to bottom and the reason the records don’t look stellar is because the teams are so tough they beat each other up each week.
Why do you think other conferences like the Big 12, Pac 10 and ACC almost never schedule a Big 10(11) team on their regular season schedule?”
But enough of the “my conference is better than yours!” jibba jabba. That’s what bowl season is for. Let’s talk Buckeyes football.
I love that the Ohio State coaches are using last season’s championship debacle to motivate the team this year. Boeckman was on the radio today with Hooley and they talked about how the coaches are using little subtle reminders of the game against Florida. Things like using “4114” as the code on the doors to the practice facility. Hopefully that keeps them focused.
Anderson Russell, he of iron ankles, should be playing Saturday, along with James Lauranaitis, who left the game with a hip pointer.
AR’s return is amazing after considering what happened to him, a nominee for The Wizard of Odds’ Cheapest Shot of the Year.
Speaking of come-backs, here’s the feel good story for the season: Nader Abadallah’s brother whipping him into playing shape.
As it should be, the Ohio State/Michigan game will be Noon on ABC. And again, it will have National Championship implications. The BTN, however, will not get its chance to air it. It will never get that chance.
A little blog linkage: Simon at SimonOnSports asks “What do we know about the Buckeyes?”
As always, don’t hesistate to send us your tips, your stories, your gameday pictures, anything. You can always contact us via the Contact Form. Thanks for reading!
That “vomit,” article starts off OK, but then ends with an absolutely erroneous claim:
“Let 16 teams play it out, and you might wind up with all-SEC title games or three of the final four.”
Seriously? I think it would be improbable that ANY conference would have more than 1 team in the final 4 of a hypothetical playoff system (I would put the ceiling at 2 and say that this is still pretty unlikely).
The whole “SEC is the greatest conference” argument is put to rest nicely with statistics:
http://montaraventures.com/blog/2007/10/16/conference-strength/
One of the big take-home messages is that when you look at conference standings against other BCS conference teams there are 3 conferences tied for 1st place with a 5-4 record:
SEC
Pac 10
Big 10
Interesting…