Three Yards and a Cloud of Links

Three Yards and a Cloud of Links is Men of the Scarlet and Gray’s semi-regular curated look at items that would interest Ohio State fans. These include news items, interesting blog posts and the occasional meme you’ve probably already seen. It’s all here and it’s all for you. Have a tip that should be included in the next TYAACOL? Drop us a line at motsag@gmail.com or through our Contact Page.

IT’S GONE GUYS, IT’S ALL GONE: Just like Ralphie lamenting the turkey being hauled away by the Bumpuses’ dogs, the BCS Title Game ended last night and with it the 2013 season. No more O-H-I-O chants. No more Carlos Hyde, no more Ryan Shazier. No more TBDBITL and their crazy halftime shows. No more mocking Mark May or Jesse Palmer or David Pollock or whatever strawman ESPN is standing up next week. It’s all gone. No more this:

But just as that was the year Ralphie and his family were introduced to Chinese turkey, maybe this year is when we are introduced to NCAA championships.

CLOSING THE BOOK ON THE BCS: While we’ve moaned and complained about the BCS, last night ended its run in exciting fashion. Congrats to Florida State being the last team the BCS crowns as the National Champions. (Also, thank you, FSU, for ending our long SEC nightmare). But let’s look back at Ohio State’s pretty fantastic BCS history:

1998 – Sugar Bowl (Killed TAMU, should have been National Champs)
2002 – Fiesta Bowl* (Beat Miami, National Champs)
2003 – Fiesta Bowl (Killed Kansas State)
2005 – Fiesta Bowl (Killed Notre Dame)
2006 – Fiesta Bowl* (Something something, I don’t remember)
2007 – Sugar Bowl* (I remember Beanie Wells stiff-arm-of-justicing some LSU defender into the stands)
2008 – Fiesta Bowl (Lost heartbreaker to Texas)
2009 – Rose Bowl (Beat Oregon. One of the last real good Buckeye defenses)
2010 – Sugar Bowl (Demolished Arkansas, got SEC monkey off our back, and then POOF! It didn’t happen. But it did, because I watched it)
2013 – Orange Bowl (Too soon. Much too soon)

(*BCS Title Game)

Ten appearances, six wins, one National Champsionship. I’d have to look closer, but I wonder if any other BCS school has hit the Grand Slam of BCS Bowls, appearing in each one at least once. I’d imagine USC or Alabama has come close. But that is a heck of a decade and a half of success for the Buckeyes.

ON TO 2014: The final polls are out and Ohio State finished 12th in the AP Poll and 10th in the Coaches. It’s too early to speculate, but I can’t imagine the preseason polls leaving the Buckeyes out of the Top Five. Florida State should start the preseason at #1, but who do you put at #2? Oregon? They’re returning Mariota. Oklahoma? They return just about everyone from the team that took the wood to Alabama. Alabama? Saban’s deal all but guarantees him preseason hype. Auburn? (Hopefully not, as Gus Malzahn is hopefully going to be announced as the next Cleveland Browns Head Coach). Ohio State? Losing Shazier and Hyde hurt, but the talent bubbling up behind them is pretty dang good. Who do you have the preseason top 5?

MISC: I don’t know if Eighties Action Movies are your thing, or if Kickstarter is your thing, but if either of them are, it’s pretty much imperative that you back Kung Fury. If nothing else, just watch the trailer. If that doesn’t excite you enough to pitch in a couple bucks, check to see if you still have a pulse. Or if you were born in the Nineties.