OSU’s Greatest Victory In 2014? Denialism

As promised in my last post, I am devoting time and effort to effectively and loudly sing the praises of the 2014 Ohio State Buckeyes, the undisputed national champions of college football. I especially take great joy in writing the words “undisputed”, as I have long been a critic of the traditional NCAA method of voting on a national champion after the college football bowl season has concluded. For the first time in Division 1 college football history, or FBS level football history, or however one may wish to classify it, the national champion was decided by the results on the field. The way it should be. The way it should have always been.

As I reflect upon the many victories the Buckeyes earned on the field, I truly cannot say one was more important than the other. After all, it was because of each victory earned on the field that made the next victory that much more important. One could follow the string of games as they played out, one after the other. The Big Ten Championship victory over Wisconsin led to The Sugar Bowl opportunity versus Alabama in the playoffs. The Sugar Bowl victory over Alabama led to The National Championship against Oregon.

Of course, after the confetti had fallen, and the pictures of Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer holding the national championship trophy had been taken, one final victory had been secured over an opponent that had long tormented Ohio State’s coaches, players, and fans…

Denialism.

Denialism had taken a very vocal and persistent approach towards Ohio State football since the fateful evening of January 8, 2007. Aided by individuals within the national media such as Paul Finebaum, Pat Forde, David Pollack, Mark May, Gary Danielson, Clay Travis, Tony Barnhart, and Tom Luginbill, Ohio State fans were continually forced to defend not only the performance of the Buckeyes, but the entire Big Ten for a period of eight years. Eight years of being told the Buckeyes were not worthy of national championship contention. Eight years of refusal to contemplate Ohio State as being one of the best football programs in the country.

January 1, 2015 happened to confront Denialism in The Sugar Bowl. And even after Ohio State handed Alabama a 42-35 defeat that should not have been that close, Denialism was not going to go down without a fight…

To give credit, Mark Schlabach of ESPN, a long-time critic, offered a mea culpa. Lo and behold how surprised I was to read this on Twitter…

Mark May has seemingly gone into hiding after Ohio State won the national championship. I believe this Buckeye fan is asking a legitimate question…

Even after Ohio State had defeated Alabama, essentially in their back yard, and had defeated Oregon in The National Championship, Clay Travis was bound and determined to go down with the ship on this sad devotion to Denialism…

I have to agree with the following tweet wholeheartedly…

And this…

Has Denialism been completely eliminated? Sadly, I must state that Denialism is still alive and well. After all, ESPN has an entire off-season to prepare to discuss how the 2014 season must have been an aberration, and how the mighty SEC will come back with a vengeance for the 2015 season. In the meantime, I will content myself to all of the members of the Denialism camp with some wisdom, courtesy of Eddie Murphy, circa 1987…

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