Contest Time! Bowl Pick’em

As bowl season rapidly approaches, we’d love for you to join those of us here at Men of the Scarlet and Gray for a Bowl Pick’em contest. We’ve done NCAA Tournament Pick’ems in the past, but this is our first Bowl Pick’em. We all think know we’re smarter than Jesse Palmer or Mark May, so we might as well prove it. We’ll have some good clean fun and maybe someone will walk away with a pretty cool little prize.

Bowl season starts early, with the games starting on the 19th, so we’re on a short fuse. See the whole Bowl schedule here.

We will be using Yahoo’s Fantasy Sports to facilitate the contest, so you’ll need a Yahoo account if you’re interested in participating. If you want to join in the madness, leave us a comment here, send an email to motsag@gmail.com or contact us directly.

The winner will win a football signed by the 2003 Ohio State football team. Imagine that! Favorites like Hawk, Schlegel, Holmes and others can be found on this beauty.

(click to enlarge for detail)

This could be ALL yours. Just flex your prognosticatorus muscle and show us how it’s done.

2009 Blogpoll Ballot, Week #13 (draft)

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama	1
2	TCU	2
3	Texas	2
4	Cincinnati	1
5	Boise State	1
6	Florida	3
7	Ohio State
8	Oregon
9	Iowa
10	Georgia Tech	1
11	Penn State	1
12	Virginia Tech
13	Brigham Young	1
14	LSU	3
15	Miami (Florida)	3
16	Wisconsin	3
17	Oregon State	2
18	Oklahoma State	5
19	Pittsburgh	6
20	Nebraska	4
21	Stanford
22	West Virginia	3
23	Arizona
24	Central Michigan
25	Northwestern
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Houston (#16), California (#20), Southern Cal (#22).

I don’t know who belongs at #2. I guess anyone could make a case for any of the rest of the undefeateds, I just think TCU’s case is the strongest. Top 10 offense and top 10 defense should count for something.

The rest is fairly static. Your comments are welcome and appreciated, as this is the final blogpoll until after the bowls. Let’s make this one perfect.

Bowl Selection Open Thread

I know the Buckeyes have known their fate for a couple weeks now, but there are still a few unknowns left to find out. Unfortunately, ESPN has a monopoly on the suspense, so we have to sit throw their broadcast of terribleness to find out the fun stuff.

Discuss what you think of the match-ups, who you think should be playing Alabama in the championship and how wonderful it was to see the sweet, bitter tears of the Tebow-child.

Not a good week to be a Buckeye

… if you play basketball, that is.

Evan Turner went down in Ohio State’s spanking of Eastern Michigan. Turner will miss eight weeks after fracturing his second and third lumbar vertebrae. That sounds a lot worse than just a two month injury. That sounds career-threatening. Here’s to hoping Evan has a speedy and full recovery, just in time for the heart of the Buckeyes’ Big Ten schedule.

Greg Oden was carted off the court against the Houston Rockets after fracturing his knee cap and is likely to miss the season. Which is a shame, because this year was really looking good for both Oden and the Trailblazers.

It’s a good thing Michael Redd is already injured for today’s game against the Cavs. Who knows how that would have turned out.

Thoughts on the Civil War

So Oregon it is!

I try to watch as much college football as I can during the season (I take my Blogpoll privileges seriously) but when it comes to the Pac-10, I just haven’t had many chances to see teams not named USC, Oregon or Stanford. So outside of highlights and brief moments, I haven’t seen much of Oregon State.

That being said, the Civil War was quite a rip. Here are a few thoughts I had (and hope to expand on later) while watching the two teams play:

• I wasn’t aware of the offensive effectiveness of Oregon State in the redzone. #1 in the country is pretty impressive. Oregon is no slouch at #2.
• Oregon can strike scary fast on offense.
• Both teams’ primary running backs still seem undersized to me. They’re fast, but small. I think after tackling the likes of Clay, Royster, and Robinson that the Buckeye Defense will be licking its chops with these little snacks. Of course, Blount throws a wrinkle in all that if Oregon wins.
• Along those same lines, it seems like tackling small running backs is not a forte of either defense.
• Turnovers could be plentiful the way Oregon backs (and Masoli) handle the ball
• Both teams are so quick on offense I can’t get a real good read on offensive lines, but both look competent. I’m interested to know how we match up, size-wise.
• I really (to the thiry-eighth power) can’t stomach Craig James and Jesse “Hair Gel”mer.

Drama Queens

I’d have to say that the action in the Big Ten this year was fairly drama-free. There was the initial “hope” that Michigan was back (that meme ended quickly) and of course the Purdue upsets of both Ohio State and Michigan were noteworthy (and caused a lot of melodrama in Buckeye Nation), but outside the normal ups and downs of a football season, there wasn’t a whole lot to get excited about (unless you were an Iowa fan).

Not so in the Pac-10. After seeing Pete Carroll go for it all at the end of the fourth quarter with his USC Trojans up two touchdowns against UCLA, I can’t help but think that the drama building up in Pac-10 is going to make for a rather interesting season next year.

A brief and incomplete recap: Things started off poorly after Oregon laid an egg against Boise State and LeGarrette Blount landed the punch heard ’round the NCAA. Then there was the dismantling of the USC dynasty at the hands of Oregon. Stanford followed that up nicely with a Trojan beatdown of its own (right after it had whupped up on Oregon the week before). Of course we can’t forget that after Harbaugh went for two, trying to drop a half a hundy on Carroll, there was a rather terse meeting of coaches at mid-field. Finally, there was the thriller between Arizona and Oregon that ended ugly for an Oregon cheerleader. And we still have more games to watch this week as we await our Rose Bowl opponent. This is fun!

There was already bad blood between coaches and players in the Pac-10. Things could get nasty next year. Barkley better watch his back during the UCLA game next season.

I can’t wait.

2009 Blogpoll Ballot, Week #12 (final)

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Texas	1
2	Alabama	1
3	Florida
4	TCU	1
5	Cincinnati	1
6	Boise State
7	Ohio State	1
8	Oregon	1
9	Iowa	2
10	Penn State	2
11	Georgia Tech	4
12	Virginia Tech	8
13	Pittsburgh	3
14	Brigham Young
15	Oregon State	2
16	Houston
17	LSU	2
18	Miami (Florida)	3
19	Wisconsin	3
20	California	3
21	Stanford	4
22	Southern Cal
23	Oklahoma State	8
24	Nebraska
25	West Virginia
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Clemson (#13), Mississippi (#18), Navy (#24).

Back from a turkey-induced coma to barf this out. At least I did get to watch a lot of football. Hope everyone had a nice holiday break. By the time you’re reading this, you’re already back to the old grind. Hopefully pointing out how stupid I am will make you forget how terrible your job (and life) is.

Is it Bowl Season yet?

2009 Blogpoll Ballot, Week #12 (final)

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama
2	Texas
3	Florida
4	Cincinnati
5	TCU
6	Boise State
7	Georgia Tech
8	Ohio State
9	Oregon
10	Pittsburgh
11	Iowa	2
12	Penn State	3
13	Clemson	4
14	Brigham Young	4
15	Oklahoma State	3
16	Houston	4
17	Oregon State
18	Mississippi	3
19	LSU	8
20	Virginia Tech
21	Miami (Florida)	2
22	Wisconsin	6
23	California
24	Navy	1
25	Stanford	11
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Southern Cal (#22), Central Michigan (#24), Rutgers (#25).

2009 Blogpoll Ballot, Week #12 (draft)

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Alabama
2	Texas
3	Florida
4	Cincinnati
5	TCU
6	Boise State
7	Georgia Tech
8	Ohio State
9	Oregon
10	Pittsburgh
11	Oklahoma State	1
12	Iowa	1
13	Penn State	2
14	Clemson	3
15	Brigham Young	3
16	Houston	4
17	Mississippi	4
18	Oregon State
19	LSU	8
20	Miami (Florida)	1
21	Wisconsin	5
22	Stanford	8
23	Southern Cal	1
24	Navy	1
25	Rutgers
Last week’s ballot

Dropped Out: Central Michigan (#24).

Feels like I’m missing someone…

Bucks win! Bucks win! BUCKS WIN!

Okay, so maybe I may have overstated it, but the Buckeyes WIN! Six in a row, third full class of Michigan seniors that fail to notch a victory against the Buckeyes. That’s gotta smart.

It was obvious early on that Michigan was committed to stop the OSU run game (or conversely, to force Pryor to pass) and OSU came out early in a lot of pro sets. The early offensive game plan was to air it out, surprisingly, but it didn’t work out perfectly. Credit the offensive coaches to change up the formations back to a shotgun spread look, that forced Michigan out of stacking against the run. If you can put 250+ yards on the ground, you’re going to be in a good position to win.

More credit where credit is due: the red zone screen play. Whether it was the planned call or not, it still was executed perfectly at precisely the right time. Terrelle has been managing the game well, and plays like that are a good example of his growth.

Huge credit needs to be given to the offensive line for another good performance. We’ve been critical of the unit for 2+ years, but this unit has really grown the last five games. Brewster has been very good, Browning and Cordle are actually getting big pushes and Adams and Shugarts have been getting the job done. This was the line we had been hoping for when the Brew Crew came together, and now they are reaping the fruits of their recruiting labors.

Boom Herron and Brandon Saine are also becoming a strong one-two punch. We’re huge fans of Saine around these parts (read: me) but we have much love for Boom. He runs bigger than he is, and his production hasn’t been huge lately, but he played great today. Good to see.

And of course: The Defense. We haven’t bolded them lately, but five turnovers, one for a TD and the bend-not-break mentality has paid off once again. Michigan couldn’t establish a running game with spelled DOOM for their passing game. It seemed like Doug Worthington and Brian Rolle were everywhere, and of course one Hurt Coleman seemed to be the recipient of some ill-advised QB Force throws. As was Thaddeus Maximus.

A huge congratulations to the Buckeyes for earning the OUTRIGHT Big Ten Championship and a trip to the Rose Bowl.

It’s good to be a Buckeye.

Rose Bowl Opponents

I meant to post this earlier this week, but maybe now would be a good idea to contemplate the confusing situation out in the Pac-10. It also gives us a chance to start another poll. As you watch the late game between Arizona and Oregon, let’s ask the question: Who could OSU play?

Ted Miller, the Pac-10 blogger at ESPN looked at the logjam at the top of the Pac-10 conference. Both teams playing tonight control their own destiny but the race will not be decided tonight.

So that gives us the chance to ask: who would you rather face in the Rose Bowl?

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Update: Sorry if you voted for Stanford, but it appears they’ve been eliminated from contention.

Week #12 Open Thread and Live In-Game Chat

The Day is HERE! Most people are calling for a close one. All of those people are crazy (or stupid — you decide).

You have a couple more hours to get your score predictions in to win a copy of Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State. Throw in your two cents on the poll, as well.

Join in the in-game chat (starting around 11:30 AM) after the jump.

Update:
Can I just say how enjoyable it was to see LSU totally blow it at the end of their comeback try against Ole Miss? How can you not have your kicking team ready? SERIOUSLY. They probably didn’t have time to get the snap off either way, but man. That was a turd of turdic proportions.

So now LSU has no victories over a ranked team. Are we going to pretend they’re still a top 15 team?

Back to enjoying the Oregon/Arizona game. Scouting. Watching…

Read the rest of this entry »

Week #12: Michigan Preview and Open Thread

Previewing the OSU Michigan game should be seen as a privilege to the blogging community on both sides of the border. I know that I am normally a sarcastic bastard that seems to revel in the sports misery and unabashed stereotypes for our regional sometimes national foes (jorts, corn dogs, and more jorts), but this week is just a little different.

A couple of things about this week’s game…

It doesn’t matter if UM has not met expectations this season.

It doesn’t matter that OSU has already clinched a share of the Big Ten title.

It doesn’t matter that OSU is already going to the Rose Bowl.

It doesn’t matter that UM is in the crosshairs of the NCAA for potential rule violations

It doesn’t matter OSU has earned another BCS bid, which is scrutinized by other conference’s fans and media

It doesn’t matter that there is speculation over RichRod’s future employment

The above are all talking points for media types.

We are not media types.

We cant be media types, because we care about this game for real reasons. Reasons that are ingrained in us from the day we first experienced this “game” in our youth.

We don’t care how compelling it is to the people watching it across the country. Even those that have strayed from the blogger path and pretend they are media types for posterity, yet hide behind the “blogger” badge when convenient. (Hint: Kittens…and an Otter..Really?)

This week we don’t give a flying f*ck about other bloggers and message board heroes making claims that the Big Ten is not “staying with the times”

I said “We” and I mean it. Michigan and Ohio State fans are not that different from one another. We all have the same problems. We originate from states that have been detrimentally affected by a massive economic downturn. We are in this together. It is the single day of the year (outside of your standard holidays) that we can regress to our youth and just enjoy the day without worrying about the everyday problems that plague us. Just sit there and enjoy a football game.

Yes, we will enjoy this game…it is our rite of passage every November.

It is our game…and it always will be.

Finally…

If you don’t like the game, don’t watch it fricken’ watch it anyways. Btw..A brief message from all Michigan and Ohio State fans to those complaining about the marketability and level of intrigue in tomorrow’s game…

“Suck it”

An Actual Preview of Sorts…

Oh yeah…I almost for got about the actual game tomorrow. Let’s talk O’s and X’s …or something to that effect…this wont be your typical preview. If you are looking for that visit any of the other awesome Buckeye sites like…here, here, and definitely here…and a brief history lesson over the last 8 years..

When Michigan has the ball….

Michigan’s offensive capability in this game will be predicated upon the amount of pressure Tate Forcier can handle. There is no doubt that OSU is going to get pressure on the freshman QB. He is a good player that has begun to turn the corner in his development and handling the rigors of the Big10. If he can continue his success of the last two games, the Wolverine’s chances of success are multiplied exponentially Saturday. The depth within the Michigan running game has been basically depleted with its best running back (Minor) watching tomorrow’s game from the sidelines (most likely…adrenaline can only cure so much Tress), as well as many other smaller injuries that have taken a toll on the backfield players. The offensive line is very sieve-ish this year, which has been somewhat masked by Forcier’s ability to move around the pocket by design and through his ability to successfully run for his life (most of the time). On paper, the OSU D-Line versus the UM O-Line should be the biggest mismatch on the field in the game. OSU’s defensive line has been exceptional this year in all of its games and this game should be no different unless RichRod can come up with a scheme or wrinkle that just reeks of awesome and will keep OSU off-balance. However, with the personnel available on the UM sideline, I am just not seeing a lot of offensive success for the Wolverines tomorrow.

When Ohio State has the ball…

The big question this week. Does Tressel take the governor off of the OSU offense or do we see another display of TP handing off to running backs the entire day like in the second half of the Iowa game?

There hasn’t been a OSU-Michigan game where Tressel hasn’t pulled out something special that has been saved up all year (ie The Effing Wheel Route, Marcel Frost, etc). General feeling for this year’s game is that it wont matter. For all of the criticism that has been thrown towards the OSU offensive line, they have been very productive the last couple of weeks and it also looks like all of the linemen are actually available to play. The UM Defensive line is basically overmatched in this game with the exception of Graham who will most likely get double-teamed the entire game. No doubt Tress and the staff will want the other players on the defense to beat them. With an overload on Graham’s side of the line, the Buckeyes will definitely look to expose the weak side of the line and continue to put the same type of rushing numbers seen against Penn State and Iowa (who have considerably better D-lines)

TP has gotten better each week and seems to play a lot better on the road than he has at home. He tends to keep the game simple and will tuck it away to get yards when they are there. That is all that we can ask from the sophomore. Michigan’s secondary will only get one sentence in this preview, because they are awful.

Intangibles…gotta have them…

We know Tate Forcier went to the New Moon midnight premiere last night. He bought his “Team Jacob” t-shirt. Of course, he was riding solo. Shit son..that is how T-Force ‘Rollz.’ Will this affect Tate’s play? Hard to tell…

Conversely, the Boren brothers have been watching Sniper, Weekend at Bernie’s, and Roadhouse on a continuous loop.

Who would you rather go into battle with on Saturday? Duh…

**Author note..I went to the premiere as well (involuntarily of course)…and feel like less of a man today

The law of averages doesnt really bode well for Ohio State right now, but I just cant bet against Tressel in this game. This game is what defines him as Ohio State’s coach.

There are a lot bad things going on up in Ann Arbor right now from “practice-gate” to eroding family values to just plain terrible football, which a lot of the followers and deep pocket boosters cant be happy with this year.

Predictions…

YNBA

This game could be played in Columbus with the same squads and I just dont care…I would still be nervous about the game. I spent my years at OSU in the 1990s and how many times did an OSU team lose to UM when they weren’t supposed to…F….M…L

However, I dont believe that this team will take UM lightly and TP will have a surprisingly effective day throwing and running the ball against an overmatched UM Defense. If Tate Forcier makes it through this game without getting concussed or damaged, I would actually be very surprised

The Ohio State University 38 – The University of Michigan 13

el Kaiser’s Prediction
I’m calling for shutout #5* (I will, to my grave, count the Penn State game as a defensive shutout)

OSU: 31 UM: 0

Super Fantastic MotSaG Contest Time!!!

The person with the closest prediction of the final score of the Ohio State/Michigan game will win a copy of Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State (link opens iTunes) from the iTunes

Music Store. (Yes, you’ll actually have to

predict a final score, not just ROSES/NO ROSES)

Released in 2004, Rivalries: The History of Michigan vs. Ohio State is a must-view documentary for Ohio State fans. It’s a fairly balanced look at the rivalry through the years. Former players, coaches and journalists all discuss the greatest rivalry in college sports. If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to watch it. Over and over again.

Please note: this contest is available only to U.S. residents. It is not necessary, but helpful, if you already have an iTunes account, otherwise you’ll have to make one to redeem your prize.

Michigan, by the Numbers

All data from cfbstats.com:

I know I’ve been hard on Ohio State for their red-zone conversions but Michigan? Are you even trying?

Where is the love?

So it appears that maybe it’s Michigan week? Don’t we play them this year? As you may have noticed around these parts, we haven’t really mentioned it too much. It may be that everyone is busy. Maybe we’re saving it up. And maybe, just maybe, we’re struggling to get the hate up. Our fellow blogging brethren are letting the hatred flow: 11W (lots of it, actually), Our Honor Defend, The BBC, WWAHT.

But not me. I’m not, as the kids say, feeling it this year.

Look, we hate Michigan just as much as everyone else. We’ve never pulled punches, even having a LLLLoyd Carr death watch, calling out Mike “0-4″ Hart on his words. This year we did away with our “Memories” posts of yesteryear even though they brought us so much joy.

I think it’s that I’m getting used to beating Michigan. The sportsMonkey and I have had the discussion about when “enough is enough” as in “at what point does the pain from the 2-10-1 John Cooper era end?” Tressel is 7-1, winning FIVE straight. That means this is the third class of seniors that could potentially never beat Ohio State. Isn’t that enough? (Monkey says “No”, I say “Yes”.) Monkey is still waiting for an OSU RB to go Buckamania on Michigan to the tune of 300 yards.

But this year, it just isn’t really happening for me and up until today I didn’t know why. After a discussion at lunch, it all became clear. I don’t feel hate because you can’t hate something you pity. I right now, I think I pity Michigan. I pity Rich Rodriguez. I pity their fans. I pity their players. They have suffered. They will continue to suffer. And that’s just sad.

So I finish up this mini pondering with a little poll that I know has been floated to every Buckeye Fan worth their salt. Given the fact that this game has no bearing on the season (record-wise), if you could only pick one victory in the next to games, which one would it be: Beat Michigan or Win the Rose Bowl?

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I’m going with the Rose Bowl.