As we work our way closer to the (mythical) National Championship game (sponsored by Allstate), it becomes clearer and clearer to this Buckeye fan that there's really no reason for the Men of the Scarlet and Gray to make the trip. After all, they're playing the SEC, and the SEC owns not only Ohio State, but all of the Big Ten (11), and playing the game is merely a formality to hand the SEC another crystal football.
OSU's record against the SEC in bowl games is pretty well noted, it's a giant 0-fer. Add in last season's whacking at the hands of the SEC in the championship game, and once again the theory of "why bother?" gets clearer and clearer.
Then the Dispatch prints this gem (as linked from the Ft Wayne Journal Gazette because I couldn't find the Dispatch's link), and it all becomes just more irritating. Now, our author for this commentary hails from Knoxville, Tennessee, so slight bias probably doesn't play into this. Listing the "Big Ten’s five most humiliating bowl losses to the SEC" is cute. But, as I found on this blog, the Big Ten is 8-7 in the last five years against the SEC in bowl games. But wait, they used THIS YEAR'S bowls as the 5th year, but none of them have been played yet. I checked the '02 season and found out why they didn't use it...Big 10 was 2-1 vs. the SEC that year, bringing the actually played five year total to 10-8 in favor of the big, slow, corn-fed, can't-hang-with-the-speed boys from up nort'. (And, oh by the way, in '02 the Big 10 won the National Championship. I believe this is where the obligatory, "ooooh, BURN!" goes.)
So, it appears the recent dominance isn't as tilted towards the SEC as the media zealots from south of the Mason-Dixon line would have you believe. Recent memory has the SEC whacking Ohio State 41-14, so our friends from down south have "what have you done for me lately" on their sides.
Now, here's where I'm going to diverge a bit, and maybe cause some controversy...
Ohio State happens to be playing LSU this season, not the SEC. LSU is a member of the SEC, but Coach Tressel doesn't have to prepare for the whole conference. Also, as it turns out, Ohio State lost to FLORIDA last year in the title game, not the whole SEC. Again, Florida is a member of the SEC, but not the whole conference. On that fateful night, Florida was far and away the better prepared team for the game, and how can you blame them...they had a month to hear how they didn't even belong on the same field. (Hmmm, that's sounding familiar...)
When we break away from the stereotypical ramblings of the media, we find out that Ohio State is taking on LSU. The constant focus on the conference match-up seems to be taking a little something away from both programs. We're about to see two of the best defenses the country has to offer this season, but the fixation is on Minnesota beating Arkansas in Nashville in '02. Oops, sorry that was five bowl seasons ago, the fixation is probably on Penn State beating Tennessee last year in Tampa. Crap, did it again...focus is on Wisconsin beating Arkansas in Orlando last season?
Sorry, fell into the conference comparison trap myself...
When we look at the two teams playing, we're looking at two pretty storied programs. They've faced each other twice, and LSU has never beaten Ohio State. They did tie in '87 in the first of the home and home meetings, but OSU won 36-33 in Ohio Stadium in '88. Each has their fare share of National Titles, LSU winning it more recently following the '03 season.
For this year's game, it's pretty much a given that it's a defensive battle and the team whose offense gets loose a couple times will win it. LSU is getting the nod in that category, as they have a bit more explosive offense than Ohio State. ("A bit more" is like saying Arrogant Bastard has "a bit more" flavor than Coors Light.) LSU is getting picked by most, is favored by Vegas, and is the Fan Pick on ESPN.com. But, they still have to line it up and play it, so a few things leaning in the Buckeye's favor...
- Anybody who thinks Jim Tressel will make the same mistakes in preparation as he did a year ago is kidding themselves. Jimbo will have the boys way more ready to go in 'Nawlins than in the desert.
- The underdog has a better record in the BCS title game than the favorite. And, oddly enough, the #1 team in the land is the underdog this time around.
- Remember the '04 Alamo Bowl? Ohio State beat Oklahoma State 33-7 and Ok. St. was a 1 point favorite. Cowboys head coach that night: Les Miles.
So, grab your beer and nachos and get ready to watch the Backed-in Bowl. The Backed-in Buckeyes from the Big 10 vs. the 2 loss Legit LSU Tigers. Should be a good one.
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