Braxton Miller Sports Illustrated

A big factor in the Heisman Trophy chase is the p.r. and hype that can be developed around a potential candidate. At some point in the process, a decision is made (often within a school’s athletic department) to start promoting a player with Heisman potential. If the March 4 cover of Sport’s Illustrated is any indicator, it appears that the Braxton Miller Heisman hype machine is well underway.

As the college basketball season gears up for it’s biggest event of the year (and possibly the biggest event in college sports), Sports Illustrated has decided that it’s never too early to talk Heisman Trophy. Aside from the insult to college basketball, Braxton Miller bursting out of the cover with the headline “Ohio State’s Braxton Miller Ready to Burst Onto the Heisman Scene” does make sense.

More than any year I can remember, the expectations on Ohio State this coming season are huge. After going undefeated in 2012 with a team that demonstrated it’s share of weaknesses, Urban Meyer went to town on the recruiting trail landing what some have called the top recruiting class in the country. Add the fact that we are hearing almost daily reports out of Columbus regarding the continued development of Braxton Miller and the early pre-season hype is understandable.

Good or bad, if the 2013 Buckeyes don’t make it to the National Championship game and Miller isn’t a Heisman finalists, many Buckeye fans will look at 2013 a “bad” season.

Preseason betting odds favor Braxton Miller for the Heisman second only to last year’s Heisman Trophy winner Johnny “Imnotgointocallhimthat” Manziel at 7-1. Manziel leads the odds at 4-1.

What do you think? Too much early season hype? Expectations too high or is it all going exactly as it should.

You can see the complete Heisman Trophy odds below curtosy of www.Bovada.lv.

Odds to win the 2013-2014 Heisman Trophy

Johnny Manziel (QB Texas A&M) 4/1

Braxton Miller (QB Ohio State) 7/1

Marquis Lee (WR USC) 9/1

Aaron Murray (QB Georgia) 10/1

De’Anthony Thomas (RB Oregon) 10/1

A.J. McCarron (QB Alabama) 12/1

Duke Johnson (RB Miami) 12/1

Jadeveon Clowney (DE South Carolina) 12/1

Tajh Boyd (QB Clemson) 15/1

Taylor Martinez (QB Nebraska) 15/1

Ameer Abdullah (RB Nebraska) 18/1

Marcus Mariota (QB Oregon) 18/1

T.J. Yeldon (RB Alabama) 18/1

Brett Hundley (QB UCLA) 20/1

Lache Seastrunk (RB Baylor) 20/1

Everett Golson (QB Notre Dame) 22/1

Stephen Morris (QB Miami) 25/1

Blake Bell (QB Oklahoma) 30/1

Jeff Driskel (QB Florida) 30/1

Ka’Deem Carey (RB Arizona) 33/1

Devin Gardner (QB Michigan) 40/1

Stefon Diggs (WR Maryland) 40/1

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Ohio State Recruiting Open Thread

by Annapolisbuckeye on January 28, 2013

With only eight days left until national signing day, the annual frenzy that is college football recruiting is in full stride. Although Meyer currently holds the No. 4 ranked recruiting class according to Rivals.com, there are still a couple of spots to fill. Running back Dontre Wilson, currently an Oregon commit, made a visit to Columbus this past weekend along with wide receiver James Clark out of Florida. No word yet on either at this time.

Although Oregon coaches didn’t speak out (that I know of), an article on Oregon Live had a number of Duck fans doing their best Bret Bielema impersonations as they realized that not only was Wilson considering defecting, Ohio State assistant coach Tom “Quick Cals” Herman was jumping on Oregon commits. Hoping to convince a few other Ducks to follow the footsteps of the coach they had hoped to play for, Herman met with 4 Star wide receiver Darren Carrington Jr. and offered scholarships to Tryee and Tyrell Robinson.

According to the Columbus Dispatch, about half the team are now Meyer recruits and there may be only one spot left to fill.

While it’s great to see Meyer bringing in all this offensive talent, it’s the defense that I’m most concerned about. Rivals.com does show a number of 4-5 star recruits committed to the defense.

So what do you think? Who are you most excited to see in a Buckeye uniform? Who would you most like us to see round out the roster and why? Does Oregon or anyone else for that matter have any reason to complain? I mean this is college football right?

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Can We Trust Anything Coming Out of Notre Dame?

January 17, 2013

Tweet Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick stepped away from the microphone too overcome with emotion to speak. When he raised his head he said, “That the single most trusting human being I’ve ever met will never be able to trust in the same way again in his life. That’s an incredible tragedy.” Taken on [...]

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Buckeyes Take Down Michigan

January 14, 2013

Tweet And another About the only thing better than seeing the Buckeyes beat Michigan is seeing the Buckeyes beat an undefeated Michigan and in the process keeping them from moving to the No. 1 spot in the polls. Going into this game I described the Ohio State men’s basketball team as roller coaster. Sunday’s game [...]

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BCS Early Odds and Buckeye Basketball

January 11, 2013

Tweet While most gambling types are looking for the best way to bet on Super Bowl Sunday, apparently it’s not too early to place your bets on the 2013 BCS Championship game. The odds makers at Bovda.lv have released early odds for the winner of next year’s BCS Championship placing Alabama on top with 5/1 [...]

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Clowney Hit Obliterates Entire State of Michigan

January 4, 2013

Tweet Just in case you somehow missed it Although it’s much more fun to watch when an Ohio State player does it, South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney’s hit on Michigan’s Vincent Smith during the Outback Bowl was one for the record books. According to an article on Buzzfeed it appears that thanks to the wonders of [...]

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Seven Good Things about a 2-5 Big Ten Bowl Season

January 2, 2013

Tweet At first glance a 2-5 Big Ten bowl record looks pretty bad but if there is anything to be said about the rankings (and the quality of regular season schedule), the Big Ten has nothing to be ashamed of. In almost every Big Ten bowl game game Big Ten teams played well above their [...]

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Ohio State Ends Schedule Glut Against Kansas

December 21, 2012

Tweet Let’s face it. December has been a fairly boring month for Ohio State sports. With no bowl game to analyze, over analyze and to talk about some more, we find ourselves turning to Ohio State basketball. However, it’s hard to get excited when it takes a Google search just to decipher the school abbreviations [...]

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Hankins Goes Pro, No Word on Roby and a Season of Braxton Miller Highlights

December 11, 2012

Tweet Check out a the Braxton Miller montage put together by our very own Joey AkA “The People’s Buckeye.” He says it’s his first foray into video editing but I’d say it looks pretty good. Love the Michigan highlights. I’m sure we’ll see Miller in New York come Heisman time next year. Hankins Leaves for [...]

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Bret Bilema Runs While He Can; Eddie George Returns to Ohio State

December 6, 2012

Tweet It would seem that after securing your third Big 10 Championship and a third trip to the Rose Bowl in three years, job security wouldn’t be much of a concern. Look a little deeper though and Bret Bielema’s future at Wisconsin didn’t look so bright and a move to the head coaching position at [...]

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