The Buckeye Blog

Talk about an awkward silence. You would think they would give these ex NFL players a little training or something. I haven’t heard any fall out from this yet…(however, the clip seems to be making it’s way around the net.)

(if you see a blank box below, just click on the white space and it will play)

When I first realized that the OSU/Minn game wasn’t televised in my area, I was angry. That was until I started watching the USC game.

For those of you who missed it, there was something sublime about watching an overrated USC slip to an unranked team. Although I must give it to USC. They never gave up looking confident until the end. Up until about the last seven seconds, it looked like it might all slip away from Oregon State.

Midway into the third quarter, USC was down 23 points but managed to quickly come back and lost the game on a failed two-point (game tying) conversion. If it wasn’t for a blown Oregon State snap however, the game probably wouldn’t have been as close.

As for the BCS, USC’s loss pretty much ends Notre Dame’s hopes at a BCS championship game. In order for Notre Dame to jump to the number two spot, they needed a convincing win over a number three ranked USC. Today’s loss should move USC back to at least 8th in the BCS rankings if not worse and they still have a tough opponent in Cal before the ND matchup.

Even if Notre Dame beats USC, they may struggle just to get to a BCS game. With the new BCS format, Notre Dame automatically secures a spot if they finish 8th or above. That may be a struggle at this point.

Notre Dame is currently ranked 9th in the BCS. USC should probably drop back to one spot behind Notre Dame. Notre Dame’s loss to current #2 Michigan looks a lot better than USC’s loss to an unranked Oregon State. That would put ND in 8th.

Soon to be ranked #3 West Virginia plays Thurs. against #8 Louisville (both undefeated teams). Thursday’s losing team will drop out of the top ten opening up the #7 spot for ND. However, you still have a #11 ranked Tenn. which is slowing becoming a media darling. I could see Tenn. making a significant jump this week but if they get by #14 LSU and #13 Arkansas in the next two weeks, they could jump ahead of ND pushing ND back into the #8 spot.

None of this even considers the upcoming SEC games (and playoff). I would take a stab at that but I’m afraid my head would explode. Let’s face it, after #1 ranked Ohio State and #2 ranked Michigan, the BCS is a mess.

After writing this post, I was going to try to write out the scenario for a OSU/Michigan rematch in Jan. but at this point, I need to regroup. Maybe tomorrow.

How about this, we let all those “other teams” play in their little BCS games and decide the National Championship fair and square in November.

Ok, sometimes I just don’t get it. Last week, here in Maryland, I could get the OSU/Indiana game on television. Today, the OSU/Minn game has been preempted for the Miami/Georgia Tech game.

*#$%@^&(!@&^T$

Miami shouldn’t even have a team at this point!

Seeing how I’m not a regular reader of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, I missed the opportunity to get worked up about Tony Grossi’s column claiming that Coach Tressel might be interested in going to the Cleveland Browns.

I didn’t think much of it when I read Tressel’s remarks in the weekly Press Luncheon. You could tell however, that Tressel was annoyed if nothing else at the question.

Grossi reported,

“According to a source close to the OSU situation, however, the Browns might be the only NFL job that would interest Tressel.”

You just have to love the use of unnamed sources. With the Buckeyes securely fixed at #1 and an easy schedule ahead, sometimes a sports writer just has to create his own news.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer was quick kill the story they had created Thursday saying,

“The possibility of the Buckeye boss having interest in the Browns job was raised by Tony Grossi of The Plain Dealer on Sunday…

Without definitely stating that he’s not going anywhere, Tressel, in his style, brushed off the pro possibilities during his weekly news conference.”

The POJO Dojo had excerpts from the following essay written last year which may help to reassure any of us who are still a little shaken. I’ve printed the actual essay below for those that have trouble getting through Pojo’s self proclaimed “ramblings.”
Read the rest of this entry »

At today’s homecoming game, Jack Nicklaus will become the fifth person outside of TBDBITL to be asked to Dot the I. Other honorees include Woody Hayes and Bob Hope.

The Golden Bear discussed the honor and his love for the university on his homepage.

When asked at this week’s press luncheon about coaching in the pros, Coach Tressel said,

“…And I do consider myself a teacher, and love the collegiate environment, I’ve been in it virtually my whole life.”

Just to prove a point:

The BBC has done it again with two great YouTube mashups. The first gives us a few of Troy Smith’s greatest moments. You will notice that most are from last year. It is so nice to know that Smith can scramble if he has to but rarely does any more.

The second, “Boys from the South” has some great moments from the season so far.

I feel a little guilty posting these great videos. However, since The BBC doesn’t post them on his site, make sure you stop by and give him a little praise. He does a great job.

I think it needs to have Brutus in there somewhere. Maybe running next to the chariot.

See if you can name all the mascots below. I think I have them all.

Update:Nissan has released a second commercial!! The chase moves to Manhattan. You can view it here.

While I was worried about Carr being able to get his players to the Shoe unbeaten, it looks like the players may have some off field troubles of their own. According to ESPN.com, Arrington faces pretrial on Nov. 1 for tossing his girlfriend out of a car among other things. According to the article, Arrington’s girlfriend didn’t want to press domestic violence charges, she was just worried about the fact that after she was tossed from the car, he drove off and, of course, he had been drinking.

Please, UM, get there in one piece. We don’t want any excuses when we thump you.

I’ve been talking about it since September and it actually arrived a few weeks earlier than I expected. From this point on, it comes down to one thing and one thing only…can Michigan get past Ball State.

I don’t know the history of this titanic matchup. Ball State is in Indiana so it isn’t a charity thing like the OSU/BG game. Maybe UM has some cute trophy that they share with Ball State or something. Whatever the case, I cannot understand why they would be playing Ball State so late in the season. Maybe it is better than a bye? Maybe it has something to do with David Letterman (a Ball State grad)?

With the Buckeye’s commanding win over Indiana, OSU proved that it can get past these sleeper games without getting bitten in the but. However, UM is still not so sure. Michigan writers over at the M Zone have declared that it is OK to start looking ahead to the big game in Nov. However, with Lloyd Carr at the helm, I would never be too sure. The M Zone has also admitted that they will be rooting for Ohio State until Nov. 18th.

For me, it’s not that I have been rooting for Michigan, it’s that I’ve been praying that they hold up their end of the deal. They seem to have trouble with that type of thing lately and really, do any of us have confidence in Lloyd Cooper…I mean Carr?

UM faces Northwestern this week and who knows what to think of that mess. Aside from Northwestern proving they can loose in even a bigger fashion than Michigan State, Northwestern did show that they can put points on the board.

If UM can get to the Shoe in one piece, let’s face it, it really will be the National Championship Game. Ohio State will be playing their second regular season #1 vs #2 matchup and UM has already beaten a #2 ranked team in Notre Dame (boy they really proved their ranking in that UCLA game didn’t they). And on top of that, you will never see a national championship game with the crowd or the excitement of the game we should see Nov. 18.

Even if, by some amazing alignment of the planets, Ohio State should meet UM in the National Championship game, it wouldn’t be the same as the classic November matchup. In order for a rematch, USC, WV, Florida and I don’t know who else needs to loose, but the Buckeye Extra does have an interview with Jim Palm of CollegeBCS.com who tells how it could happen.

So here we are. Break out the Michigan jokes, pray for UM not to blow it, and brace yourself for the Game of the Century.