The Buckeye Blog

While most of us would think this is good news, leave it to the student press to point out the flaws in the AP (not that I’ve ever complained about college rankings or anything).

Justin Verrier of UConn’s The Daily Campus, seems a little frustrated that his team didn’t make the top 25 and is convinced that Ohio State is overrated. Personally, I think he has a case of Buckeye envy.

Don’t worry Justin, it’s not too late to transfer. And from what I understand, Ohio State has a pretty good journalism program also.

Seeing how yesterday was Greg Oden’s birthday (happy 40th…er….19th big guy), I guess it is time to put the disaster in Glendale behind us and look forward to March.

As usual, I am just getting up to speed with Ohio State Basketball. Every year, I say I am going to start watching earlier but always seems to be about mid-January before I really get in the swing of things.

With that in mind, thanks to the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which for some reason continues to broadcast Ohio State games, I was able to catch the OSU/Iowa game here in Maryland. Before we get into the birthday boy’s big game, he got more than a little help from his teammates.

Mike Conley, who is ranked fourth in the NCAA in assists, added another 10, many of which fed Oden. Late in the first half, the 6′1″ Conley pretty much went right over the top of Iowa center Seth Gorney, who measures in at 7′. On the way up, Conley caught Gorney’s nose with his elbow, knocking Gorney out of the game and still managing to score the basket.

With Gorney out and Iowa running into foul trouble, there wasn’t much to stand in Oden’s way and by the time it was over, Oden had put a career record 29pts. on the board. Add to that 10 rebounds and you’ve got yet another double/double. Oden, still playing with a brace on his right hand, only missed one shot from the field and went 5 of 5 from the foul line. And yes, he is still shooting foul shots with his left hand.

What I really like about Oden is that he was quick to share the win with his teammates saying that it was their assists that made the game. All he had to do was put it in the basket. For a kid that received about as much high school attention as Lebron James, he does seem to keep his head on his shoulders. Mike Conley, who spent a high school career in the shadow of Oden, seems to know how to find Oden when it matters most.

I don’t know what it is about this young team but as you watch them, you can’t help but get this sense that they are developing and growing every game. One of the commentators made the observation after the Iowa game that the Buckeyes are young and he didn’t know if they could keep this level of play all season. From what I have seen, I seem to think that they are on pace to peek right about tourney time.

The Buckeyes have 11 games left in the regular season and the Big Ten tournament. Obviously, the biggest game will be against #2 ranked Wisconsin who we meet in Columbus. While we haven’t fared well on the road in the big games, the Buckeyes have been controlling the floor at home. If they can run the table from here on out, that will leave the Big Ten tournament. A win at the tourney and a number one seed can’t be far behind.

And running the table is not a long shot by any means. While the Bucks will need to step up the away games, Wisconsin is really the only threat that Ohio State should face. Let’s just hope Oden’s hand is healthy come March.

The Bucks are working their way back to the top. A win over Wisconsin in Feb should could secure a #1 seed.

However, not everyone is so happy about the new rankings. Leave it to the student press to speak out. Justin Verrier, who writes for UConn’s The Daily Campuswas able to fill two pages of copy trying to explain his frustration with the ranking and how Ohio State is overrated.

Personally, I think he just has a bad case of Buckeye envy.

Seeing how yesterday was Greg Oden’s birthday (happy 40th…er….19th big guy), I guess it is time to put the disaster in Glendale behind us and look forward to March.

As usual, I am just getting up to speed with Ohio State Basketball. Every year, I say I am going to start watching earlier but always seems to be about mid-January before I really get in the swing of things.

With that in mind, thanks to the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network, which for some reason continues to broadcast Ohio State games, I was able to catch the OSU/Iowa game here in Maryland. Before we get into the birthday boy’s big game, he got more than a little help from his teammates.

Mike Conley, who is ranked fourth in the NCAA in assists, added another 10, many of which fed Oden. Late in the first half, the 6′1″ Conley pretty much went right over the top of Iowa center Seth Gorney, who measures in at 7′. On the way up, Conley caught Gorney’s nose with his elbow, knocking Gorney out of the game and still managing to score the basket.

With Gorney out and Iowa running into foul trouble, there wasn’t much to stand in Oden’s way and by the time it was over, Oden had put a career record 29pts. on the board. Add to that 10 rebounds and you’ve got yet another double/double. Oden, still playing with a brace on his right hand, only missed one shot from the field and went 5 of 5 from the foul line. And yes, he is still shooting foul shots with his left hand.

What I really like about Oden is that he was quick to share the win with his teammates saying that it was their assists that made the game. All he had to do was put it in the basket. For a kid that received about as much high school attention as Lebron James, he does seem to keep his head on his shoulders. Mike Conley, who spent a high school career in the shadow of Oden, seems to know how to find Oden when it matters most.

I don’t know what it is about this young team but as you watch them, you can’t help but get this sense that they are developing and growing every game. One of the commentators made the observation after the Iowa game that the Buckeyes are young and he didn’t know if they could keep this level of play all season. From what I have seen, I seem to think that they are on pace to peek right about tourney time.

The Buckeyes have 11 games left in the regular season and the Big Ten tournament. Obviously, the biggest game will be against #2 ranked Wisconsin who we meet in Columbus. While we haven’t fared well on the road in the big games, the Buckeyes have been controlling the floor at home. If they can run the table from here on out, that will leave the Big Ten tournament. A win at the tourney and a number one seed can’t be far behind.

And running the table is not a long shot by any means. While the Bucks will need to step up the away games, Wisconsin is really the only threat that Ohio State should face. Let’s just hope Oden’s hand is healthy come March.

The Vest broke his silence yesterday in an interview with WBNS a.m. (1640) stating that the Buckeyes weren’t mentally prepared for the BCS game in Glendale.

Go Figure.

It was pretty obvious that while the opening return by Ginn got things fired up, the injury that followed was the beginning of a complete mental breakdown by the Buckeyes. Tressel admitted in the interview that he is never sure if a team is “ready to play.”

Interesting, that is one thing I always thought he was good at and still do. Yeah, a 12-1 record is pretty hard to swallow but in the long run, Tressel has done a pretty good job at getting the Bucks “ready to play” in the big games.

Maybe this will provide the fuel he needs for next year.

I need to introduce my wife to this guy’s wife.

Apparently, along with the flat screen t.v. and scoreboard advertising, the carpet is green with yard markers and when the project is finished, TBDBITL will be about to dot the I on script Ohio.

From what I hear, the only problem is that he will need to replace the carpet every three weeks or so.

It’s not often I get into pissing matches such as this. I had hoped to end it with a congratulations to Florida and move on. However, since the Florida fans seem to want it so bad, I’ll play to the masses.

If you haven’t noticed, there have been some choice comments on some of my previous posts as Gator fans enjoy their rare moment in the sun. The following seems pretty typical of what has been so absurd about the SEC all season. Darkgatorwrites:

“If you actually knew any thing about college football in the entire country instead of wearing the Big 10 blinders, you would know that the power conference is really the SEC. OSU and Michigan are both WAY OVER RATED. Neither would survive unscathed in the SEC. Just look at what USC did to Michigan in Rose Bowl. OSU fans should not be surprised that the Gators dismantled the Bucks as easily. If OSU and Florida played 10 times on a neutral field it would be Florida 9 and 1. Remember…the “Vaunted Bucks” are 0 and 9 all time versus the SEC in bowl games. Get real.”

Let’s consider those “blinders” for a moment.

You’re right, I must not now anything about college football “in the entire country” what with all that SEC Speed and Florida 9-1 stuff. I mean it must be true, they said it on ESPN College Game Day didn’t they? And while Ohio State did nothing to support my cause, those blinders must have caused me to have miss the outstanding performance of the “power conference” SEC in this year’s bowl games.

For example, Arkansas, the team that spotted Florida a couple of touchdowns in the SEC Championship really showed that speed against Wisconsin. Scary stuff. Or how about TN? It is impossible to think that any Big Ten team could get through the SEC against teams of that caliber unscathed…unless of course you are Penn State, one of the whipping boys of the Big Ten this year. Penn State even lost to Notre Dame! (Why was Notre Dame in the BCS again?)

But hey, there’s always Alabama. They did well in their bowl…oops, that’s right, Oklahoma State.

Yeah, there used to be a thing called SEC speed but that was 10 years ago. What so many out there today like to call “SEC speed” is just modern college football. Take it from the rest of the “entire country,” we are all getting a little sick of the SEC blinders. Especially when it just doesn’t pan out.

Face it, the BCS Championship was a fluke. Yes, Florida came prepared and the Buckeyes didn’t. Ohio State was outplayed but anyone who watched any Ohio State football this year knows that the team we saw in Glendale was not the team we watched all year. Ohio State was not mentally there and as the past week has shown, many of our top players were obviously looking past the bowl game to the NFL draft deadline (Ginn, Pittman, Gonzalas…In all, 23 Ohio State players declared before last Tuesday’s deadline).

For that much, put Ginn in for more than one play and you have an entirely different game. (1 Ginn=2 Florida Defensemen=entirely different game plan). And don’t put too much stock in Michigan’s performance in the Rose Bowl. If anything, it proves the difficulty of coming back more than a month after a game of that size.

Talk all you want about beating Ohio State 9 out of 10 times. Those of us who know anything about college football “in the entire country” know it just doesn’t pan out. And believe me, there is not a game every Ohio State fan would like to see more than a rematch with Florida.

Florida has a long history of college football. Unlike Ohio State, however, it doesn’t have a great history of college football. And while the Gators deserve to be congratulated for their second national championship title, just remember…we’ve got seven.

(And please, when responding in the comments below, could you try to limit your use of words that end in “ck.” It doesn’t serve you well and to be honest, my mom reads this site.)

This was just a matter of time. The Associated Press is reporting that Antonio Pittman has officially announced that he will forgo his senior season with Ohio State to join April’s NFL draft. This follows on this morning’s report in The Cleveland Plain Dealer that Teddy Ginn will also leave the Bucks to join the NFL draft.

None of this comes as any surprise but the Ginn story is a little frustrating to say the least. From all accounts, it appears as though Ginn’s father is really the one calling the shots for Jr. Recent rumors around the internet seem to be playing out that Ginn’s father made the decision to keep Ginn out of the BCS game. And while it is not an excuse for the Buckeye’s loosing the BCS, it appears that Ginn Sr. had much bigger priorities than seeing Ohio State win the BCS Championship.

Ginn’s father clearly stated those priorities in the Plain Dealer:

“It was the best thing for him,” Ted Ginn Sr., Ginn’s father, said this morning. “Emotionally it’s not the best thing for him, but financially it was.

“I let him make the decision. It’s difficult, because being at Ohio State is a joyful thing. He’s a team guy, and he had to work through that.”

So let me see if I have this straight, Ginn Sr. feels that emotionally, Jr. is not emotionally ready for the NFL. However, none of that matters because after the BCS game, Ginn is “in the draft” and “it’s not that important.”

I do think Ohio State was hurt big by the loss of Ginn in the BCS game. With Ginn, Florida would have been looking at a two-man coverage opening up four more receivers. I would like to have seen how the SEC speed would have handled that one. Without Ginn, Smith loses his sure thing. Suddenly, open receivers are hard to find, the Gators have an extra man to send in on the blitz, it goes on from there. While I trust Ginn Jr’s Buckeye loyalties, I think Ted Sr., knowing that adopted son Troy Smith was going big, was blinded by $$$$$.

Bottom line, who can blame him. I have to understand where pops is coming from. Teddy Jr. has the opportunity to make millions next year. To delay it another year to play for free does seem somewhat irresponsible. However, if Ginn came back for one more, he would defiantly have a solid shot at the Heisman (he had a shot this year) and as a senior, he could put up even bigger numbers than this year. He would go first round, no question. This year, maybe a first round pick.

Losing Pittman is another story altogether. Wasn’t it great watching him?

It’s been a great Buckeye season. Next year will be a rebuilding year…at least on offense. No matter though, the defense will have experience and remember how much fun Tressel ball was back in ‘02/03.

The worst picture in Ohio State football history.
(special thanks to MOSG for finding the picture)

By now, although I’ve been avoiding them myself, you’ve had the opportunity to read the post game analysis. Bottom line, that was not the Ohio State team we have seen all season. And while yes, we were out played, out coached, and just basically sucked, I don’t believe that Florida or the SEC is that much better. At least not the 27 points better that we saw Monday night.

Let’s face it, 2006 was a great season and Ohio State was a great team. All season, the Buckeyes have played exciting football. They have played with determination, confidence and control that is rarely seen in college football. The team we watched Monday night was not the team we have watched this fall.

While I am not one to look for excuses, I do believe that it wasn’t so much the layoff that hurt Ohio State in the BCS game. It was the fact that by the time the BCS Championship finally rolled around, no one seemed to care. After the college football marathon of New Year’s day and almost two months of hype (or lack of) the game, as I have been saying since OSU/Michigan, seemed little more than an afterthought. This year’s Rose Bowl was promoted as a bigger game then the BCS Championship. The game didn’t start until 8:30 p.m. in Columbus making it a late night for those who had to work in the morning.

I have been fortunate enough to attend some of the biggest games in recent Ohio State history. These games include the ‘03 Fiesta Bowl against Miami, Texas in the Shoe in ‘05, this year’s Ohio State/Michigan game and although I didn’t get into the BCS Championship, I was in Phoenix and watched the game outside of the stadium.

What makes those games so exciting is not just the game itself but the energy leading into the game. All of the games mentioned above had a such a buzz, such an excitement that by game time, you were ready to explode. All of those games except this one.

In ‘03, the energy level in Phoenix was off the chart. Ohio State fans were everywhere and the entire city seemed to boil with excitement. And it wasn’t only the Ohio State fans. The entire city was looking forward to the big game in Tempe.

This year, however, the energy of those past games was missing. Once again Ohio State fans descended on Phoenix in force and did seem to outnumber Florida about 10-1. This year, however, Phoenix did not have that same feeling and couldn’t even be compared to the Ohio State/Michigan game.

Let’s face it, the new stadium, while impressive, has the feel of a shopping mall. Its location on the far west side of Phoenix spread things out around the Phoenix area. Unlike in ‘03, where Tempe was the center of the Bowl festivities, Bowl events were spread miles apart around the Phoenix area (Glendale is a good 1/2 hour drive from Chase Field, site of the pep rally). As for the town of Phoenix, they were back to work. Locals coming down off the buzz of the Fiesta Bowl were more concerned about traffic problems caused by the inconvenience of the BCS than the game itself.

While none of this makes for excuses, there is no doubt in my mind that the performances of Michigan in the Rose Bowl and Ohio State in the BCS Championship were effected by let down after what will be remembered as one of the biggest games in college football history.

I don’t care if they have a BCS playoff next year or not. If the BCS respects the Bowl system as much as they claim they do, end the College Bowls New Year’s weekend. January is for NFL playoff games, Not College Bowl games.

I am just getting back in the swing of things, trying to get a grip on Monday night’s game only to read this. The BuckeyeXtra (Columbus Dispatch) is reporting that Gonzo announced this afternoon that he will leave Ohio State for the NFL draft.

Word is that he plans to graduate in the spring and that he should go second round. How can you blame him–especially if he is graduating.

I just hope that Monday’s disappointment didn’t have anything to do with the decision nor affect the coming decisions of other Ohio State players. Gonzo has been a lot of fun to watch and will be missed next year.