So with baited breath we all waited yesterday for the big announcement. Just after the crack of noon, we were going to find out if once again, we had defeated Michigan by signing the long sought after Terrell Pryor. But before anyone could break out the new Ohio State hat and sing a round of Hang on Sloopy, Pryor announces that he wasn’t going to announce.

Apparently, while Pryor was dreaming sweet visions of scarlet and gray, his father had been kidnapped by an aging coach with a bladder problem. Before you know it, dad is in love with his captors and suddenly Penn State is in the running. Or was that Oregon.

Ok, so Oregon is out and Penn State is back in but Ohio State and Michigan are still top contenders. Before I go any further, we need to realize that this could go on until sometime in April. And again, while it would be great to see the Buckeyes with a quarterback the likes of Vince Young at the helm, it won’t be the end of the world. The Buckeyes picked up three good offensive linemen in Micheal Brewster, Mike Adams (a homegrown boy out of Dublin Coffman…and the school where I did my student teaching) and J.B. Shugarts. Add to that a couple of good linebackers and a very strong returning defense and I don’t care what they rest of the world says — the Buckeyes will come into the season ranked high and if they get past USC at USC, good luck keeping them out of a fourth national championship game.

Terrell Pryor would just be icing on the cake.

So here’s his choices at this point:

1) Penn State

Sure, he’ll get to play and he’ll be welcomed as a saving grace for a program that wants way more than it can produce these days. The biggest problem with going to Penn State — Sure, you may play for Joe Paterno today but who do you think will be coaching the team when he really comes of age during his junior or senior year. It’s anybody’s guess.

As for going pro, he has a pretty good chance of going pro early with Penn State. I mean really, it’s not like he would be sticking around for a national championship shot or anything.

2) Michigan

Would you want to walk into that mess? At UM, he’ll have a coach wrapped up in a whole world of legal troubles, an entirely new coaching staff that is trying to make sense of a brand new program, an offensive style completely unproven in the Big Ten and the absolutely unrealistic expectations of the entire Michigan fan base.

Sure, Michigan sounds like a good choice.

3) Ohio State

With Ohio State he gets a team that will enter the year high on the national rankings. And while yes, they will need to overcome the BCS losses of the past two years, he will have the chance to play on a team that will be in the national championship hunt his freshmen year (and probably again in the years to follow). He’ll play for one of the best coaches in college football in some of the nicest facilities and finally, he will be walking into what is basically a pro football training ground. Ohio State produces professional football players and if he is looking for a NFL career, he can’t do much better then Ohio State.

In the end, I’ll be happy as long as Pryor doesn’t go to Michigan. Oh, the joy of seeing Michigan struggle next year without a quarterback…it just make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.