Posted by Dave as College Football, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State Buckeyes at 11:47 AM EDT on March 19th, 2008

It’s news everyone’s probably heard — I’m way behind, it’s been a crazy work day — but Terrelle Pryor, the top rated high school prospect, has chosen Ohio State over those pesky Wolverines.
His decision comes six weeks after the Feb. 6 national signing day when seniors normally sign their binding national letter and four days after the Jeannette Jayhawks made WPIAL history by winning the PIAA Class AA state boys’ basketball championship. In December, the school won the state football title. No other Western Pennsylvania school has pulled off that unthinkable double.
Pryor was the central figure in both championship runs.
“The sky’s the limit to athleticism,” said Tom Luginbill, the national football recruiting coordinator for Scouts, Inc. “He draws comparisons to Vince Young who can save a play on the run and has the ability to improvise.”
Maybe this will help Ohio State actually win a National Title game, or at least play the game competitively.
Posted by Dave as College Football, LSU Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes at 7:39 PM EST on January 8th, 2008
Posted by Dave as College Football, LSU Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes at 7:31 PM EST on January 8th, 2008

I apologize for not posting last night. I was planning on putting a post up in the second quarter, around the time LSU was starting to pull away, and my Internet was down. It was quite a pain. Though the ‘net was down, my TV was working just fine, or at least fine enough for me to see the beating that took place.
After a 38-24 beatdown of Ohio State, in which 14 points doesn’t do the beating justice, I have to ask:
Do the Buckeyes ever deserve to be in a National Title game again? I’ve heard all week from Big Ten faithful that LSU has never seen an offensive line like this, that they’ve never faced a running game like this, that their offense would go stagnate against Ohio State’s “number one” ranked defense.
Pat Forde writes a great article that covers every reason Ohio State shouldn’t be invited back next year, but I don’t think it’s necessary; with an opener against USC, whether it’s at home or not, I can’t see them winning. And if this team has one loss, I can’t imagine any voters putting them in the BCS Title game, especially if an SEC team is representing.
PS: In the last year now, Ohio State has lost two National Championship games in football, one in basketball, and one in soccer. Those fans will eventually be placed on suicide watch.
Anyway, check out the article. There’s a big buzz right now about a playoff, and a Plus-One, and a million different ideas to fix the system, but the problem with all these ideas is they’re never put in place. I won’t get my hopes up.
Posted by Dave as College Football, LSU Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes at 8:31 PM EST on January 7th, 2008
It’s quarter number one, play four, I think, and Ohio State’s Chris (Beanie) Wells has just ripped off a 65-yard touchdown run, putting the Buckeyes up quick. It’s 7-0 now, which really doesn’t mean much; it was 7-0 last year, and then they just watched from behind the rest of the game. Dejavu? We shall find out. I’ll try and keep some kind of postings going through the game, though I can’t keep any promises; when you drink and watch football, the posts could stop at the end of the game, and they could stop after this. Don’t be surprised if it’s the latter.
Posted by Dave as College Football, Georgia Bulldogs, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, USC Trojans, West Virginia Mountaineers at 9:08 AM EST on January 3rd, 2008

After Oklahoma’s humiliating loss to Boise State last year — though, while it was probably embarrassing, it provided for one of the most memorable college football games ever — in the Sugar Bowl, the Sooner vowed to show up this year. They were going to show the nation just how far they’d come, and they weren’t going to lose to a heavy underdog for a second consecutive year.
Under interim coach Bill Stewart, the Mountaineers pasted the Sooners, 48-28, sending another question to BCS supporters: Is West Virginia the best team in the nation?
I know a lot of people are hopping on the USC and UGA bandwagons right now. UGA beat a team that a local high school could compete with, and USC beat up on a Big Ten team that’s two years away from being considered a national threat. West Virginia, on the other hand, has just as many losses as the aforementioned, and beat up on an Oklahoma team that probably ranks in a higher echelon than Hawaii and Illinois.
The rumor is that Stew — that’s what the players know Bill Stewart as — will be the next head coach at West Virginia, and hey, why not? The players love him, and it could be a luring point to draw Steve Slaton back.
One thing I do know, if this guy is hired, he’s the smartest and luckiest guy in America. West Virginia, whether Slaton returns or not (it’s not like Noel Devine is a shabby ‘back), will be a top 5 team in the nation next year. They were my pick to win it this year, and they’ll probably be my pick to win it next year.
Oh, and I think it’s about time we stop inviting Oklahoma to the BCS games. You can’t lose to Boise State one year, get blown out the next, and expect to keep getting invites.
My guess is the same will be said about Ohio State and National Championship games after Monday’s sure-debacle.
(PS: As a Georgia Tech fan, I can’t stand the “Georgia is the best team talk.” Look, the best team they beat had 4 losses — that would be Florida — and in their hardest road game of the season, they got it handed to them by Tennessee. They didn’t lose. They got it handed to them. So stop with the “they’re so hot” talk. They’re only hot because of who they’re playing.)
Posted by Dave as College Football, LSU Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, West Virginia Mountaineers at 8:09 PM EST on December 3rd, 2007

Last night was probably the first ever suspenseful BCS Selection Show — for the most part, people pretty much know who’s going and who’s not; I don’t think anyone thought Boise State was going to sneak past Florida last year and play Ohio State, and, well, voters learned that Michigan sucked at the right time of year — and while it was entertaining and fun to watch, I’m not certain I like the matchups.
Illinois snuck into the Rose Bowl, when everyone other than Florida was hoping they’d play the Gators in the Capital One or Outback. Georgia has Hawaii, which isn’t going to be nearly as close as everyone’s saying, and VT will more than likely blow out a Kansas team that ranked 109 out of the 116 teams in college football when it comes to strength of schedule (all this bad shit said, I think the West Virginia/OU game will be pretty entertaining).
Oh, and I should point out that everyone’s favorite National Championship Game Punching Bag, Ohio State, gets another crack at another SEC team for all the marbles. They got their teeth kicked in last year by the Gators, then lost to the very same team in similar fashion in basketball, and this year they’ll complete the Cycle of Misery.
I haven’t seen the early line yet, but I’m jumping all over LSU. People are saying the Buckeyes are underdogs this time, and they’ll be prepared this time, but I’m just not buying — they didn’t play anybody all year and, after all, they’re The Ohio State University, and second place is what they do best.
Posted by Dave as Alabama Crimson Tide, Arkansas Razorbacks, Auburn Tigers, Clemson, College Football, Florida Gators, Florida State, Georgia Bulldogs, Georgia Tech, Ohio State Buckeyes, Southern California, Tennessee Volunteers, Virginia Tech, West Virginia Mountaineers at 1:56 PM EST on November 25th, 2007

I don’t pretend to know what bowls feature what conferences — outside of the Rose Bowl and the Peach, which are pretty obvious — so I won’t even attempt to claim some of these bowl projections as my bowl projections. These are the predictions that CBS Sportsline has put out, and I find that CBS is often more accurate than ESPN. To read all of their bowl projections, go here; I’m going to just highlight some of the good ones that I noticed.
-Emerald Bowl, Dec. 28: Georgia Tech vs. Cal
-Independence Bowl, Dec. 30: Colorado vs. Alabama
-Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, Dec. 31: Auburn vs. Clemson
-Capital One, Jan. 1: Illinois vs. Florida
-Outback, Jan 1: Tennessee vs. Wisconsin
-Rose Bowl, Jan. 1: Ohio State vs. USC
-Orange Bowl, Jan. 3: VT vs. Georgia
-National Championship Game, Jan. 7: Mizzou vs. West Virginia
Posted by Dave as Arkansas Razorbacks, Cincinnati Bearcats, College Football, Georgia Bulldogs, LSU Tigers, Ohio State Buckeyes, Oklahoma Sooners, Tennessee Volunteers, USF Bulls, Virginia Tech, West Virginia Mountaineers at 8:37 PM EST on November 12th, 2007

Just read the title, and you know how I feel. For the last few weeks now — ever since LSU lost to Kentucky, USF showed us they were a lie, and Cal shit the bed like no No. 1 team has shit the bed before — I’ve been suffering thinking about a possible match-up that involves Ohio State in the National Title game again.
It’s not that I didn’t want to see an LSU-Ohio State matchup; truth be told, I wanted to. I would’ve loved nothing more than to see the SEC representative walk all over the Big Ten patsy again. An LSU-Ohio State game would’ve made the Florida-Ohio State game look like a freaking classic.
I was listening to XM Radio today (Fox Sports, I think — I’m not a very big fan of listening to Colin Cowherd make love to the Pats all day or Mike and Mike talking about whatever it is Mike and Mike talk about), and someone called in bashing the Buckeyes. The hosts of the show were quick to defend Tressel’s bunch; when speaking on the Buckeyes’ behalf, they said people only hate Ohio State because they’re good every year.
And I started thinking: Do people hate Ohio State because they’re good every year. . . . or do they hate them because they’re a consistent contender who plays nobody for three months?
My answer was the latter. I’m not a fan of the Pats, but I at least respect them — they’re genuinely good. The Buckeyes, however, are a team that come in and play their patsy Big Ten schedule, then play one team — one team! — at the end of the year, and that team in blue and yellow isn’t that great anymore (they aren’t this year, they weren’t last year — it was proven when Florida kicked around Ohio State, and it was proved when USC kicked around Michigan).
All this was supposed to be an opening paragraph to what should be the BCS Top Ten. Enjoy.
1.) LSU: They’re the best team in the country. The’ve got tough games against Arkansas and presumably Tennessee or Georgia in the SEC Title game. Win those, they’re in — the BCS made a mistake once by not putting the SEC team in the title game before (see: Aurburn), and that same mistake won’t happen twice.
2.) Oregon: Everyone is going Jayhawk crazy, but I think this team offers the best chance of beating LSU. They’ve got a mobile quarterback who’s seemingly come out of nowhere, and their offense can score on anyone. Their problem? The schedule, which gets very, very easy, while Kansas’ only gets much, much harder.
3.) Kansas Jayhawks: Don’t be surprised to see them jump Oregon with a win against Missouri followed by a win against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Title game. It’s too early to assume they’ll win those games — I wouldn’t be surprised if they were ‘dogs in both — but we’re just playing the scenarios right now.
4.) Oklahoma: They’re unlikely to get in, but it’s not impossible. It’ll require beating Kansas in the Title game, and probably an Oregon loss.
5.) Missouri: The most overrated team in the Top 10. You’ll see what I mean when the bowl season comes around.
6.) West Virginia: The team I liked in the preseason to win it all. They better not look past Cincinnati, though, who’s looked awful good these last few weeks.
7.) Ohio State: Still overrated, even at number 7. Who has this team beaten? Penn State? We’re this many games through, and your biggest win is Penn State?
8.) Arizona State: Dennis Erickson did a good job. This team will continue to build in the future.
9.) Georgia: Watch out for my Yellow Jackets. We’re quick to crown this team the best 2-loss team in the nation, but I’m not sold yet — my second favorite team is Tennessee, who has been handled quite a bit this year, and the only memory I have of the Dawgs is being down 28-0 to the Vols. That’s just not the best 2-loss team in the nation to me.
10.)Virginia Tech: Could we see another bowl matchup featuring VT and Georgia? I hope so; after the tabloids that UGA was spying on them at practice, it adds some juice to the otherwise meaningless bowl games before the National Championship.
Posted by Dave as College Football, Ohio State Buckeyes at 12:20 PM EST on January 28th, 2007

Troy Smith, Heisman winner and national chamionship bust, finally has something to smile about: He beat Chris Leak, even if the game was meaningless.
“Just getting a win today meant a lot,” said Smith, grinning widely as raindrops pelted his helmet. “I feel pretty good, but there’s always room for improvement.”
I’m just happy to see he’s actually catching a break. I mean, the guy’s last month hasn’t exactly been solid: He got smacked around like a little pussy in the national title game, then sprained his ankle afterwards when an 11 year-old Florida fan tackled him in a game of touch football.
So, yeah, definitely room for improvement, Troy. But nice to see some things are starting to go your way.
Posted by Dave as Notre Dame, Ohio State Buckeyes at 1:19 PM EST on January 15th, 2007

Good thing Ohio State’s basketball team beat UT on Saturday, or these fans might be put on suicide watch. I can’t remember a one week period that has gone quite so badly for a single team. First, they get their asses handed to them in the National Championship game. Then, Anthony Gonzalez, who was thought to hang around for his senior season, leaves early. Now it’s Ted Ginn, Jr. And also Antonio Pittman, which really comes as a surprise.
That means that this team’s best wide receiver, tight end, running back and quarterback will all be gone next year, and there’s not even a national title to show for it. I know people will say they’re better off with Chris Wells at running back, but that’s a load of hog-wash.
In better news around the nation, Brian Brohm has decided he’ll return for his senior season. I don’t think he made this decision because he wants to come back, but rather because he’ll be a lock to be the first pick in next year’s draft. This year he would’ve had to compete with JaMarcus Russell (who’s becoming everyone’s popular first choice this year), and the Golden Boy from Notre Dame (who’s been everyone’s popular choice for a long time now).
Not only will Brohm be first pick, but he’ll probably get the Heisman, too, unless Arkansas’ Darren McFadden can really do something. Those are, like, the two players left in college whose names I know. Really.