Around the Oval: FanPosts

The Fierce Urgency of Now Has Sore Feet

WorstFan — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 21:23:02 -0000

Toe Jam & Earl...Bruce? As mentioned here around this time yesterday afternoon, Chris "Beanie" Wells and his stiff arm that will end all that you know and love will spend Saturday afternoon on the sidelines as the Buckeyes go toe to toe with the Ohio Bobcats. While his status remains unofficial with respect to the regular season clash of '08 against the Trojans next week, all speculation remains Wells is expected to be 100% as the Buckeyes travel out to Los Angeles. As anyone who's ever had a serious toe injury will attest, what Beanie's going through is no walk in the park; for a position who's success is mandated on the ability to make sharp, planted cuts, with, well, your feet, the idea that Wells would be anywhere close to his full effectiveness without full functionality of his right foot is hardly laudable. Still, with Maurice Wells slated to get the start and the Boom & Zoom tag team of Dan Herron and the perpetually-dinged-up-in-his-own-right Brandon Saine expected to split the carries in thirds, this opportunity to showcase the Buckeyes' embarassment of riches at the position should be a good one.

Turf Theory of Everything (aka T.O.E.). As if Beanie's mystery toe ailment wasn't troublesome enough, evidently Buckeyes starting fullback/h-back Brandon Smith is ailing as well, as the 5th-year senior continues to battle through turf toe. Apparently Smith's suffered inflammation of the bridge between his big toe and heel since his middle school playing days, so ideally he should be conditioned to the discomfort by now. With The Vested Glory insinuating the fullback starting spot as being "the most important on the team" leading into the season, he and the coaching staff's continued trust in Smith speaks volumes to both Smith's grittyness as well as his playmaking abilities. With a cadre of immensely talented (albeit mostly green) halfbacks expected to carry the bulk of the Buckeyes ground game on Saturday, Smith's durability and overall blocking efficacy could prove important.

One order of athlete's foot, please. Buckeyes rookie tackle starter sophomore Bryant Browning received the dreaded "not a winning performance" grade on his opening week effort against the Youngstown State Penguins. His biggest offense? You guessed it: lively feet. A costly false start penalty on the first year starter brought an early drive to a grinding hault and forced the Buckeyes to instead settle for a field goal. He also allowed his man to re-introduce Todd Boeckman to the Ohio Stadium artifcial turf during a particularly rough blow following a pass, which causes The Plain Dealer's 2008 Eager Beaver award winner Doug Lesmerises to speculate what many have openly stated: that Browning's long-term future may instead be on the interrior line. James Patrick Tressel's thoughts on Browning's play also raise some interesting questions about the right tackle's future:

"We thought Bryant did well in the game," Tressel said Thursday. "There are some things he needs to do better. I think a young guy like J.B. Shugarts did well also. But that's not the kind of guy that Bryant Browning is (to worry about his job). He's not worried about if it's locked down. He wants to get better and he's working, but I think J.B. Shugarts is going to be good."

Tress' insistence on lavishly praising and repeatedly bringing up the freshman Texas native's play in a question aimed directly about another lineman tends to not reflect favorably on the aforementioned lineman's long term grasp on the position.

There are 120 feet in 40-yards. In case you head better things to do than take in last Saturday afternoon's Ohio/Wyoming clash, Hilliard/Columbus native (and Hillary Darby alumnist) Taylor Price is doing big things for the Bobcats. After largely being overlooked in a run first (which would seem to be the calling card of Hillard ISD football programs) offense during his time in Columbus, after a series of blazing 4.29 40-yard dash times Price found his way to Athens, where he set a Bobcat record with 14 catches last week. Price's speed and solid mitts should pose a nice dry run for Buckeyes all-world DB Malcolm Jenkins as he readies himself to chase Patrick Turner, Vidal Hazelton, and Damian Williams around the Colliseum.

Foot in mouth disease takes another. Congratulations Buckeyes, we finally have our very own Kige Ramsey! GO82BUCKS wins hearts and minds with commentary utterly deprived of analysis, charm, or gravitas, but he does appear to record his brave videos from the inside of an air turbine of some sort (steer clear of the blades, kind sir). I won't spoil whom he picks for Saturday's epic battle for Ohio, but I will enthusiastically endorse the Catlab/Spike & Mike-esque demented homertastic animation that graces the end (the 1:45 mark). Brutus + Decapitation = High Art (Warning: for those easily offended by/unable to watch at work rough animations containing slang for female cats and cartoon blood, steer clear)

The Greatest Rivalry in the History of Sports

Lostincali — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:57:57 -0000

Okay, I am a Michigan fan, but I come in peace with a question to all of you Buckeyes. Do you prefer a Michigan team that sucks and you get to beat up on or do prefer Michigan to win every game and then have the chance to ruin their season come November?

I know that in years past, my wish was to be a spoiler to tOSU, and always hoped they did well (although I never openly rooted for them). With the who’s the best conference thing though, I actually do find myself cheering for Ohio State whenever they play out of conference. So I was just curious if you guys feel them same at all? Did you cheer when you heard (or watched) Michigan beat Florida?

Right now I secretly hope that, if Michigan does not beat tOSU this year, that you make it to the National Championship game (preferably against an SEC opponent) and win 77-3.

Anyways, comments anyone?

Know Thy Enemy: Ohio Bobcats

WorstFan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 20:41:12 -0000

2007 Look Back

2007 Record: 6-6 (4-4 - 4th Place MAC East)
2007 Road Record: 2-4
2007 vs Teams w/ Winning Records: 2-1
2007 vs. Ranked Opponents: 0-1
2007 Bowl: None
Last year vs Ohio State: N/A
All-Time vs. Ohio State: 0-5

2008 Key Stats

Last week: L 20-21 vs, Wyoming
Record: 0-1 (0-0)

OFFENSE
Yards/Play, Offense: 4.6 (#79, nationally)
Scoring Offense/Game: 20.0 (82)
Rush Yards/Att: 1.86 (101)
Pass Yards/Att: 6.0 (69)
3rd Downs Conv-Att: 3-13-23.1% (96)
Red Zone Scores-Chances: 3-4-75.0% (76) (1 TD / 2 FG)
Turnovers lost: 2 (44)

DEFENSE
Yards/Play Defense: 4.4 (48)
Scoring Defense/Game 21.0 (57)
Rush Yards/Att: 4.0 (75)
Pass Yards/Att: 5.0 (38)
3rd Downs Conv-Att: 6-12-50.0% (50)
Red Zone Scores-Chances: 3-3-100.0% (54) (3 TD / 0 FG)
Turnovers gained: 2 (36)
Turnover margin: +0 (43)

SPECIAL TEAMS
Yards/Punt Return, Ohio: N/A (Haven't returned a punt yet)
Yards/Punt Return, Opponent: 13.0 (64)
Yards/Kickoff Return, Ohio: 46.67 (6)
Yards/Kickoff Return, Opponent: 26.33 (95)
FG Att-Made: 2-2-100.0% (1)

Personnel

Returning Starters From '07: 13 (6 offense, 7 defense)
Best Player, Offense: Andrew Mooney, TE #81 (SR) (3 catches for 10 yards, 1 TD vs Wyoming) (34 catches, 498 yards, a school record 9 TDs, 2nd Team All-MAC in '07)
Best Wide Receiver: Taylor Price, #23 (JR) (14 catches for 139 yards vs Wyoming) (33 catches, 464 yards, 4 TDs in '07)
Best Running Back: Chris Garrett, #2 (JR) (12 carries for 30 yards vs Wyoming), (17 carries, 99 yards, 0 TDs in '07)
Best Player, Defense: Jameson Hartke, DE #90 (SR)
Best D-Lineman: Hartke
Best Linebacker: Lee Renfro, #32 (JR)
Best CB: Mark Parson, #24 (SR)

Week 2 vs. Ohio Bobcats: Depth Chart

WorstFan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 18:44:02 -0000

Updated: 09/04/08 at 11:25 EST

Offensive Starters:

Complete Offensive Depth Chart:

Pos.	No. 1	No. 2	No. 3
QB	#17 Todd Boeckman (SR)	#14 Joe Bauserman (R-FR)	#2 Terrelle Pryor (FR)
HB	#34 Maurice Wells (SR)	#1 Daniel "Boom" Herron (R-FR)	#3 Brandon Saine (SO)
FB	#87 Brandon Smith (SR)	#49 Ryan Lukens (SR)
WR	#80 Brian Robiskie (SR)	#12 Dane Sanzenbacher (SO)
WR	#9 Brian Hartline (JR)	#82 Ray Small (JR)
TE	#88 Rory Nichol (SR)	#86 Jake Ballard (JR)	#87 Brandon Smith (SR)
LT	#75 Alex Boone (SR)	#74 Mike Adams (FR)
LG	#71 Steve Rehring (SR)	#55 Andrew Miller (SO)
C	#64 Jim Cordle (JR)	#66 Andrew Moses (JR)	#50 Mike Brewster (FR)
RG	#63 Ben Person (SR)	#77 Connor Smith (SO)	#73 Josh Kerr (SO)
RT	#70 Bryant Browning (SO)	#73 Josh Kerr (SO)	#76 J.B. Shugarts (FR)

Defensive Starters:

Complete Defensive Depth Chart:

Pos.	No. 1	No. 2	No. 3
DE	#87 Lawrence Wilson (JR)	#90 Thaddeus Gibson (SO)	#99 Curtis Terry (SR)
DT	#92 Todd Denlinger (JR)	#72 Dexter Larimore (SO)
NT	#93 Nader Abdullah (SR)	#84 Doug Worthington (JR)
DE/DT	#97 Cameron Heyward (SO)	#9 Rob Rose (JR)
WLB	#51 Ross Homan (SO)	#36 Brian Rolle (SO)
MLB	#33 James Laurinaitis (SR)	#38 Austin Spitler (JR)
SLB	#1 Marcus Freeman (SR)	#26 Tyler Moeller (SO)
BCB	#2 Malcolm Jenkins (SR)	#29 Shaun Lane (SR)
FCB	#5 Chimdi Chekwah (SO)	#13 Andre Amos (JR)
FS	#21 Anderson Russell (JR)	#8 Aaron Gant (JR)
SS	#4 Kurt Coleman (JR)	#7 Jermale Hines (SO)

A few quick thoughts:

Quarterback: Only a modicum of surprise here that the more senior (albeit infinitely less talented) Bauserman is still listed ahead of TP2. Although as we saw in the YSU game, the order of the depth chart bared no correlation to the order of substitution or the amount of playing time for each of the 3 QBs. Color me selfish as my dream scenario would be for Boeckman to get 2-quarters worth of snaps, Pryor a quarter and a half, and Bauserman mop up duty, but it's likely the split will be more along the lines of 2/1/1.

Halfback: It absolutely kills me that even the fan base and regional media is beginning to buy into the national sports media's myopic perspective that this position is turning into some sort of gaping question mark. Obviously you want your best players (health permitting) to get their reps going into a potential team/conference reputation restoring match up, but I'm of the mind set that allowing the three-headed Cerebus of Herron/Saine/Wells to get extended duty will only serve this team better, both in the Battle for Los Angeles and long term. Herron, by all accounts, absolutely tore up summer camp, we already know what we're getting with Brandon "Zoom" Saine, and Maurice Wells showed new life in the presence of the fleet footed magician freshman quarterback we call Terrelle. With the added benefit of letting Beanie return to 100%, I see no reason the Buckeyes' depth at running back can't compete with that of anyone in the country's (including a certain Los Angeles based juggernaut tOSU may or may not square off with in the week ahead).

Offensive Line: Perhaps the highlight of the YSU game was seeing "the second line" of offensive linemen, which at one point included virtually the entire Brew crew as Mike Adams, J.B. Shugarts, and Mike Brewster all played concurrently. If anyone wants a crystal ball to see the make up of the Ohio State offensive line in '09/'10, that's your portal. Getting these guys repetitions against the Bobcats will be huge in adding additional depth should the unthinkable happen in either of the next 2 contests.

No alarms and no surprises as the defensive depth chart remains virtually static this week. It remains interesting that The Vested One lists the right end spot as a sort of hybrid defensive end/defensive tackle slot, but makes perfect since when you consider the bodies occupying the slot are more than fit for both positions. Brian Rolle and Jermale Hines were both all over the place against the Penguins; it'll be interesting to see how their energy and speed translates against the quicker receivers and backs of Ohio U., and then the even speedier weapons they're sure to see in Southern California the following week.

Week 2 Predictions

talonk — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 17:51:16 -0000

Big 10: OSU over Ohio U, Illinois over E Illinois, Michigan over Miami OH, Wisconsin over Marshall, Penn St over Ore St, Iowa over FIU, Indiana over Murray St, Mich St over E Michigan, Purdue over N Colorado, Northwesten over Duke - All home games

ACC: BC over GA Tech, Clemson over Citadel, Wake over Ole Miss, Fla St over Western Carolina, Maryland over Mid Tenn St, NC St over William & Mary, VA Tech over Furman, Virginia over Richmond - ACC makes a slight comeback this week, albeit against 5 FCS teams

Big12: Missouri over SE Missouri, Kansas over LA Tech, Colorado over Eastern Wash, Montana St over Kansas St, Nebraska over San Jose St, Oklahoma over Cinncinnati, Texas over UTEP, Tex Tech over Nevada, Tesax A&M over New Mexico, Okla St over Houston, Baylor over Northwestern St

BigEast: West Virginia over East Carolina (barely), UConn over Temple, South Fla over UCF, Louisville over Tenn Tech, Pitt over Buffalo

Pac10: Az St over Stanford, Oregon over Utah St, AZ over Toledo, Cal over Wash St

SEC: Georgia over Central Mich, Florida over Miami (will be closer than you think), Kentucky over Norfolk St, Vandy over South Carolina, LSU - Troy postponed, Auburn over Southern Miss, Arkansas over LA-Monroe, Miss St over SE LA, Alabama over Tulane

Conf USA: Memphis over Rice, SMU over Texas St - gonna be a beatdown weak for the Conf USA

Independents: Army over New Hampshire, Notre Dame over San Diego St, Western Kentucky losing to Eastern Kentucky

MAC: Bowling Green over Minnesota, Kent St over Iowa St, Ball St over Navy, West Mich over Northern Illinois

MWC: BYU over Washington, Air Force over Wyoming, TCU over Stephen F Austin, Utah over UNLV, Col St over Sacramento St

Sun Belt: FAU over UAB, Ark St over Texas Southern, North Texas over Tulsa

WAC: Hawaii over Weber St, Idaho over Idaho St, New Mex St-Nicholls St postponed

Unfortunately not too many upset picks in that group other than Bowling Green, Ball St, Kent St and Vandy. Other bolded games are the ones that "should" be more competetive.

The Fierce Urgency of Now Lacks Toughness

WorstFan — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 15:47:34 -0000

Todd McShay proves he hasn't been paying any attention. On ESPNEWS Tuesday, ESPN Insider/Scouts Inc's Todd McShay offered the following gem:

"Some are questioning [Chris] Wells' toughness now, and what [the scouts] are really looking for is the ability to play through pain."

I challenge McShay to name one of these scouts. One. Evidently our boy Todd missed that whole rushing for 1609 yards yards with 15 touchdowns, with, oh, I don't know, pieces of bone floating around in his foot and a rather broken wrist that was 2007. We'll give the man a pass since Wells' dominance in lieu of pain that would sideline many lesser backs would make it easy to think there wasn't anything wrong with the now junior tailback.

Speaking of the talented Mr. Wells, Beanie to play... Or not Ohio State running backs coach Dick Tressel (unlike Mo Wells, relation) offers a series of contradictory, sure-to-make-NHL-head-coaches-and-Bill-Belichick-alike-beam statements vis-a-vis Wells availability for Saturday's squabble with Ohio University.

Essentially Dick Tress says "He's not seeing enough full speed practice time, so if he does play, it will be in reduced volume. But we'd rather him not really play, but if he's good to go, he's good to go. We want him to take it easy, but it's really his decision to make. It's not really his decision to make, it's ours and we're going to do what's best and most fair to him and the team"

Uh, what?

It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog. Unless of course we're talking mini-Chihuahua v. Doberman Pinscher which, at least on paper, would seem to have all the makings of OU corner and conveniently storable in most overhead binds Idris Lawrence's matchup against Ohio State's arsenal of speedy, comparatively giant wide outs.

Lawrence, who is generously listed at 5-8 166 pounds, has also struggled with knee tendinitis for the better part of the last 2 seasons. Not that dexterity is important or anything against a bevee of 6-2 and up sub-4.5 speedsters or anything...

Posey v. Posey. We've all fallen head over heels for freshman Chad Ocho Cinco-disciple DeVier Posey, but now we'll get a chance to see just how egalitarian the Posey gene pool truly is. Brother Julian, a 5-11 188 pound redshirt sophomore corner for the Bobcats, is likely to see snaps in nickel packages, which interestingly enough leaves the possibility open to see a white and green #9 covering a scarlet and grey #8. Little-big brother certainly would seem to have the physical edge, listed at 6-3 205. Perhaps the older, wiser Julian can use some of that experience from backyard games of yester year to outwit his freakishly high upsided younger sibling. Regardless, let's hope Mom Julie's trying Saturday watching a sibling rivalry renewed has absolutely nothing to do with a split jersey.

In other news, gas will soon be under $3 a gallon again. I suppose we can't fault them for their borderline cute, naive optimism, but one hoity-toity Bobcat fan has laid a preemptive strike on Buckeyes everywhere:

To paraphrase Winston Churchhill, there is no worse mistake in fandom than to hold out false hopes soon to be swept away. The Ohio Univeristy can face peril or misfortune with fortitude and buoyancy, but they bitterly resent being deceived or finding that those responsible for their affairs are themselves dwelling in a fool's paradise. Keep that in mind when reality sinks in circa 1 PM EST time this Saturday OU devotees...

Week 1 FBS results

talonk — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 15:16:33 -0000

First off, this isn’t meant to rank conferences by overall strength. This is meant to rank just the quality of this weekends games.

First, the BCS conferences

1. Pac 10: 4-1 OOC, Wins at Virginia, vs Mich St, vs Idaho, 1 FCS team; loss vs Oklahoma St; plus 2 conference games Stanford W vs Ore St and Oregon W vs Washington; UCLA still to play Tennessee

Quality wins by USC and Cal, Okla St loss not all that bad.

2. SEC: 10-1, Wins at Clemson, at Louisville, vs NC St, vs Hawaii, at Miami OH, vs Memphis, vs LA-Monroe, 3 FCS teams (including Appy St); Loss at Louisiana Tech; Tennessee still to play at UCLA

Quality wins by Bama and Kentucky, Clemson, but the loss by Miss St hurts.

3. Big 10

7-3, Wins vs Syracuse, vs Akron, vs Northern Illinois, vs Western Kentucky and 3 FCS teams; losses at Missouri, at Cal, vs Utah

No real significant wins, but the 3 losses are all of quality,

4. Big 12: 10-2 Wins vs Illinois, at Wash St, vs Colorado St, vs Western Michigan, vs FIU, vs North Texas, vs FAU and 3 FCS teams; losses vs Arkansas St and vs Wake Forest

Quality win vs Illinois, Loss to Arkansas St stings.

5. ACC: 7-4 Wins at Kent State, at Baylor, 5 FCS teams, Losses vs USC, Bama, at South Carolina, and at East Carolina

Hurts to say it, but at least the losses are at least of quality, wins are all very weak though.

6. Big East: 4-3, Wins vs 4 FCS teams, losses vs Kentucky, vs Bowling Green and at Northwestern; Rutgers still plays Fresno St

If Rutgers wins vs Fresno St, they would move up to 5, but 4 wins only vs FCS and losses to Bowling Green and Northwestern were not pretty.

Non BCS conferences

1. MAC: 6-6, Wins at Pitt, UTEP, at Army, 3 FCS teams; Losses at Wisconsin, vs Boston College, at Nebraska, at Wyoming, Vanderbilt, at Minnesota

This has to do mainly with the overall strength of the opponents. Losses to Wisc, BC, Nebraska are of quality, and the Bowling Green win was excellent as well.

2. Conf USA: 5-2 OOC, Wins vs Virginia Tech, vs LA-Lafayette, 3 FCS teams; Losses at Ole Miss and at Buffalo; plus 2 conference games, Tulsa W at UAB and Rice W vs SMU

East Carolina was best non BCS win of the weekend, but loss to Buffalo hurts a bit.

3. WAC: 4-3, Wins vs Miss St, 3 FCS teams; Losses at Florida, at Arizona, at UNLV; plus Fresno St still to play at Rutgers. Fresno St win bumps this up to number 2.

Louisiana Tech win was nice, and the losses to Florida and Arizona are to be expected, but UNLV, bleah.

4. MWC: 4-2 OOC, Wins at Michigan, vs Ohio U, 2 FCS teams; Losses at Colorado and vs Cal Poly (FCS school!!!!!!); plus 1 conference game TCU W at New Mexico

The Utah win was very nice, but the loss to Cal Poly really hurts here.

5. Sun Belt: 1-5 OOC, Win at Texas A&M; Losses at Texas, at Auburn, at Kansas, at Kansas St, at Southern Miss; 1 conference game Troy W at Mid Tenn St

Only thing that saves them from finishing below Army, Navy, and Western Kentucky is the win by Arkansas St.

6. Independents: 1-2, 1 Win vs FCS team, losses at Indiana and vs Temple

Yuck, double yuck, nothing to see here at all.

Solid performance proves Boeckman can lead the team

lydster — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 14:50:06 -0000

Is Todd Boeckman one of the best QB's in the country? You can help him be recognized as the BEST in the country...read on.

With all the banter among fans about who is the best in the country, fans finally have the opportunity to voice their opinion about it all. Visit www.voteobrien.org and there the die hard football fans can vote for their favorite QB for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award. This award is 32 years old and recognizes the best QB in collegiate football in the nation.

Boeckman is on the watch list and should make the semifinalist list this year. However, he can ensure a place on the semifinalist list if his fans help him get there. It's real simple, fans visit www.voteobrien.org and register and then vote for their favorite QB.

Currently the voting is not open, but you can register now and begin to vote on Sept. 2. The fan vote will factor into the total tally when selecting the semifinalists. The fan vote will make up 5% of the total tally in the balloting.

So, Participants of Around the Oval!

Visit www.voteobrien.org and vote for your favorite QB. By the way you will also be entered into a sweepstakes opportunity to win a trip to the 2009 O'Brien Awards Dinner. Some of the best QB's in college football attend this Awards Dinner as past winners and it is a great night for everyone. Past winners include, Troy Ainkman, Steve Young, Steve McMahon, Vince Young and so many others all of which usually attend the event.

You don't have to go anywhere to do this, you can do it from the comfort of your couch on you laptop at www.voteobrien.org.

2008 Season Predictions

talonk — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:24:16 -0000

One guy's crazy projections for 2008 (I know 75% probably will be wrong) ... but oh well.

Here it goes:

Big 10

Ohio St 12-0, 8-0

Wisconsin 10-2, 6-2

Michigan St 10-2, 6-2

Penn St 9-3, 5-3

Illinois 8-4, 5-3

Purdue 6-6, 4-4

Michigan 7-5, 3-5

Indiana 6-6, 3-5

Minnesota 6-6, 3-5

Iowa 5-7, 2-6

Northwestern 3-9, 0-8

ACC

Clemson 10-2, 7-1

Boston College 10-2, 6-2

Wake Forest 10-2, 6-2

Florida St 7-5, 5-3

Maryland 4-8, 1-7

North Carolina St 3-9, 1-7

Virginia Tech 10-2, 6-2

Miami Fl 8-4, 6-2

Virginia 5-7, 3-5

Georgia Tech 6-6, 3-5

North Carolina 5-7, 3-5

Duke 2-10, 1-7

Big 12

Missouri 10-2, 6-2

Nebraska 8-4, 5-3

Kansas 7-5, 4-4

Colorado 7-5, 4-4

Kansas St 4-8, 1-7

Iowa St 3-9, 1-7

Oklahoma 11-1, 7-1

Texas 10-2, 6-2

Texas Tech 10-2, 6-2

Texas A&M 10-2, 6-2

Oklahoma St 5-7, 2-6

Baylor 1-11, 0-8

Big East

West Virginia 11-1, 6-1

UConn 9-3, 5-2

South Florida 9-3, 4-3

Louisville 9-3, 4-3

Rutgers 8-4, 4-3

Cincinnati 6-7, 3-4

Pittsburgh 5-7, 2-5

Syracuse 2-10, 0-7

Pac 10

USC 10-2, 8-1

Arizona St 10-2, 7-2

Oregon St 9-3, 7-2

Oregon 8-4, 6-3

California 6-6, 4-5

Arizona 6-6, 3-6

UCLA 4-8, 4-5

Stanford 5-7, 3-6

Washington 3-9, 2-7

Washington St 3-10, 1-8

SEC

Florida 11-1, 7-1

Georgia 9-3, 6-2

Tennessee 9-3, 6-2

Kentucky 6-6, 3-5

Vanderbilt 4-8, 2-6

South Carolina 4-8, 1-7

Alabama 10-2, 6-2

Auburn 9-3, 6-2

LSU 9-3, 5-3

Arkansas 6-6, 3-5

Mississippi St 5-7, 2-6

Ole Miss 5-7, 1-7

Independents

Notre Dame 7-5

Navy 6-6

Army 4-8

Western Kentucky 4-8

Conf USA

East Carolina 7-5, 7-1

UCF 7-5, 6-2

Southern Mississippi 7-5, 5-3

Memphis 5-7, 3-5

Marshall 5-7, 4-4

UAB 2-10, 1-7

Houston 9-3, 7-1

Tulsa 7-5, 6-2

Tulane 7-5, 5-3

UTEP 4-8, 3-5

Rice 1-11, 1-7

SMU 2-10, 0-8

MAC

Bowling Green 10-2, 7-1

Miami OH 9-3, 7-1

Kent St 7-5, 4-4

Buffalo 6-6, 4-4

Temple 5-7, 4-4

Ohio U 5-7, 3-5

Akron 2-10, 1-7

Ball St 10-2, 7-1

Central Michigan 7-5, 6-2

Eastern Michigan 6-6, 5-3

Western Michigan 5-7, 3-5

Northern Illinois 2-10, 1-7

Toledo 1-11, 0-8

MWC

BYU 11-1, 7-1

Air Force 10-2, 7-1

New Mexico 8-4, 6-2

Utah 6-6, 5-3

San Diego St 6-6, 4-4

Wyoming 4-8, 2-6

Colorado St 4-8, 2-6

UNLV 3-9, 2-6

TCU 2-10, 1-7

Sun Belt

FAU 7-5, 6-1

Troy 8-4, 5-2

LA-Monroe 5-7, 4-3

LA-Lafayette 4-8, 4-3

Middle Tennessee St 4-8, 3-4

Arkansas St 3-9, 2-5

North Texas 5-7, 3-4

FIU 1-11, 1-6

WAC

Fresno St 11-1, 8-0

Boise St 10-2, 7-1

Hawaii 9-4, 6-2

Nevada 7-5, 5-3

San Jose St 6-6, 4-4

LA Tech 4-8, 2-6

Utah St 4-8, 2-6

New Mexico St 2-10, 1-7

Idaho 2-10, 1-7

Conferences

SEC

Big 12

Big 10

Pac 10

ACC

Big East

WAC

MAC

Conf USA

MWC

Sun Belt

Troy Smith to start!

tommywayne — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:16:37 -0000

Hey, a week from today (8/16) Troy Smith will be starting the 2nd Ravens' preseason game!

It's about time we can create an all-OSU team on madden that is spectacular... I remember making one with a 60-something rated Krenzel and not a whole lot else, and pretty soon there will be Wells... and speaking of him, where's Pittman at?! Well...besides the Rams, I mean, I hope he sees some more time than last year!

Hey Buckeyes, speed please!

BuckeyeFan71 — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:48:36 -0000

Ok, I have had enough of the "Buckeye" and "Big Ten" bashing down here (Florida) to last me a life time! Being a native Buckeye (Chillicothe, Unioto, '71) and spending my formative years in Ohio under Woody, I have carried the Buckeye banner and have been a faithful follower all my life, even since I left Ohio in '72.

These SEC yahoos are having a field day with me down here and I would like to see this years edition of the football team develop some speed! In particular, off of both lines and the secondary! I know you guys have strength, as I've witnessed that over the past several years.

IF you guys get into another NCG with another SEC team again this year, you're gonna need speed to go along with your strength! The SEC's speed, from what I observed in the last 2 NCG's, killed you guys! So I hope you are working on that speed!

Good luck this year and I truly hope to see you in the NCG again in January! (I don't know if I'll get to see much of you guys this year, mainly due to the Big 10's network deal with Communistcast)

It was hard enough to see many of your games this past season because the Big 10 started their own network. That was really a bad deal for us Big Ten fans in the South. How I long for the old days of ESPN, when they would show college games throughout the night all week long! Yeah, I know, that was a while ago!

Anyway, don't you guys on the football team forget, SPEED, SPEED, SPEED! Gotta have it!

Koufos rising, Thad Five'ers could be swapped for one another

WorstFan — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 05:28:17 -0000

ESPN's Chad Ford reports that former Buckeye Kosta Koufos's ability to post up prospects initially perceived by many as surer bets could result in Koufos sky rocketing up towards the late lottery or just outside that range:

Ohio State's Kosta Koufos continues to earn praise from his workouts. He has outplayed several more heralded prospects (like Kevin Love, DeAndre Jordan and JaVale McGee) in workouts. And he has measured a legit 7-foot-1 in shoes, with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and 36-inch vertical jump.

In Ford's latest mock draft (which at the rate he's been pumping them out is all but sure to be obsolete by the time I get to click to the publish button), Ford has the Golden States Warriors selecting the GlenOak High product with the 14th overall selection. While Koufos meteroic rise may be an absolute head scratcher to those amongst us who perceived Koufos' inability to guard so much as a chair throughout most of the season as a huge, glarring red flag and likely also scoffed at his inconsistent efforts attempting to be physical under the glass, apparently, we're not the ones thinking along these lines:

"He's a good-shooting big man who doesn't rebound and struggled against athletic players in college. Rip on Chris Mullin or Larry Bird. But don't tie me to Koufos,"

Ford commented in his now annual back and forth friendly mock draft between he and love-him-or-hate-him Bill "The Sports Guy" Simmons. I'll go on record as a completely selfish homer who thinks Koufos had zero business leaving Ohio State after his freshman campaign, but if Koufos can land with a team such as Golden State who doesn't put a premium on physicality and defense, perhaps his growth and development at the processional level will be excellerated.

For the sabrmetricians amongst us, Ford colleague John Hollinger's regression analysis based 3-Year PER (Player Efficiency Rating) projections for the '08 Draft Class is also less favorable of Koufos' potential. Hollinger does rate the 7-foot inside-out big man as the 7th best big available, but Koufos checks in as just a 13.32, which compares not particularly favorably to previous projections for Ryan Humphries, Lawrence Roberts, Patrick O'Bryant, and former Sparty Paul Davis.

Finally, with news trickling out of Miami that the Heat conducted ultra private not-so-secret workouts with Arizona guard Jerryd Bayless and USC swingman O.J. Mayo, per the aforementioned Chad Ford, Miami may be in talks with the Memphis Grizzlies about a trade that should be particularly intriguing to Buckeye enthusiasts:

One source told Insider that the Heat are revisiting trade talks with the Grizzlies. Insider reported several weeks ago that there was talk that Memphis would give up Mike Miller, Kyle Lowry and the No. 5 pick as part of a package for the No. 2 pick. The same source said the Heat are asking the Grizzlies to sweeten the deal by substituting Mike Conley for Lowry. The deal would be Conley and the No. 5 pick to Miami for the No. 2 pick and Daequan Cook.

While Conley, not unlike the mohawked one, battled through injury problems for much of his rookie season, Cook thrived early for Miami and exceeded many cynics' expectations who felt his departure from Columbus was premature. A swap would all but give Conley the starting point guard role for the Heat, where he'd be in position to thrive dishing outlets to and setting up the likes of Dwyane Wade, Shawn Marion, and possibly UCLA's Kevin Love, whom the Heat could be interested in at the #5 spot. Cook, on the other hand, would remain relegated to a supporting role, landing behind Rudy Gay on the Grizzlies' depth chart. Picking my brain I can't recall a trade in any of the 4 major sports which prominently featured 2 such high profile Buckeyes being traded for one another.

FYI, I'm vacationing

Sean — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 21:01:14 -0000

Just so you all know, I'll be on vacation until June 14th or thereabouts, so there won't be any posts from me this week. How does this differ from my usual offseason posting habits, you ask? Shut up, that's how.

Anyway, try not to wreck up the place while I'm doing the fun in the sun thing. Should any major Buckeye-related events take place in my absence, please try to contact me by homing pigeon. I'm not sure how those work, but I assume you just address a message to me, tie it to a pigeon, and it works itself out.

To the Loser's Bracket

formerlyanonymous — Wed, 21 May 2008 18:47:44 -0000

Ok, so my prediction of Hale was off. I really liked the decision to start DeLucia though. No clue who goes tomorrow. It's either Shuck or Hale. I'd imagine Shuck, but it may depend on who OSU draws in the matchup.

Abbreviated Recap:

Illinois wins Game 1 by a score 3-2. OSU heads to the losers bracket where they will play the loser of the afternoon game. If Penn State wins the late game over Indiana, Michigan will face Illinois tomorrow night at 7pm. If Indiana wins, we face Indiana in the same time slot.

OSU started #3 starter DeLucia, who along with Wolosiansky, have been their hottest pitchers down the stretch. DeLucia gave up 2 runs, 1 earned, in 4 innings. Wolosiansky entered the game in the 5th inning. He went 3 innings, allowing 1 HR to Bonadonna in the 7th. While the choice for DeLucia was great, the choice to use Wolosiansky was questionable. While the Buckeyes did not want to risk entering the loser's bracket, Wolosiansky has been OSU's hottest starter down the stretch. His appearance today was on short rest as well. It remains to be seen how this many appearances will affect his performance down the tournament.

For Illinois, Manson pitched brilliantly. He threw a complete game four hitter, allowing two runs in the second, both unearned. More impressive was his 0 walks and 4 strike outs.

Stars of the game:
Illinois:
Manson: CG, 0ER, 4H, 0BB, 4K
Bonadonna: 1/4 HR, BB
Wikoff: 2/4 R, RBI

OSU:
Burkhart: 1/2 2RBI, SAC
Hurley: 1/3 R
Wolosiansky: 3INN, 5H, 1R, 1BB, 1K

Baseball Preview - OSU vs ILLINOIS

formerlyanonymous — Mon, 19 May 2008 12:56:13 -0000

Bumped from the FanPosts. Yours truly has no more than a passing interest in baseball, or anything besides football and basketball really, so any help in covering other sports is always appreciated. Be the change you wish to see in the blog.

-Sean

Big 10 Baseball Tournament
Ohio State vs Illinois
12:05 5/21
@Michigan's Ray Fisher Stadium in the Wilpon Complex

Background:
OSU is the 5 seed in the tournament. In order to qualify for the NCAA tournament, they have to win the Big10 Tourney. Their first opponent is Illinois who the Buckeyes took 2 of 3 from during the regular season.

Preview:

This match up brings us the epitome of offense versus pitching. Ohio State, like last year, has the best overall depth at pitching in the tournament. It will be interesting to see how they set up their rotation. Jake Hale appears to be their Game 1 starter for the tournament. The top two pitchers outside of Hale down the stretch, J.B. Shuck and Dean Wolosiansky both started on Saturday, meaning Wednesday would be short rest of both. Hale has struggled down the stretch, including a game against current foe Illinois two weeks ago. Against Illinois, he went 5.2 innings giving up 7 runs, 3 earned on 9 hits, 3 walks, and 2 strike outs. Over the whole season, Hale owns a 5-3 record over 70 innings pitched, and a 4.50 ERA. Ohio State’s bullpen is also strong. They have two long relievers available in Armstrong and Edgin. Both have seen several starts over the season, primarily on weeknights. Best is one of the top relievers this year with 8 saves. He has been very consistent over the last few appearances, allowing just one run in his last 9.2 innings pitched.

The Buckeye offense has struggled at time this year. Ohio State ranked 5th in the Big Ten this year in runs scored. First basemen Justin Miller has lead the attack for most of the season. His .405 batting average leads the team, as well as his 61 RBIs. J.B. Shuck has been a force to reckon with not just on the mound this season but also on offense. Shuck is currently batting .371 and has 22 stolen bases. Buckeye coach Bob Todd has kept Shuck out of the lineup on days when he has pitched during the season, which may happen in the tournament as well.

Illinois on the other hand is all about the offense. The Illini hold the top league batting season batting average at .338 as a team. Leadoff hitter and centerfielder Kyle Hudson leads the team with a .411 batting average and .511 on base percentage. Hudson is also second in the Big Ten with 39 steals in 48 attempts. Shortstop Brandon Wikoff (.381 BA) is the primary RBI producer on the team with 59 on the season. Daniel Webb (.387 BA) hitting in the fifth position in the line up and playing right field is second on the team with 45 RBIs.

Illinois explosive lineup has carried them much farther than their pitching has this season. During conference play this season, the Illini ranked 8th out of 10 Big Ten team in earned run average (6.46). Kevin Manson heads the rotation up and is expected to start in Game 1. He is 7-2 on the year in 10 starts. In 65.2 innings, Manson has accumulated a 6.17 ERA and a .319 opponent batting average. If he gets in trouble early, watch for relief pitcher Mike Sterk to enter the game. Sterk closed out many of Manson’s starts this season already. Sterk owns a 4.05 ERA, which is the best on the team with at least one full inning pitched. He also has three saves on the season. Sterk is not the primary closer, however, as that job has been delegated to Ben Reeser. Reeser has 5 saves on the season and has the next best ERA on the team after Sterk with 4.24. Both relief pitchers have an appearance against Ohio State this season. Sterk went three innings allowing two runs to close out a Manson victory. Reeser was less fortunate lasting .2 innings allowing 5 runs, 4 earned on 3 hits and 2 walks.

Ohio State may have the depth in the pitching department, but Illinois’s Manson has been better down the stretch. My prediction is Illinois’s offense will be too much for Hale to handle. Illinois jumps out to an early lead and holds off a late Buckeye comeback. Illinois 8, Ohio State 5.

Players to Watch:

Ohio State:
Zach Hurley RF– 3/3, 2B, 1 R against Manson this season
Eric Best RP– 2 appearances for 3 innings, 3 hits, 2 BB, 1 K vs. Illinois this season
Justin Miller 1B- .467 BA, 3 R, 9 RBI vs. Illinois this season in 3 games

Illinois:
Kevin Manson SP - 6 innings, 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned, 1 K, 0 BB vs. OSUKyle Hudson CF – 2/3 and 2 runs vs. Hale
Craig Lutes OF- .500 BA, 3 runs, and 1 RBI against OSU this season

EDSBS/fanblogs.com Charity Bowl

WorstFan — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:48:06 -0000

http://www.fanblogs.com/charity/007546.php

Although January 8th, 2007 will remain as "the day that goes without mention" for the remainder of our lives for many of us, we finally have the chance to exact our revenge on the Gators. Help those in need while helping show why Ohio State has the best damn fans in the land.

The particulars:

1) Make a donation online to the American Red Cross, CARE, or the International Rescue Committee.

2) Email the donation confirmation to kevin@fanblogs.com and state your team affiliation by 8pm EDT on Wednesday, May 14th.

3) Results will be displayed at Every Day Should Be Saturday and Fanblogs throughout the week, with the final results shown by Thursday, May 15th.

4) The winning school will have its colors displayed at EDSBS and logo/mascot shown on every page at Fanblogs.

For those of you who aren't regular readers of the site, Orson is a Florida alumnist and devotee. Let's turn EDSBS Scarlet & Gray. Florida is winning so far with a staggering $250, so let's get on it Bucks!

[Note by Sean, 05/12/08 3:30 PM EDT ]Couldn't have said it better myself.
-Sean

Did Koufos or didn't he

talonk — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:17:05 -0000

Saw this story a few weeks back: Koufos

So any word on whether he actually signed with an agent yet? Is he gone? Did he withdraw from classes like the article states? Is he headed to Greece no matter what? And did Matta get that JC transfer to take his place?

Sean, pfef, you both have much better sources than I do so hopefully you have more info on this. And 5 more words makes 75 ....

Welcome to the new Around the Oval and SB Nation

clockwerks — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:08:35 -0000

Hey Around the Oval,

Today is the big day. We've switched your community over to the new SB Nation sports blog platform. My name is Trei, and I'm here to help you get adjusted to the new home we've built for you. If you have questions or trouble with the new system, post a comment in this thread and myself or one of the team (lovitt, sixfoot6 or odacrem) will try to point you in the right direction.

Before we begin, I want to let you know we still consider this a beta platform, so don't be surprised if you find a few bugs or if everything isn't exactly right yet. We hope you'll take the time to report any problems you encounter at bugreport@sbnation.com. We'll be continuing to make changes and improving things.

Please take a few minutes to read about what's new below. But if you just can't wait to jump in, here are some quick things to check out:

Sign up for your SB Nation network account and claim your old blog accounts
Once you're logged in, press your Z key in any thread with new comments
Explore your dashboard and setup your profile
Read the guide to the new FanPost editor
Install the FanShot bookmarklet and post videos to Around the Oval from YouTube or images from Flickr
Click the "Rec" button on posts and comments to help other people find the good stuff.
Customize display options on your Edit Settings page

What Has Changed

SB Nation Network Accounts - the Big Change

Readers across all of our blogs told us they wanted one account to use on every SB Nation blog. To make this work, we're requiring that everyone create a new SB Nation network account. In most cases you should be able to keep your old username, but a few of you may have to choose something new, since every other community in SB Nation will be going through this same transition. We tried to be as fair as possible in deciding who gets to keep which name, using a formula that takes into account length of membership and frequency of activity.

We want to make it as easy as possible for you to participate on all of our blogs, but we don't want to encourage everyone to start visiting rival team blogs and initiating flame wars. To maintain friendly communities we ask that you explicitly join each blog in order to participate. It's a two-click process, but it does means accepting each blog's community guidelines. Just as you join each blog individually, you can be banned on each blog individually.

You can claim old accounts from multiple SB Nation blogs, and your new username will be retroactively attached to all your old comments and diaries. So now you'll be able to access all your writings from your single profile page... like magic.

To get started, click here to claim your old blog accounts and create a new SB Nation network account.

FanPosts (the Section Formerly Known as Diaries)

We changed their name. Why? Because we took this major upgrade as an opportunity to leave behind some vocabulary that never made much sense for a sports blog. SB Nation is the network of, by and for fans, and these are the blog posts we make. So we call them FanPosts. When you're at a bar telling someone to check out your online sports opinions, you don't have to suggest they read your diary.

FanPosts are displayed differently on the homepage - we include your avatar to give more credit for the time you spend writing great posts. The new post editor has a WYSIWYG view that provides easy formatting. It also auto-saves drafts so you don't have to worry about losing your work when you compose a post within the web browser. And you can now associate teams, players and games with your posts: these tools promote your FanPosts on our new team, player and game pages - across the entire network.

The new system does not work like the old diary editor. For example, in HTML mode the new editor doesn't auto-create a new paragraph from two line breaks. But it does offer a whole array of new features. Look for the blinking help button on the right side of the FanPost editor for quick tips, and take a look at our full guide to writing FanPosts on the new platform.

IMPORTANT - if you write your posts in Microsoft Word or some other off-line editor, you will get the most reliable behavior if you cut & paste your post into the HTML view of the FanPost editor. And if you do that, remember to wrap <p></p> tags around each paragraph so your text doesn't run together.

Visual Redesign

This one is probably the most obvious change of all. Like other major websites working to improve readability for their audience, we've adopted a fixed-width layout optimized for the 1024 x 768 resolution used by the majority of Around the Oval and SB Nation network users. Use the switcher below the user menu if you prefer the wider layout designed for 1280 monitors. We've introduced a top navigation bar with quick links into old and new sections of the site. We also polished a few edges, made some things larger, others smaller and moved a few boxes here and there. More changes and adjustments to come.

Search

We've completely replaced the old search engine with a new one. We're excited to make it easier to find old posts and comments, but we've only taken our first pass on the tools we're offering. We're focused on making search even better than what you had before, so please know that we're aware search is missing key features and we're working on it.

What's New

Schedule, Scores, Stats and Roster

Around the Oval now has all the basic information about the Ohio St. Buckeyes and hundreds of other teams. During games you'll see a regularly updated line score, and as the season progresses we'll track team stat totals and leaders. This is just our first step, so look for us to publish more detailed and archival stats in the future. The best part about all this sports data is that we've integrated it directly into the blog so. We now have special pages that aggregate all blog posts written about games, players and teams.

Recommending FanPosts

Some writing deserves more attention and more conversation. If you want to bump a FanPost up to the top and keep it there for awhile, just click the 'Rec' link under the body of the post. When a FanPost receives enough recommendations it will make the recommended list.

Auto-refreshing Comments

You no longer need to refresh the page to see new comments. If you're logged in, new comments will automatically appear on the page every few seconds. When you post a comment, the page will not refresh either. If you want to quickly cycle through all the new comments, you can press the C key on your keyboard. Unmark a new comment after you've read it with the X key. And use the Z key if you want to umark comments as you're cycling through them.

As you use these shortcuts to cycle through comments, press the R key to reply to the current comment. All these helpful keyboard shortcuts are listed at the top of each comments section for reference.

Recommending Comments

Now you can reward those folks who take the time to look up stats and make smart arguments in the comments. Next to each comment there is an 'actions' link that you can click to find the recommend and flag options.

Flagging Comments

To help the moderators on a site, we've built-in tools that let you flag comments that are spam, trolling or just plain inappropriate. Only moderators can see those flags.

FanShots

Many members of the community just want to post that one link, video, photo or quote, but don't need a full FanPost. We've got you covered: FanShots let you share YouTube videos, Flickr or PhotoBucket photos, quotes from articles, portions of chat transcripts, top 5 lists and simple links. If it's a video or image we'll put a thumbnail on the homepage when you post it.

For those of you who are experienced internet hunter-gatherers of Ohio St. Buckeyes material, install the bookmarklet onto the links bar of your browser and share FanShots with the community from wherever on the web you find that killer quote or photo.

Avatars

Upload an image so folks can see your custom avatar on your profile, your FanPosts, and all your comments.

Network Profiles

Now that we have unified SB Nation network accounts, your profile will be your central hub for all of your activity on any blogs where you are a member.

Network bar

The top bar stays with you on all SB Nation blogs. It's a quick way to login and logout. When you're logged in, you'll see your avatar and screen name which links to your profile. The icon to the right leads to your Dashboard area where you can edit your settings, profile, account details and any FanPosts or FanShots you've published. As we add more blogs to the new SB Nation network, the My Blogs menu will be a handy way to navigate between the blogs you've joined.

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There are plenty more small changes and additions we've made, so please take a careful look around and explore this new system. We appreciate your patience and hope you'll help us improve the new platform for this and all the other SB Nation blogs.

And in case you missed it, you'll want to start by claiming your old blog accounts and creating a new SB Nation network account.

No Hall call for Carter

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:49:01 -0000

Promoted from the diaries section, because I wanted to mention this. Second in career receptions, second in career receiving touchdowns, sixth in career receiving yards. How is Cris Carter not a first-ballot hall of famer? -Sean Cris Carter was not voted into the NFL's Hall of Fame in Canton this year in his first year of eligibility. Also not getting the call was former Buckeye Randy Gradishar who was also named a finalist. Gradishar played ten seasons with the Denver Broncos.

Going in will be Washington cornerback Darrell Green, Washington/New York Jets/Philadelphia wide receiver Art Monk, New England linebacker Andre Tippett, San Diego/San Francisco defensive end Fred Dean, Minnesota/Denver tackle Gary Zimmerman and senior committee choice, Kansas City cornerback Emmitt Thomas.

8 team playoff?

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 05:29:32 -0000

8-team playoff

Ideally, we would rank the top 8 teams and have them play it out. Inevitably, certain conferences (and Notre Dame) might be left out in certain years under that system, and unfortunately, that is unpalatable to conference commissioners and school presidents. We all want a playoff, but we all have to be realistic and must understand that some concessions have to be made in order to have a playoff system in this construct that we currently have. A playoff will never happen without the support of the six major conferences, the support of the BCS bowls, and the support of the Notre Dame administration (as much as we hate to admit that). There is simply too much money involved and each of those entities must have some incentive and involvement to support a playoff system. Additionally, there must be some value given to the regular season and a conference championship to satisfy traditionalists. There is something to be said about preserving the value of the regular season and maintaining the importance and tradition of conference play and rivalry games.

I would have an 8 team playoff, with 6 of the teams comprising the champions of each of the 6 major conferences (big 10, big 12, sec, pac10, big east, acc). The other 2 teams would be the highest ranked teams in the BCS standings who did not win their conference. If Notre Dame or a mid-major was one of these teams, then they qualify. If Notre Dame or a mid-major finishes in the top 6, they automatically earn one at-large bid over any other team (a playoff system has to have the support of ND, as much as we might lament one school having such influence). For this system to work, the regular season would likely have to be shortened by 1-2 out of conference games to satisfy the NCAA and preserve academic integrity in the sport.

Teams would be seeded based on the final BCS rankings. The first round of games would be played at the higher seeded home team's stadium. This rewards a team for an excellent performance during the regular season. The 4 losers of the first round would then be eligible for selection to non-BCS bowl games. The winners would advance to semifinals (two games) to be played at two of the BCS bowl sites. The semifinal winners advance to a championship game (3rd BCS site). The losers would advance to a consolation game (4th BCS site). The semifinals, championship, and consolation games would rotate between BCS sites on an annual basis.

In 2007, with this system, the teams involved would have been the conference champions (OSU, LSU, VaTech, Oklahoma, USC, West Va) and the next highest ranked teams, in the top 8 (Georgia and Missouri). Teams would be seeded according to final BCS ranking. The first round of this playoff and bracket would have looked like this for the past few seasons:

2007 season:

West Virginia @ Ohio State
Georgia @ Oklahoma

Missouri @ VaTech
USC @ LSU

2006 season (michigan/florida controversy):

Wake Forest @ Ohio State
USC @ LSU

Louisville @ Michigan
Oklahoma @ Florida

2005 season (USC/Texas game)

Florida State @ USC
Notre Dame @ Ohio State

Georgia @ Penn State
West Virginia @ Texas

2004 season (Auburn gets snubbed despite going 12-0)

Pittsburgh @ USC
Utah @ Texas

VaTech @ Auburn
Michigan @ Oklahoma

2003 season (USC was AP, Coaches#1 but left out by BCS; BCS was determined largely by computers at this time)

Kansas State @ Oklahoma
Ohio State @ Michigan

Florida State @ USC
Miami @ LSU

Of course, Kansas gets left out of the party in 2007, Boise State in 2006, Oregon in 2005, Cal in 2004, and Texas in 2003, but again, some team will always feel jilted in any system where only a finite number of teams are invited to play. Only two teams from the same conference realistically can be in the tournament in any given year in this system, adding even more importance to the regular season. This is why you MUST win your conference to guarantee your place. Additionally, some people might say that this system is unfair to mid-majors. Teams from the WAC, MWC, SunBelt, and MAC can get to the dance if they schedule and defeat hard, OOC foes from major conferences and dominate their conference slate (i.e. Utah in 2004). The one anomaly above is the 2003 season, where Oklahoma got routed in the Big 12 championship game 35-7 by Kansas State and still was ranked #1 in the final BCS standings. In this playoff system with the 2003 BCS system used for seeding, Kansas State would have to travel to Oklahoma again in the first round after soundly smacking them in the Big 12 Championship. Of course, the BCS at that time was heavily based on esoteric computer rankings and not as much as on the human polls as it is at the present time. Surely, with today's BCS emphasis on human polls, those standings would have changed considerably and Oklahoma certainly would not have been ranked #1 after such a disastrous conclusion to the regular season.

Winning your conference gets you in but it might not necessarily earn you a home game or a favorable matchup in the first round. Seeding is based on BCS rankings, which essentially is based on the polls, so a conference champion would not necessarily be assured a home game in the first round. In West Virginia's case, their season-ending loss to Pittsburgh would send them to the Horseshoe in December for a first round matchup with the Buckeyes in 2007, rather than hosting a first round game in Morgantown. USC, which lost two games (one to Stanford), would have to travel to Death Valley to take on LSU. This might seem like a terribly tough matchup in the first round, but both of these teams had two losses and the BCS ranked them where they ranked them. No system is perfect, but anything is better than what we have right now.

This analysis holds even more true in 2006. Wake Forest won a weak ACC conference and would have to travel to Columbus in the first round. USC, the Pac-10 champion who lost to UCLA in the 2006 season finale, would have to travel to LSU, who didn't even win the SEC. Similarly, Louisville and Oklahoma would have tough opening round matchups with Michigan and Florida.

Bottom line: A team that has an impressive season is rewarded with a home game in their home stadium with the most favorable matchup possible. In college football, home field advantage is paramount. Imagine if an SEC team had to play in Happy Valley or the Horseshoe in December, or the converse of a Big Ten squad having to go the Swamp or Death Valley.

Hopefully this would encourage teams to schedule competitive, out of conference games. If a team won such a game, they could elevate their ranking and seeding in the BCS rankings. If they lose such a game, they could still get into the playoff by winning their conference. Unlike the current system, there would be little to lose and much to gain by scheduling tough OOC foes. Tradition is preserved and the importance of the regular season, if anything, is increased.

BCS involvement, unfortunately, is critical. Bowl administrators and TV executives are probably fearful that they would lose money in this system, but in reality they should clamor for this playoff system. Right now, too many teams are included the BCS and the quality of games is diluted. ABC had excellent foresight when they decided not to renew their contract with the BCS. There have been only two competitive games in the past two years (boise state/OU and kansas/VT) in this current 5-game format. Ratings have been abysmal for the other games, probably because many of these matchups lack national appeal and because there is rampant resentment towards the current BCS system. In this proposed playoff system, every BCS game matters (with the exception of the consolation game, although that might attract more viewers than current BCS pairings). In this system, three BCS playoff games have national title implications, not just one, and the consolation game would match up two of the top four teams in the country. The championship, consolation game, and semifinals would rotate through all four BCS sites. You would have to believe these games that determine college football's national title would earn higher ratings than Kansas/VT or Wake Forest/Louisville.