Bobda, at least you are fortunate that you don't have to face a legitimate team this weekend. :wink: As for next week.....
ESPN GameDay is starting to make the same arguments I am on both sides of the ball.....against and for OSU. On the one hand they showed that weak schedule rating vs. LSU and Oregon's but on the other they talked about OSU's focus in getting back to and winning the NC. At 13-0 the Bucks won't have to worry about the schedule no matter what and then look out in the NC game.....they will be unstoppable.
I guess we'll never know now how the Bucks would have done in a redemption NC game because as Buckeye T so aptly stated earlier about Florida those Buckeyes up and stepped on their crank today.... :wink:
No, we haven't stepped on our crank.....if we triple the amount of losses we currently have, which could indeed happen, then I'll say we stepped on our crank. As for this one, we played a good football team, that was very well prepared and their kids played an outstanding, virtually error free football game and deserved to beat us and they beat us soundly. Hats off and well done to the Illini....it's damn tough to run the table in our conference and we were not up to the task this season.
Well said about the loss BT but I don't see where there is a 3 loss minimum for "crank stepping". To me OSU is the team that needed that chance at redemption and it was right there in front of them. No way a banged up Michigan squad would have beat a NC hungry Buckeye team next week and then in the title game OSU would have been out for blood and taking no prisoners. That they no longer have that opportunity to redeeem themselves qualifies to me as taking a step back or " stepping on their crank" if you will. For the record as I have stated before I fully expected the Gators to take a step back this year because of the defense losing so many of it's key contributors and having to start so many inexperienced players and my preseason assessment of Florida's 2007 team prospects turned out to be correct. If UF finishes 10-3 with a New Year's day bowl win over the Big Ten and a top ten ranking that would be a pretty damned good season and those realistic goals are still attainable for Florida.
This Buckeye team has already overachieved and exceeded expectations.....pre-season picked to finish third in the conference and ranked 12th, all they did was set records for consecutive wins, spent the last month as #1 and are playing in the conference championship game next weekend. This team has 3 seniors in the starting 22 and 5 in the two-deep. Next year was always looked upon to be "the" year. Nobody expected it this year and it was a helluva ride....God bless 'em. Beat Michigan!
whoa whoa whoa <t>Check yourself MCG.<br/> <br/> You are saying that Ohio State needed an unbeaten season to redeem themselves?<br/> <br/> You need to read up and shut up.<br/> <br/> It would be appear that Ohio State is doing just fine and on their way to a shot at the Rose Bowl. You can go back to belittling other players achievements and campaigning for Tebow as the Heisman winner. That's all you have left this season.</t>
With that schedule BT I would expect quite a few wins from OSU this season. Illinois is probably the best team the Bucks have played and without success as we now know. It is a great season going no doubt but the opportunity was there for redemption and they couldn't pull it off. If Corey or anyone else wants to be anti-media and ignore what the rest of the nation knows to be true then you can sit there and try and tell me the Buckeye schedule is one of the best and is daunting enough to annoint OSU as one of the best teams out there. They may be a good team but to say they haven't had an easy schedule to navigate is a load of B/S and you know it. As for that....how many times do I have to say I am just fine with where UF is right now. A New Year's bowl...possibly the Cap One is in the offing and if they take care of business a final Top Ten ranking. That would be quite good considering what UF lost on defense and certainly I expected this kind of year. UF is one 4th down stop or a missed Auburn kick from playing for the SEC Championship and that's not too bad either. Any talk of Tebow for Heisman....which has been out there by the way....is a mere bonus... 8) :wink:
I will admit, I don't watch a lot of Big 10 football because I just think it's boring. None of the teams call my region home and I find it hard to keep interest in an entire Big 10 game especially when there is an SEC and/or ACC game on. I would rather watch the ACC which is not to say that I think the ACC is better than the Big 10, it's just that the ACC games hit closer to home. However, I did watch ILL earlier in the season and came away quite impressed. I can't quite recall the opponent (wisc maybe) but I thought Mendenhall was a beast and Williams was a very good spread/option type QB. I'm not surprised they were able to pull the upset in a classic "look ahead" type game. I don't think there's any shame in losing to ILL for OSU. In defense of MCG I think you Big 10 guys have to consider that he's a misplaced Gator leaving in Big 10 country. You see the same thing where I live. I live almost square in the middle of Virginia Tech and Tennessee territory. Because VT fans get so tired of hearing about UT they make a lot of irrational and derogatory comments regarding UT football/athletics and vice versa. It's to be expected when you constantly hear bragging about the other team. MCG, I do think that Tebow deserves the Heisman. He's the best player I've seen and he epitomizes what college sports should be about. He's gutsy and does everything right it seems. I wonder how all the hard licks he takes will affect his draft stock in a year of two.... What I'm impressed with is that he doesn't seem to care. He goes out there to win ballgames and if that means bowling over linemen and linebackers then so be it. As a UT fan, I've never seen a Gator I like to watch more.
bullsh*t <t>You were the one who said that Ohio State had to run unbeaten to redeem themselves.<br/> <br/> Im not saying their schedule has been great. In fact, I agree with you its weak. That doesn't mean that they need to go unbeaten to 'redeem' themselves. Ohio State is one of the younger teams in the nation. And unlike others who are young, they are staying right up there in the NC hunt. Good for them.<br/> <br/> Im not anti-media. In fact, if you were paying attention, I just started an entire section dedicated to the very debate that one media outlet is provided substance...while the rest of them are offering frosting.</t>
Corey you misunderstand what I am saying about redemption for OSU. I have seen several mentions in media circles about the same thing I refer to and that is that Ohio State coaches, players and fans would love to get the bad taste of Glendale out of their systems and the best way to do that was right in front of them and that was to win the NC. I don't think they should have expected that kind of redemption opportunity BEFORE the season and I don't think many OSU fans were but all of a sudden with the season long attrition of teams ahead of them and with that very navigable schedule the Buckeyes found themselves with that very opportunity for complete redemption and it slipped away. I wouldn't have all that much to say about it truthfully except BT found some delight in thinking I was disappointed in Florida this year which was not the case. Do I wish UF could have won the SEC...hell yes...but I wasn't planning on it.
Nonsense.....I was simply grasping for some rational explanation for your obsession with Ohio State and the incessant need to belittle everything not SEC.....I don't take delight in any man's misfortune, including - difficult though you make it - yours.
BT go back to the 1st post in the topic and read down a few in succession. There were several comments about other conferences made by others and at the time Ohio State was #1 and looking good for the title game. I didn't "obsess" with OSU as OSU but I think no matter the team and conference if you are talking about being the #1 in America and winning a national championship then you will be talked about....your schedule rating and the conference you play in included. I am going to say that OSU will drop back on the national radar a little now and won't be so topical......for me included. :wink: 8)
Illinois is certain the best one to beat us.....! Illinois is a fine, fine team and they played an absolutely flawless game to beat us. That said, Illiinois is simply one of many in the conference that have the cabability to beat us if we don't stay focused and show up with our "A" game. In each of the earlier tests, our kids played lights out and we prevailed. The conference provides many tests and in this test we did not play well, the Illini played their game of the year and they earned the win. It's tough to run the table in our conference and this game is evidence of that fact.