Central Michigan (6-6, 4-4 MAC) vs. Western Kentucky (7-5, 4-4 Sun Belt)

December 26, 2012 7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN

The History: When you first hear the name of this bowl game, all it will make you want to do is eat a large pizza. At least that’s what it does for me. However, this years Little Caesars Bowl, which takes place at Ford Field in Detroit, pits one team from the MAC which has had quite a successful run over the past few seasons and another team playing in its first bowl game in school history.

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Tags: Bowls, Central Michigan, Chippewas, College Football, Hilltoppers, Little Caesars Pizza Bowl, Western Kentucky
Categories: Analysis, College Football

Prepared?

Time for Wednesday’s wander through the wonderment of college sports, brought to you by music appropriate for this week

Buckeye 411

• Injury Updates- According to sources, Braxton practiced Tuesday with no major issues other than being sore. We haven’t heard word about Philly Brown or Hankins, other than that they’re fine and will play on Saturday. Monday, though, Coach Meyer confirmed that yet another member of the piranhas has been lost for the season; Devan Bogard will miss time due to a knee injury suffered against Purdue.
• Rivals? In case you forgot, this weekend is Penn State’s Super Bowl; they have invited 100 recruits for the game against Ohio State, and are planning yet another one of their wonderful “white outs”. The seniors, who have come together under significantly challenging circumstances this season, identify this game as the biggest of their careers, and point to the Buckeyes as their number one rival. As if Happy Valley wasn’t difficult enough at night, this will be the first time all season that the Lions have a capacity crowd.
• Clap On… Clap Off- In addition, the well lubricated fans in Beaver Stadium will have the opportunity to practice their rhythm, as rumors abound that they’re planning something to throw off the Ohio State offensive snap count and so forth.
• 

  @SammySilv, Excellent As Always

  O’Brien The Lion- In today’s B1G conference call, coach O’Brien commented that they are preparing for Braxton to be healthy and leading the Ohio State offense.  He spoke highly of his senior quarterback, Matt McGloin, calling him smart and tough and the reason that they’ve been so successful this season. Penn State’s “NASCAR” offense, which has been averaging 90 plays a game in conference play, is reliant on execution and communication, and O’Brien believes that his senior leadership has bought in totally- no “doom and gloom” in what could be a very dour locker-room, considering the off season events and team transfers.

• Meyer’s Musings- One comment from the B1G presser that should be both refreshing and obvious to Ohio State fans is that the Buckeyes will not have a problem with overconfidence this weekend against Penn State. Coach Meyer talked about both the circumstances of the win against Purdue and the fact that Beaver Stadium is one of the loudest in the conference as factors that the team will have to take into consideration. Ohio State, he also said, is not creating any matchup problems for other teams due to the inconsistency that they’ve shown this season on offense and on defense. Saturday is sure to be a struggle.
• Fuel To The Fire- If that wasn’t enough, PSU’s Michael Mauti may have inadvertently given some “bulletin board” material to the Buckeyes, commenting that the sanctions facing Penn State had nothing to do with players’ actions. While true that current Ohio State athletes Jordan Hall, Corey Brown, and Travis Howard were all involved in the circumstances which led to a bowl-less post season in Columbus this year, it may not be a great idea to go throwing stones for either team or fanbase this game.  As I commented on twitter earlier- it will be nice to have a game that focuses on football and not on stupid comments from the other side about off field events.  Nope, we’ll have to trust in the four letter network for that brilliance.

Scheduling News

• Scheduling, Part One- Well, the Rose Bowl was so much fun back in 2010, Ohio State has decided to go Duck hunting once again. It was announced on Tuesday that the Buckeyes have added a trip to Eugene to their 2020 schedule, with Oregon returning to Columbus the following year. As you know, Ohio State holds an 8-0 all time record against the Ducks, although it’s only 1-0 since they had a fanbase that actually noticed their team. In the announcement, Gene Smith commented

“Oregon has developed into one of the premier football programs in the FBS.We are excited to add them to our future slate of games.”

Unspoken, but inferred- “Plus, we’ve sold our soul to Nike anyway with our ‘one time tribute’ jerseys and such that this move only makes sense.” Read More

Tags: Bill O'Brien, Braxton Miller, Central Michigan, Corey Brown, Jonathan Hankins, Mack Brown, Mike Mauti, Mizzou, North Carolina, Oregon, Penn State, San Diego State, SBP, Tulsa
Categories: College Football, Humor, NCAA Investigations, Ohio State Football

The new rankings are out.  No major surprises.  Buckeyes are 10th.

But this just in…..The University of Michigan is now the 4th best team in the state of Michigan.

Yes, that’s right.  Michigan State is ranked 18th.  Western Michigan is #32.  Central Michigan is #34.

UM is unranked.  Three teams in Michigan are better than them.

Tags: Central Michigan, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Polls, Western Michigan
Categories: Uncategorized