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Interesting Tuesday in college sports, to say the least. We’ll get to all the movers and shakers, but first a little traveling music.

Buckeye 411

• Out In The Cold- Monday’s Heisman announcement that Braxton Miller would not be getting an invite to the Downtown Athletic Club in New York spurred a mixed bag of emotions for Ohio State fans. On the one hand, if it’s unlikely that he’ll be in the top three, it makes sense to not include him- Football is not about “participation” trophies. On the other hand, though, many Buckeyes saw this as another slight at the program and a way for “the media” to disregard the hard work that Miller and his teammates accomplished this season.

Most of the frustration was aimed at the inclusion of Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, who we’ve argued here before is only a finalist due to his team’s success, solid (but not great) numbers, and the great “story” that his season has been- both for him and as a heart of the awakened echoes of the Irish program.  Tony Gerdeman from the OZone compared Te’o to AJ Hawk, the last linebacker to be seriously considered for the Heisman, and found that Hawk’s numbers eclipsed the Irish’ star. He, along with the guys at Land Grant Holy Land (check out the infographic) continue to compare his numbers to Ohio State’s Ryan Shazier- Gerd points out that, in the last three games of the season, Shazier outplayed Te’o and almost doubled his statistics, minus the interceptions. Given that Te’o plays in a variation of the Tampa 2 defense which requires more coverage, this might make sense- different roles for both players. But it does highlight the fact that Te’o is a debatable finalist… and as such, might have just as well been left home with Miller and Marquis Lee (who I believe is the best player in the country this season).

• Buckeye Pride- Believe it or not, Ohio State is the example of what the NCAA wants its programs to represent this season. That’s according to Deadspin’s Jonathan Mahler, who points to the following regarding this season-

With no hope of a national championship, the Buckeyes saw excellence as its own reward—and achieved it. What better example of pure sportsmanship could there be? Next year, Ohio State will once again be jockeying for a high-profile bowl berth and all the cash that flows from it. This year’s team, by contrast, will stand forever as the one that played not for money but for pride.

• Selling Out- Not the Buckeyes, but Buckeye Nation, who have now snatched up all of the available tickets for this Friday’s celebration in St. John’s to honor the 2012 undefeated team, as well as impress the heck out of a ton of recruits. We’ll have a quick look at who’ll be in the building on that front later this week.
• We’re Number 4! Nope, not football… they’re Third in the latest AP poll. Men’s hoops drops to Seventh after the loss to Duke. Your Wrestling Buckeyes, though, are Fourth in the nation this week. W00t!
• Also? Vibe’s got your back as well, Buckeye Fans.
• The Heart Returns- Here’s a look at the new Basketball Floor that’s set to be unveiled for the Kansas game later this month… pretty nice!

No "#Swoon" Hashtag?

• Eddie! Eddie! On Tuesday, the University announced that Heisman Trophy Winner Eddie George would be returning to Ohio State as an “Associate VP for Business Advancement”. In other words- “Help The Campaign Raise Money”.  No word on what impact this will have on his role with Fox Sports’ College Football team, although I can’t imagine he’d miss the chance to get away from Joey Harrington.
• Also Significant- Mr. George wasn’t the only Buckeye running back making news on Tuesday; this great article talks at length at the impact that Butler By’note’s message to the team, particularly their head coach. Read More

Tags: 2012-13 Bowls, Arkansas, BCS, Bert Bielema, Bowls, Braxton Miller, Bret Bielema, Butler By'note, Charlie Strong, Darrell Hazell, Eddie George, Gus Malzahn, Heisman Trophy, Manti Te'o, Paul Chryst, Purdue, Ryan Shazier, Schott, Steve Addazio, Wisconsin, Wrestling
Categories: College Football, Humor, Ohio State Football

Yup. Still a thing.

I was recently asked to do a conference preview of the Big East for the upcoming season.  Go ahead and laugh.  We drew straws, and I got the shortest one, so here I am, writing about the Big East, a conference that only has eight teams competing in football.  I know this conference’s football doesn’t inspire a lot of excitement, but hey, you never know, Louisville could come out and win a national title for all we know (doubt it).  So now, with all jokes aside, I give you our Big East football preview.

Where does the conference fall in the national rankings – how likely are they to have a team in the Title game?

With the departure of West Virginia, Louisville is the cream of the crop in this conference. They are currently the only team ranked in the AP Top 25, and the conference has no ranked teams in the USA Today Poll.  The Cardinals are coming off a 2011 campaign where they went 7-6. Yes, the strongest team in the conference was 7-6 last year, so that should tell you a lot about how the conference compares to others nationally.

Behind Louisville, the next best team is likely Cincinnati, a team that went 10-3 last year, but the Bearcats lost some key players on offense, including quarterback Zach Collaros and running back Isaiah Pead.  Past those two teams, it’s Pittsburgh and everybody else.  Expect Louisville to get the at-large automatic BCS Bowl bid come bowl season.

In terms of conference strength, I’m going to be blunt. It’s the weakest BCS conference.   Put these teams up against any of the other power conferences, and it makes for an ugly comparison… there just isn’t any other way to put it.

Who is the best team in the conference? Who will play for the conference title game (if there is one)? Read More

Tags: Big East, Big lEast, Charlie Strong, Cincinnati, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Ray Graham, Syracuse
Categories: College Football

Part two from Ty Kelly’s manifesto after winning our bowl competition; for background, allow him to reintroduce himself.

Time to spin the wheel?

Now, let’s talk about the future of the head football coaching position at The Ohio State University. Clearly, we have to look at it from the administration and the athletic director’s viewpoint – whoever that may be in seven months, (because an argument can be made that A.D. Gene Smith, and Pres. E. Gordon Gee may not last another three months at Ohio State).

Regardless, the 2012 A.D. and OSU brass will likely be looking for three main criteria-

1. Somebody who has an impressive record of head coaching experience.
2. A candidate with a proven record not only on the field, but a record of a clean, drama-free program.
3. Someone with a disciplinarian personality, who can endure the pressures of  the NCAA microscope while executing his duties as CEO of one of the elite Division 1 teams in America.

So…who fit this description ?  Bo Pelini? … Probably.  Jon Gruden? … Maybe. Gary Patterson? Urban Meyer?  Each candidate has their pros and cons. I will go in to full detail for the top tier candidates as to why or why not they may be the head coach at OSU in 2012, and I will briefly go over the rest of the candidates who could be considered viable in the position.

Read More

Tags: Bo Pelini, Bob Stoops, Carl Pelini, Charlie Strong, Chris Peterson, Darrell Hazell, Don Treadwell, Fred Pagac, Gary Patterson, Gary Pinkel, Glen Mason, Greg Schiano, Gus Malzahn, Jim Tressel, Jon Gruden, Kirk Ferentz, Luke Fickell, Mark Dantonio, Mark Stoops, Ty Kelly, Urban Meyer
Categories: College Football, Ohio State Football