Yes, you read that right.  The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently 1-0, having knocked off Navy last weekend.  It’s my contention that if Ohio State wins their second game of the year, they’re as good as 9-0.

"There's a tradition in tournament play. Do not talk about the next step until you've climbed the one in front of you."

With all the rabid discussion about the Ohio State-USC game, it appears as if nobody has taken a look at the schedule beyond this weekend’s game. Go ahead and look for yourself – it’s in the column directly to the right of this article.

Looks kinda…light. Right?

I’m calling it right now. If Ohio State beats USC Saturday night, they’re 9-0. Here’s why;

• Game 3 – at Toledo – The Rockets have one win against a big-name Big Ten school. They’re not getting another one anytime soon. Purdue put up 47 points against them with a lesser offense. This one won’t be close.
• Game 4 – Illinois – When all the talk was about Juice Williams being the man who runs the Illinois offense, it looks more like it was Rashard Mendenhall that was the catalyst. Williams struggled against Missouri last week, and the Illini defense isn’t even able to catch the swine flu, let alone Terrelle Pryor.
• Game 5 – at Indiana – The annual home game on the road should produce the typical result. Indiana will be lucky to make the top 8 of the conference, and will be lucky to stay within 3 touchdowns of Ohio State.
• Game 6 – Wisconsin – There are some who say that the Badgers have the Buckeyes’ number and always seem to give us tough games. Maybe so, but they would only win the games against Ohio State when they were….oh, how should I put this….not a complete disaster.
• Game 7 – at Purdue – The Boilers are in a rebuilding year, and as much as I like them, they’ll be hard pressed to slow down Pryor.
• Game 8 – Minnesota – They had trouble with Syracuse. Syracuse. Their big season last year was a confidence booster for the Gophers, but they’re not yet ready for prime time.
• Game 9 – New Mexico State – This was a fill-in game for the Buckeyes….one of those opponents that we paid to come to Ohio Stadium and they’ll be happy with the big paycheck and a loss.

Then comes Penn State, Iowa and Michigan. We’ll have trouble at the end of the year, but with 7 games immediately following USC will only be a 2-month laundry list of tune-up games for the final stretch.

Dear God, win this game on Saturday night. 9-0 would be sweet for this team. So sweet.

Oh, and if you think I’m crazy for this prognostication, I’ve done it before. I was right then, too.  And if that doesn’t convince you, perhaps this will…..

The last time that Ohio State lost a game to an opponent they should have defeated, it was 2004.  This team does NOT lose to lesser opponents.  There are no Toledos in our loss column.  No Stanfords.  None of that.  For all the grief we get from the media for our recent big-game losses, they tend to overlook the fact that NO team has defeated us in five years that did not make a BCS bowl the same year they got us.  None.

So when we finally break the big-game shackles tomorrow night and defeat USC, expect us to go 9-0 to start the season.  Because Toledo, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Purdue, Minnesota, and New Mexico State will probably be watching the BCS bowls from home.  Which means they’re not getting a win over us.  Period.

Go Bucks!

Tags: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Navy, New Mexico State, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Stanford, Toledo, USC, Wisconsin
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