Waking up this Saturday morning before the Michigan game was a little different. So, as I woke up Sat. morning to prepare the food and get all of the chairs ready, etc. for everyone to come over, I couldn't help but feel a little weird. I've heard people all week moaning about not making it to the National Championship game. After losing to Illinois last week, you would think that this game was a bit of a let down, for fans and the team. For me, however, I've moved beyond ... anger, denial.... I was in acceptance.
Part of the problem with fans is that you have to separate the emotion out of the game. Fans (short for fanatic) have a hard time doing that... especially Ohio State fans. Do we not remember bowls of years gone by? The Holiday Bowl? Liberty Bowl.. 53 Citrus Bowls. Remember when winning the Big 10 and going to the Rose Bowl was the ultimate prize? Should it still be?
OK, I'm all for going to the National Championship game every year, but let's be realistic. OSU started the season ranked 11th, and if not for 24,000 upsets this year, wouldn't have likely been No. 1 anyway. Next year was to be the year for OSU, not this year. So, it was a happy surprise that they made it that far. Given that it's Thanksgiving soon, let's be thankful for that!I'm also sick and tired of hearing that the Big 10 Conference is weak. The Big 10 has 10 of 11 teams that are bowl eligible (which doesn't necessarily mean they'll be playing in a bowl game, but they are eligible). As a percentage, that's the best in the nation. Here's how the others play out as of Saturday:
ACC - 7
Big 12 - 7
Conf. USA - 6
Big East - 5
Mountain West - 5
PAC 10 - 5
And, of course, the SEC, has 10 (remember they have 12 teams). Without getting into the details of scheduling and opponents, those are pretty stark numbers if we're talking about conference strength.
OSU's schedule was terrible this season, but many others had a cream puff schedule too. I say shame on all of them for doing that - you reap what you sow. I would hope OSU learns its lesson and doesn't do something so dumb in the future.
So now we wait. It could happen that LSU loses its SEC Championship game to Georgia (assuming they don't lose to Arkansas this weekend). Kansas beats Missouri, but then loses to Oklahoma or Texas in the Big 12 Title game. What worries me is West Virginia losing to Connecticut or Pittsburgh... they're more likely to lose to UConn. I hate UConn, but I'll be rooting for them.
