Around the Oval

EDSBS/fanblogs.com Charity Bowl

WorstFan — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:48:06 -0000

http://www.fanblogs.com/charity/007546.php

Although January 8th, 2007 will remain as "the day that goes without mention" for the remainder of our lives for many of us, we finally have the chance to exact our revenge on the Gators. Help those in need while helping show why Ohio State has the best damn fans in the land.

The particulars:

1) Make a donation online to the American Red Cross, CARE, or the International Rescue Committee.

2) Email the donation confirmation to kevin@fanblogs.com and state your team affiliation by 8pm EDT on Wednesday, May 14th.

3) Results will be displayed at Every Day Should Be Saturday and Fanblogs throughout the week, with the final results shown by Thursday, May 15th.

4) The winning school will have its colors displayed at EDSBS and logo/mascot shown on every page at Fanblogs.

For those of you who aren't regular readers of the site, Orson is a Florida alumnist and devotee. Let's turn EDSBS Scarlet & Gray. Florida is winning so far with a staggering $250, so let's get on it Bucks!

[Note by Sean, 05/12/08 3:30 PM EDT ]Couldn't have said it better myself.
-Sean

Did Koufos or didn't he

talonk — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:17:05 -0000

Saw this story a few weeks back: Koufos

So any word on whether he actually signed with an agent yet? Is he gone? Did he withdraw from classes like the article states? Is he headed to Greece no matter what? And did Matta get that JC transfer to take his place?

Sean, pfef, you both have much better sources than I do so hopefully you have more info on this. And 5 more words makes 75 ....

Welcome to the new Around the Oval and SB Nation

clockwerks — Tue, 06 May 2008 05:08:35 -0000

Hey Around the Oval,

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No Hall call for Carter

Sun, 03 Feb 2008 18:49:01 -0000

Promoted from the diaries section, because I wanted to mention this. Second in career receptions, second in career receiving touchdowns, sixth in career receiving yards. How is Cris Carter not a first-ballot hall of famer? -Sean Cris Carter was not voted into the NFL's Hall of Fame in Canton this year in his first year of eligibility. Also not getting the call was former Buckeye Randy Gradishar who was also named a finalist. Gradishar played ten seasons with the Denver Broncos.

Going in will be Washington cornerback Darrell Green, Washington/New York Jets/Philadelphia wide receiver Art Monk, New England linebacker Andre Tippett, San Diego/San Francisco defensive end Fred Dean, Minnesota/Denver tackle Gary Zimmerman and senior committee choice, Kansas City cornerback Emmitt Thomas.

8 team playoff?

Tue, 22 Jan 2008 05:29:32 -0000

8-team playoff

Ideally, we would rank the top 8 teams and have them play it out. Inevitably, certain conferences (and Notre Dame) might be left out in certain years under that system, and unfortunately, that is unpalatable to conference commissioners and school presidents. We all want a playoff, but we all have to be realistic and must understand that some concessions have to be made in order to have a playoff system in this construct that we currently have. A playoff will never happen without the support of the six major conferences, the support of the BCS bowls, and the support of the Notre Dame administration (as much as we hate to admit that). There is simply too much money involved and each of those entities must have some incentive and involvement to support a playoff system. Additionally, there must be some value given to the regular season and a conference championship to satisfy traditionalists. There is something to be said about preserving the value of the regular season and maintaining the importance and tradition of conference play and rivalry games.

I would have an 8 team playoff, with 6 of the teams comprising the champions of each of the 6 major conferences (big 10, big 12, sec, pac10, big east, acc). The other 2 teams would be the highest ranked teams in the BCS standings who did not win their conference. If Notre Dame or a mid-major was one of these teams, then they qualify. If Notre Dame or a mid-major finishes in the top 6, they automatically earn one at-large bid over any other team (a playoff system has to have the support of ND, as much as we might lament one school having such influence). For this system to work, the regular season would likely have to be shortened by 1-2 out of conference games to satisfy the NCAA and preserve academic integrity in the sport.

Teams would be seeded based on the final BCS rankings. The first round of games would be played at the higher seeded home team's stadium. This rewards a team for an excellent performance during the regular season. The 4 losers of the first round would then be eligible for selection to non-BCS bowl games. The winners would advance to semifinals (two games) to be played at two of the BCS bowl sites. The semifinal winners advance to a championship game (3rd BCS site). The losers would advance to a consolation game (4th BCS site). The semifinals, championship, and consolation games would rotate between BCS sites on an annual basis.

In 2007, with this system, the teams involved would have been the conference champions (OSU, LSU, VaTech, Oklahoma, USC, West Va) and the next highest ranked teams, in the top 8 (Georgia and Missouri). Teams would be seeded according to final BCS ranking. The first round of this playoff and bracket would have looked like this for the past few seasons:

2007 season:

West Virginia @ Ohio State
Georgia @ Oklahoma

Missouri @ VaTech
USC @ LSU

2006 season (michigan/florida controversy):

Wake Forest @ Ohio State
USC @ LSU

Louisville @ Michigan
Oklahoma @ Florida

2005 season (USC/Texas game)

Florida State @ USC
Notre Dame @ Ohio State

Georgia @ Penn State
West Virginia @ Texas

2004 season (Auburn gets snubbed despite going 12-0)

Pittsburgh @ USC
Utah @ Texas

VaTech @ Auburn
Michigan @ Oklahoma

2003 season (USC was AP, Coaches#1 but left out by BCS; BCS was determined largely by computers at this time)

Kansas State @ Oklahoma
Ohio State @ Michigan

Florida State @ USC
Miami @ LSU

Of course, Kansas gets left out of the party in 2007, Boise State in 2006, Oregon in 2005, Cal in 2004, and Texas in 2003, but again, some team will always feel jilted in any system where only a finite number of teams are invited to play. Only two teams from the same conference realistically can be in the tournament in any given year in this system, adding even more importance to the regular season. This is why you MUST win your conference to guarantee your place. Additionally, some people might say that this system is unfair to mid-majors. Teams from the WAC, MWC, SunBelt, and MAC can get to the dance if they schedule and defeat hard, OOC foes from major conferences and dominate their conference slate (i.e. Utah in 2004). The one anomaly above is the 2003 season, where Oklahoma got routed in the Big 12 championship game 35-7 by Kansas State and still was ranked #1 in the final BCS standings. In this playoff system with the 2003 BCS system used for seeding, Kansas State would have to travel to Oklahoma again in the first round after soundly smacking them in the Big 12 Championship. Of course, the BCS at that time was heavily based on esoteric computer rankings and not as much as on the human polls as it is at the present time. Surely, with today's BCS emphasis on human polls, those standings would have changed considerably and Oklahoma certainly would not have been ranked #1 after such a disastrous conclusion to the regular season.

Winning your conference gets you in but it might not necessarily earn you a home game or a favorable matchup in the first round. Seeding is based on BCS rankings, which essentially is based on the polls, so a conference champion would not necessarily be assured a home game in the first round. In West Virginia's case, their season-ending loss to Pittsburgh would send them to the Horseshoe in December for a first round matchup with the Buckeyes in 2007, rather than hosting a first round game in Morgantown. USC, which lost two games (one to Stanford), would have to travel to Death Valley to take on LSU. This might seem like a terribly tough matchup in the first round, but both of these teams had two losses and the BCS ranked them where they ranked them. No system is perfect, but anything is better than what we have right now.

This analysis holds even more true in 2006. Wake Forest won a weak ACC conference and would have to travel to Columbus in the first round. USC, the Pac-10 champion who lost to UCLA in the 2006 season finale, would have to travel to LSU, who didn't even win the SEC. Similarly, Louisville and Oklahoma would have tough opening round matchups with Michigan and Florida.

Bottom line: A team that has an impressive season is rewarded with a home game in their home stadium with the most favorable matchup possible. In college football, home field advantage is paramount. Imagine if an SEC team had to play in Happy Valley or the Horseshoe in December, or the converse of a Big Ten squad having to go the Swamp or Death Valley.

Hopefully this would encourage teams to schedule competitive, out of conference games. If a team won such a game, they could elevate their ranking and seeding in the BCS rankings. If they lose such a game, they could still get into the playoff by winning their conference. Unlike the current system, there would be little to lose and much to gain by scheduling tough OOC foes. Tradition is preserved and the importance of the regular season, if anything, is increased.

BCS involvement, unfortunately, is critical. Bowl administrators and TV executives are probably fearful that they would lose money in this system, but in reality they should clamor for this playoff system. Right now, too many teams are included the BCS and the quality of games is diluted. ABC had excellent foresight when they decided not to renew their contract with the BCS. There have been only two competitive games in the past two years (boise state/OU and kansas/VT) in this current 5-game format. Ratings have been abysmal for the other games, probably because many of these matchups lack national appeal and because there is rampant resentment towards the current BCS system. In this proposed playoff system, every BCS game matters (with the exception of the consolation game, although that might attract more viewers than current BCS pairings). In this system, three BCS playoff games have national title implications, not just one, and the consolation game would match up two of the top four teams in the country. The championship, consolation game, and semifinals would rotate through all four BCS sites. You would have to believe these games that determine college football's national title would earn higher ratings than Kansas/VT or Wake Forest/Louisville.

Colts fan with a buckeye player question

Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:10:41 -0000

Hi there. First off id like to congratulate your team on a great season and it was a shame that you guys didnt win the national title. im sure there will be plenty more opportunities with the fine program this school runs.

My question to you buckeye fans is the potential of recently drafted receiver Roy Hall. He is currently on IR and when he was healthy was the gunner on punt coverage. What can he bring to the table? Is he better suited as a WR or TE? Your response is greatly appreciated.

Bad Boeckman

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 17:35:49 -0000

THE story of the first half, when the game was within reach.

Pretty much every media outlet is reporting/concluding that once again the osu offensive line was dominated by an sec defensive line. THe story line goes that boeckman was pressured, he was harassed, he wasnt given enough time. Well...yes, in the second half, with the Bucks down by 2 or 3 touchdowns and time winding down, the tigers were able to bring more heat. But in the first half, with the game in the balance, Boeckman had time. Was there pressure in the first half as well? Of course, but it was sporadic and often came via the blitz. The two pass plays immediately prior to the first field goal epitomized Boeckman's performance. He drops back, looks around briefly, sees no one open and takes off running while the pocket is still clean. THE pocket was still clean!!! Boeckman had happy feet the whole night; as if he didnt trust his protection; as if he was afraid to get hit. Contrast that with matt flynn's performance. You know, lost in this love fest for SEC defensive speed is the fact that the Buckeye defense got in flynn's face as well. But he just stood in there and threw strikes. Flynn played like a leader; Boeckman played and looked a little scared.

A few other poiints:
The dropped td by robiskie was the single play of the game. Huge, huge , huge. Instead of the Bucks retaking the lead and the momentum, it opened the door to the game getting out of hand.
Honorable mention goes to the roughing the punter penalty. Getting the ball back at the start of the 2nd half down by 2 scores means you can still use the original gameplan and pound at them with Beanie. But getting the ball several minutes later down by 3 scores...oh,boy.
Great, great great performance by beanie wasted by the inefficiency of the passing offense.

Can You Feel It?

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 00:46:28 -0000

Can you feel it? In just about 24 hours from now the Buckeyes and Tigers will be playing for the BCS National Championship. There are only a few more articles to read, pictures to look at, tapes of old games to watch, and analysis to review.

Our beloved Buckeyes will take the field, not as a team out to avenge last years loss but rather as a team that can become legendary at a legendary program. They will play with the backing of an University, City and State and a legion of loyal supporters around the country. They will play for honor bestowed by the media. But more importantly they will play for each other. Each man playing for the man beside him, for the team mate on the side line and their coaches.

Should they prevail Monday night I will be humbly proud of them. Should the Bucks not complete this mission I will still be proud of them for they are The Ohio State University. Can you feel it? Go Bucks!!

O-H-

Ohio State's offensive line has plenty to prove

Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:04:16 -0000

I'm trying hard to not hate you guys but it's not going real well.

http://www.cornnation.com/storyonly/2008/1/5/102416/2186

Lee Corso made the comment that the Buckeyes have the best offensive line in the nation. I thought it was a stupid comment when he made it, and went back and looked at the stats.

I was right.

Good luck Monday.

Which Boeckman

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 17:41:34 -0000

Todd Boeckman's play will be the X factor in the title game.

When boeckman has been good, he has looked like a plausible future nfl qb. When he has been bad (2nd half Purdue and MSU, all of Ill and Mich),...oh,boy. If the Bucks are going to have a shot Monday night, good boeckman has to show up. More specifically, boeckman has to outplay matt flynn for the bucks to win. lsu can get by with a so-so game from flynn because their power rushing attack will have success against the relatively vulnerable middle of the osu defensive line. penn state and illinois had tremendous success running up the middle on osu, and lsu's o-line and backs are far better. On hte other hand, you can bet that with a healthy dorsey, the lsu defensive middle will be quite stout, and they will definitely be keying on beanie. Stopping Beanie is going to be lsu's primary focus on defense from the outset. Boeckman has to play well in order to provide beanie with breathing room, which in turn will help the passing game. But it must start with boeckman. Furthermore, I believe the lsu back 7 is overrated and eminently beatable. boeckman has to make proper reads and good mechanically sound throws. I think the bucks have to come out throwing and establish the pass first.

Looking for OSU Baseball fans in the dead of winter

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 01:20:51 -0000

Hi--

my name is Erik, I am an intern working on a knowledge-based project with a Major League club. Simply put, we are trying to find baseball experts - thoughtful baseball people -who are interested in sharing their evaluations of D1 players with us. We have a website in the works which will make it very easy for you to share your well-informed opinions with us. The results of the collaboration will be available free to all that are interested. I would like to know if any baseball people among you would be willing to share your evaluations of some players defensive abilities with us during the upcoming 2008 season. Email me if you would be interested and I can explain more @ eriknmanning@gmail.com.

Thanks,

Erik

Talking Points for Buckeye Fans

capnhistory — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 17:01:59 -0000

I thought you might enjoy the following. It is a leaked memo from the Columbus, OH offices of the Hayes-Tressel Institute on College Football Freedom (the only political think-tank devoted to studying BCS politics). Apparently it outlines the points and factoids they want to spread through the media during the run up to Ohio State's game with LSU for the BCS championship. I don't know if I agree with all of them, but take them for what they are and see if you can use them.

To: All Hayes-Tressel staff and affiliated personnel at the OSU Sports Information Department
From: The Senior Fellows
Our Ohio State Buckeyes will once again end their season playing for the college football national championship, this is obviously a fantastic opportunity to promote the football program, university, and state we love. However partisans from other teams/conferences will doubtlessly be using the time leading up to the title game to senselessly attack Tressel and his players. I guess it's just another case of Buckeye Derangement Syndrome. So to counter all of that anti-OSU spin, please refer to the following talking points whenever make media appearances, speaking to journalists, or engaging in public debates with "fans" of other teams. Remember controlling the main-stream media agenda over the next several weeks is a valuable part of helping out our Buckeyes.

*A suggested opening joke: The good thing about the bowl season is that at least we know that Number One and Number Two can't BOTH lose their next game. (If speaking with a Buckeye friendly or LSU unfriendly audience use this follow-up.) Though if the championship game goes into overtime, then Coach Miles woul tell you that niether team lost.

*Remember playing the expectations game will be crucial to influencing the game. We want the Tigers over confident and the Buckeyes feeling disrespected.

*Focus on how much of a CHALLENGE this game will be, due to our history against the SEC, struggles last year, long lay-off, etc.

*Mention that as a team that had to rise up from No. 11 in the preseason AP poll, it's asking a lot from us to beat the team that was ranked in the top two in the preseason and finished in the top two.

*When the topic of our schedule, especially out of conference arises, say that we are disappointed we couldn't play more accomplished teams outside of the Big Ten.

*You may have to stress that Ohio State has made a habit of scheduling top level opponents out of conference (e.g. Texas in the past , USC and Oklahoma in the future).

*While we don't pretend the teams we played this year have been very successful, we are always looking for challenging games (such as our next game against LSU), because good games against good opponents are part of what makes Ohio State football great.

*Do not accept any arguments that this schedule was selected to give OSU any easy path to a championship. Rebut such statements with firm arguments that schedules are made up far in advance and that no one could have foreseen how well either Ohio State or their opponents would have been this season. To argue otherwise is to ignore the plane realities of how schedules work.

*Make clear that Ohio State isn't in the championship game because our opponents had down years. The Buckeyes are playing for the championship because other contenders had down years.

*Grant them that we may have overachieved, but with so many other teams UNDERACHIEVING, the best team in the country may very well be one that overachieved. Why should a team that has played well all season be denied a chance to be champions when so many others have not?

*Note that we were tested IN CONFERENCE and point to examples of teams that weren't, such as Kansas, or Southern California, which has played fewer teams with winning records than we have this year, but was still being called the BEST TEAM in the country by some.

*Mention that if strength of schedule really mattered then Virginia Tech (3rd toughest schedule according to NCAA) would be more deserving of a spot in the championship game than LSU (24th toughest schedule according to the NCAA).

*POSSIBLE FOLLOW-UP: No other teams are more deserving than Ohio State because none have superior record and/or a MAJOR conference championship.

*Be firm that a tougher schedule does not trump a better win-loss record, otherwise Illinois would deserve a title shot more than LSU, Oklahoma, Georgia, or Missouri.

*On the topic of Les Miles state that we RESPECT him as a coach very much, and that we are proud that another coach from the Buckeye state (Miles was born in Elyria, Ohio) is showing what football is supposed to be to states like Oklahoma and Louisiana that don't have the heritage of football we have in Ohio. (If in front of an OSU friendly audience, also mention that Treseel has already bested Miles before in the 2004 Alamo Bowl).

*If given the opportunity also mention that Bob Stoops, Gary Pinkel, Urban Meyer, and Ron Zook are all from Ohio originally and have all lead teams from other states into the top 15 of the BCS rankings.

*BOTTOM LINE: Follow Coach Tressel's lead. We are HUMBLED and HONORED to have this chance to play. Let them think that we don't expect to win so that way the victory can be a 2002 Fiesta Bowl affirmation and any possible defeat cannot be labeled a 2006 BCS Championship Game embarrassment.

Use these talking points whenever possible, and we should get the media coverage we want.

GO BUCKS!

What might have been?

capnhistory — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 16:33:12 -0000

Does anyone else have the sinking suspicion that if Ohio State wasn't No. 1 they wouldn't be in the championship game at all? My brother first proposed this to me, and I dismissed it at first. After looking into my What-If? Machine a few times though, I am starting to see the merit in what he said.

Now in this situation there would be two one loss teams (Ohio State and whatever hypothetical team we are putting in here) and all of the two loss teams "with legitimate arguments to play for the title" vying for the top two spots. If you say another team in contention finishes with just one loss and everything else stays the same, it's almost certain that the poll voters would make them number one instead of OSU. It seems to me that, if forced to pick between the one loss Buckeyes and a two loss anybody else for the second championship slot, the voters would find some excuse to put any team among the two loss contenders in at number 2 over OSU. In fact its pretty easy to imagine those excuses based on what they've been saying about the other contenders and given the amount of disrespect the Bucks have seen this season.

LSU: "Those losses both came in triple-overtime. It's like Les Miles said, they pretty much count as ties."

Oklahoma: "C'mon they beat No. 1 Missouri by three touchdowns, and they have that win over Texas. That's two which are better than anything Ohio State has on their resume."

Georgia: "We all know they deserved to win the SEC East. Plus they are playing better football than almost anyone else."

West Virginia: "They don't lose those games if Pat White isn't hurt, and that offense would be fun to watch in the title game."

USC: "Who cares that they lost to Stanford? They are finally playing like we expected they should, which means are preseason poll was right all along, which means they deserve to play for the championship, because it's what we we've been hoping for since August."

Etc cetera, et cetera, et cetera...

The problem for OSU would be that they would lose any and all tie breakers, because most of the voters believe Big Ten=Worst Conference EVAR! and that 41-14 says more about this team than a 23-2 record over the last 2 seasons. Back in reality, with the season ending losses by Mizzou and WVU, the voter pretty much had to throw their hands up and go with the best record left among the major teams. So a soft, resigned consensus formed around Ohio State being the most deserving team at the end of the regular season. I firmly believe that without the safety of being No. 1, Ohio State would have been henpecked down to being No. 3 by all the doubters and nay-sayers. Thankfully that didn't come to pass and the voters were forced to acknowledge the Buckeyes accomplishments this season. Still I see all this negative sentiment against Ohio State, and I wonder about what might have been?

What do you think?

Disrespect and Media Ignorance

gahnki — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 23:12:40 -0000

I'm creating this diary for anyone to post an article or website that completely disrespects the Buckeyes leading up to January 7th.

Check this joke of an article by MSNBC.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22072610/

I'm embracing the whole world hates us mentality, because it is largely true. Let's piss off the world. Go Bucks!

I'll be back soon

Sean — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:30:19 -0000

No, I'm not gone. I just took a week off to kinda relax and recharge, then started getting buried under month-end stuff at work. The real world is overrated. I should have a post up yet this week, then things'll be back to normal.

Not that I expect most of you have noticed, anyway. Pfef's done a nice job of holding things down in my absence.

Dream College Football Scenario

Wed, 28 Nov 2007 21:09:54 -0000

Since everyone is always complaining about this conference vs another conference, here is a solution to everyone's problems (not that it would ever happen of course, $$ rule college football of course).

Currently there are 66 BCS teams (ACC-12, Big12-12, BigEast-8, Big10-11, Pac10-10, SEC-12, Notre Dame) and 54 non BCS schools (ConfUSA-12, Ind-3, MAC-13, MWC-9, SunBelt-8, WAC-9).

What needs to be done is to create two divisions, 60 BCS and 60 non-BCS. Each division would then be split into 6 conferences. Basically, what you would have is a major league and a minor league.

ACC - ConfUSA
Big East - New Conference "Metro" (better name?)
Big 12 - MWC
Big 10 - MAC
Pac 10 - WAC
Sec - SunBelt

Of course this would require 6 current BCS schools to lose their "status". No real easy way to do this, but since 1990, the teams that are continuously bad, have to go. See ya Duke, Vandy, Iowa St, Rutgers, Kentucky, and Baylor (worst winning % since 1990). Then we would need some reshuffling to get all conferences to 10. Moving Notre Dame, Penn St and Boston College to the Big East would give all 6 conferences 10 teams each. The new conferences now look like this:

ACC: Clemson, Wake, Fla St, Maryland, NC St, VA Tech, Virginia, GA Tech, NC, Miami FL
Big12: Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, Kansas St, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Okla St
Big East: West Virginia, UConn, Cincinnati, South Florida, Louisville, Pitt, Syracuse, Penn St, Notre Dame, Boston College
Big10: Ohio St, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Mich St, Purdue, Northwestern, Minnesota
Pac10: USC, ASU, Oregon, Oregon St, UCLA, Arizona, Cal, Washington, Wash St, Stanford
SEC: Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina, LSU, Auburn, Arkansas, Miss St, Alabama, Ole Miss

Of course, shifting the "minor league" conferences would be needed as well.

ACC partner league, ConfUSA: Duke (ex-ACC), East Carolina, Southern Miss, Tulsa, Houston, Rice, SMU, UCF, FAU (ex-SunBelt), FIU (ex-SunBelt)

Big 12 partner league, MWC: Baylor (ex-Big12), BYU, Air Force, Utah, TCU, Colorado St, North Texas (ex-SunBelt), UTEP (ex-ConfUSA), Utah St (ex-WAC), New Mexico St (ex-WAC)

Big East partner league, "Metro": Rutgers (ex-BigEast), Navy (ex-Ind), Army (ex-Ind), Western Kentucky (ex-Ind), Kentucky (ex-SEC), Ball St (ex-MAC), Temple (ex-MAC), Northern Illinois (ex-MAC), Buffalo (ex-MAC)

Big 10 partner league, MAC: Iowa St (ex-Big12), Bowling Green, Miami OH, Ohio U, Akron, Kent St, Central Michigan, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, Toledo

Pac 10 partner league, WAC: Hawaii, Boise St, Fresno St, San Jose St, Nevada, Idaho, UNLV (ex-MWC), San Diego St (ex-MWC), New Mexico (ex-MWC), Wyoming (ex-MWC)

SEC partner league, SunBelt: Vandy (ex-SEC), Middle Tenn St, Ark St, Troy, LA-Monroe, LA-Lafayette, Memphis (ex-ConfUSA), UAB (ex-ConfUSA), Tulane (ex-ConfUSA), LA Tech (ex-MWC)

Most of the shifting in the partner leagues was to promote inter-sectional rivalries. Tried to keep most of the like state teams together whenever possible.

Now to the fun part, scheduling. Now that each conference has 10 teams, they can play every team in the conference once EVERY year. No need for conference championship games anymore. A winner would be determined on the field by playing everyone.

This would allow each team three OOC games. First OOC game would be somebody from the partner league, preferably 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, etc. Or a rotational system to play each partner league team once every nine years.

Second OOC game would need to be another BCS conference. Again, preferably 1 vs 1, 2 vs 2, etc. All conferences would rotate, similar to how the NFL does AFC/NFC matchups. Each conference would face the each BCS team once every five years.

Third OOC could be reserved for rivalry matchups (USC-ND, UF-FSU, etc), or a second partner league team. If a FCS team (1-AA) is used as the third OOC game, they must have been in the FCS playoffs the previous two seasons, no dregs from FCS allowed.

Finally, the final tweak everyone has been waiting for. At the end of each year, the worst team from each BCS Conference would swap out into the partner conference for that conference's best team. Similar to how Europe does their shifting between divisions each year. This would ensure fresh blood every year. Imagine how tough some of those games would be.

As for the postseason, I am a proponent of instituting a playoff, just like the FCS does. All 12 conference winners qualify plus 4 at large teams. A BCS type ranking system would be used to determine the seeding process. First games would essentially replace current conference games, played the second week of December. Winners move on to round of 8, played third week of December. Final 4 teams play in 2 of the BCS games, the weekend after Jan 1st on a Friday nite. Championship game played the following Fri nite. The BCS bowls not used in the rotation, can invite 2nd place teams from non playoff teams. Lesser bowls can still invite SEC #4, Big12 #3 if needed, etc.

Voila, national champ.

Now I know the system isn't perfect. A lot of shifting around. Some rivalry matchups would disappear. But I think a lot of better football would be played. And a true champion would be played on the field.

What do you think?

Vote for Ted Ginn for Rookie of Week!!

Tue, 20 Nov 2007 21:10:26 -0000

Hey guys,

I'm checking in from The Phinsider, which is SB Nation's Miami Dolphins blog. The reason I've stopped by is simple. I'm sure you Buckeye fans still love Ted Ginn, so I'm requesting your help. He's up for the Rookie if the Week award and the award is voted on by the fans. Just go to this link on NFL.com and cast your vote for Ginn. It doesn't take any signing up for anything. It takes like 1 minute, tops!

Oh, and if you want another reason to do this, here it is: Ginn is in 2nd in the voting now, only training Michigan alum David Harris!!

Motivated to vote now? Just go to this link and place your vote!

Thanks, guys!!

Henton Pleads Guilty to Loitering

Sean — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 03:43:35 -0000

Loitering for solicitation, actually (HT: Buckeye Commentary). I gotta say, even that seems a little harsh:

A tape released by police showed Henton's arrest in the area of High Street and Sixth Avenue.

"You looking to party?" the undercover officer asked.

"Where are you partying?" Henton allegedly asked.

That could be construed as soliciting a prostitute, but it could also be seen as asking a scantily clad young woman what party she's headed to. Tough to tell without more context, but either way, that doesn't sound like the sort of behavior cops should be worrying about here in Columbus. Get my XBox 360 back, then focus on arresting guys for asking about parties.

Strength of schedule...

Sat, 10 Nov 2007 05:24:22 -0000

Lots of people say that OSU has not played enough top teams to deserve a #1. Here is a web site that uses a BCS method to rank teams using wins and strength of schedule:
PlayWhatIf.com

It's pretty cool. You can predict future games or change past games, then see the effects on rankings. It looks like Oregon needs to lose a game for OSU to end up #1 or #2

CHOOSE YOUR QUARTERBACK(S).

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 05:18:19 -0000

"..if anyone tells you he knows who will win the job, he's lying."

Forgive me if the information in this story is nothing new to any Oval readers. (I have just started poking around and trying to figure out who Tressel has available to replace all of his newly-minted Sunday warriors.)

I thought QB might be the first and best place to look in order to learn a little bit about the '07 Bucks. Didja know that even if we were to hypothetically exclude Antonio Henton and Joe Bauserman from the top of the depth chart, Todd Boeckman and Rob Schoenhoft would still leave us with nearly 500 pounds (and 13 feet) of quarterback to choose from?

Those are some big fellas.

How big is the controversy?

Anyone?