National Signing Day for college football is just a few days away as coaches try to sway the last of the uncommitted recruits, and to keep the ones that other schools are going after. Last year, there was a big deal made when Urban Meyer came in after the worst football season in over a century for the Buckeyes and started calling recruits that changed their commitments after Jim Tressel resigned and the losing season that followed. Many Big Ten coaches were upset over what they felt was a "gentlemen's agreement" that was supposedly in force under Jim Tressel that you wouldn't go after another school's committed recruit.
Most notably, Urban Meyer convinced four star offensive tackle Kyle Dodson to recommit to Ohio State after he had chosen to switch his commitment to Wisconsin after the fallout from the Tatgate fiasco. This really irked former Badgers head coach Brett Beliema who accused Meyer of using "illegal recruiting tactics" during an interview with the media. Meyer also got five star defensive end Noah Spence in this time, when many people felt he was going to attend Penn State.
Ohio State's 2013 recruiting class is currently ranked #4 overall on Scout.com and ESPN. Scout.com has Michigan ranked #1, while ESPN has them currently ranked #5 as I type this blog post. Ohio State currently has 22 commitments in this class.
The class currently has three 5 star recruits, fourteen 4 star recruits, and five 3 star recruits (ranking provided by Scout.com). Also on Scout's website, only two Big Ten schools are ranked in the top 25 (Ohio State and Michigan). ESPN has three Big Ten schools in their top 25 (Penn State #25, Michigan #5, Ohio State #4).
There are only two soft verbals in the class. Trey Johnson, a 4 star OLB from Georgia; and Ezekiel Elliot, a 4 star RB from Missouri. These are the two that I am most worried about come National Signing Day because they are the most likely to be swayed to another school, and both are being rumored to possibly sign elsewhere on February 6th. And that's the thing about National Signing Day, nothing is official until they sign on that dotted line, tying themselves to Ohio State.
This will be the second consecutive Top 5 class for Urban Meyer at Ohio State as he brings in big talent to the Buckeyes. He plans to make this team in the image of an SEC team. Big and fast. This is the only way they will be able to defeat whichever SEC team they would face of they make the BCS National Championship Game. Meyer cut his teeth at Bowling Green and Utah, two schools that aren't exactly recruiting hotbeds. At Utah, he churned out a first overall draft pick in quarterback Alex Smith.
When he went to Florida from Utah, he had multiple top ten and top five recruiting classes. In this time he won two National Championships, two SEC titles (coinciding with the National Championships, three SEC West titles, and a Sugar Bowl. He produced many first round picks on both sides of the ball, including quarterback Tim Tebow.
Now there's no way to predict how this class will pan out in the end. But it's looking like it'll be damn good, making Ohio State a force to be reckoned with for years to come not only in the Big Ten but in the National Championship picture. O-H! I-O!
Monday, January 28, 2013
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Can the Buckeyes raise the crystal football next year?
This college football season ended in an all to familiar way...with an SEC team, Alabama for a third time under Nick Saban, winning the BCS National Championship Game. This one was in blowout fashion, which has often been a case...twice Ohio State has been on the receiving end if these beat downs, against Florida and LSU.
This year the team to get beat was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, to a score of 42-14. They couldn't stop Alabama. They got rolled by the Crimson Tide. This game gave a new meaning to "Roll Tide."
There was only one team to end the football season without a single blemish on their record, the Ohio State Buckeyes. They finished third in the final AP Poll. This positions them well to potentially play for that crystal football next year, as long as they stay unbeaten.
I expect them to start the season in the top five, most likely the top three. The only two teams I can see starting the season in front of them would be Alabama and Notre Dame.
The whole Ohio State finishing undefeated part shouldn't be all that hard. Here is what our schedule looks like next season:
08/31 vs. Buffalo Bulls
09/07 vs. San Diego State Aztecs
09/14 @ Cal Golden Bears
09/21 vs. Florida A&M Rattlers
09/28 vs. Wisconsin Badgers
10/05 @ Northwestern Wildcats
10/19 vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
10/26 vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
11/02 @ Purdue Boilermakers
11/16 @ Illinois Fighting Illini
11/23 vs. Indiana Hoosiers
11/30 @ TSUN Wolverines
That's not a very daunting schedule. Hopefully we won't have the hiccups we had this past season because we should be stomping teams like Purdue and Indiana. The two teams on the schedule that I think have a real chance of beating the Buckeyes are Northwestern and TSUN.
The big issue is, with this schedule lacking a team that's going to be in the top ten of the AP Poll going into, and likely throughout the season, will the Buckeyes be able to make it over a one-loss SEC team.
Now in the history of the BCS, a one-loss team from an automatic qualifying conference (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Pac 12, Big East) has never been awarded a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. However there was talk that if Ohio State had been bowl eligible this past season, they would have been jumped by a one-loss Alabama team because of the better strength of schedule. However we will never know, because Ohio State was not eligible for the BCS Poll due to their postseason ban last season.
If Ohio State runs the table and ends the season as the only undefeated team, I think they will play for the National Championship. You have to play the schedule in front of you. They can't help the fact that the Big Ten isn't as good as it was a few years ago. They can't do anything about the fact that Cal hasn't been all that great since Aaron Rodgers....and that's when Ohio State scheduled this home-and-home series, back when Cal looked like they'd be competing for Pac 10 titles. They can't help that the SEC is the darling conference of college football at the moment and their mid-tier teams get top-15 votes when they deserve to be in the 16-25 range.
Now if they go undefeated, and so do Notre Dame and an SEC team....then there's going to be a big controversy. I have no doubt that the SEC team will get into the game in that scenario.
The issue would be Ohio State and Notre Dame. The Irish schedule for the most part isn't all that daunting. They play TSUN, so do we. They play Michigan State and we don't, but I don't expect Sparty to be a factor in the Big Ten, and if they are we might play them in the Big Ten Championship Game. Notre Dame plays USC, but nobody knows how good they're going to be...they went from #1 to unranked this past season. However the two teams they play that could give them the edge over us would be the Oklahoma Sooners anf Stanford Cardinal. Those two teams are better than any team on the Ohio State schedule this season. That could give Notre Dame the edge.
I hope that scenario doesn't come to light. If it does, we'd be in the Rose Bowl. That's great...a BCS Bowl...the "Grandaddy of em All." Before the BCS, that's where any team from the Big Ten wanted to go, the premiere bowl game for the conference. Back then, if Ohio State was undefeated and won the Rose Bowl, they'd be claiming a National Championship. The BCS put a stop the that, there's only been one split National Championship since the BCS system came into place. Would a split National Championship be a possibility? Yeah, but also unlikely.
So who would I want in the BCS National Championship Game which takes place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California? I want an SEC team. If I had to pick one, I'd want Florida.
Why Florida? This SEC dominance started when Ohio State lost to Florida 41-14 in the 2006 BCS National Championship Game (decided the champion of the 2005 season). Since then the SEC has had a team win the BCS National Championship every year since then, once having both the participants being from the conference. Florida won twice (including the game against Ohio State), Alabama three times, LSU once, and Auburn once.
Nothing would be sweeter way to end the BCS era of college football by not only defeating an SEC team, but beating the team that started their run....with the head coach who started that run being the Buckeyes head coach. It would bring a sweet closure to the BCS era, giving the Buckeyes their second title in the era and a 2-2 record in the big game.
When will Ohio State lose again? Hopefully we won't be finding out the answer to this anytime soon.
This year the team to get beat was the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, to a score of 42-14. They couldn't stop Alabama. They got rolled by the Crimson Tide. This game gave a new meaning to "Roll Tide."
There was only one team to end the football season without a single blemish on their record, the Ohio State Buckeyes. They finished third in the final AP Poll. This positions them well to potentially play for that crystal football next year, as long as they stay unbeaten.
I expect them to start the season in the top five, most likely the top three. The only two teams I can see starting the season in front of them would be Alabama and Notre Dame.
The whole Ohio State finishing undefeated part shouldn't be all that hard. Here is what our schedule looks like next season:
08/31 vs. Buffalo Bulls
09/07 vs. San Diego State Aztecs
09/14 @ Cal Golden Bears
09/21 vs. Florida A&M Rattlers
09/28 vs. Wisconsin Badgers
10/05 @ Northwestern Wildcats
10/19 vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
10/26 vs. Penn State Nittany Lions
11/02 @ Purdue Boilermakers
11/16 @ Illinois Fighting Illini
11/23 vs. Indiana Hoosiers
11/30 @ TSUN Wolverines
That's not a very daunting schedule. Hopefully we won't have the hiccups we had this past season because we should be stomping teams like Purdue and Indiana. The two teams on the schedule that I think have a real chance of beating the Buckeyes are Northwestern and TSUN.
The big issue is, with this schedule lacking a team that's going to be in the top ten of the AP Poll going into, and likely throughout the season, will the Buckeyes be able to make it over a one-loss SEC team.
Now in the history of the BCS, a one-loss team from an automatic qualifying conference (Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Pac 12, Big East) has never been awarded a spot in the BCS National Championship Game. However there was talk that if Ohio State had been bowl eligible this past season, they would have been jumped by a one-loss Alabama team because of the better strength of schedule. However we will never know, because Ohio State was not eligible for the BCS Poll due to their postseason ban last season.
If Ohio State runs the table and ends the season as the only undefeated team, I think they will play for the National Championship. You have to play the schedule in front of you. They can't help the fact that the Big Ten isn't as good as it was a few years ago. They can't do anything about the fact that Cal hasn't been all that great since Aaron Rodgers....and that's when Ohio State scheduled this home-and-home series, back when Cal looked like they'd be competing for Pac 10 titles. They can't help that the SEC is the darling conference of college football at the moment and their mid-tier teams get top-15 votes when they deserve to be in the 16-25 range.
Now if they go undefeated, and so do Notre Dame and an SEC team....then there's going to be a big controversy. I have no doubt that the SEC team will get into the game in that scenario.
The issue would be Ohio State and Notre Dame. The Irish schedule for the most part isn't all that daunting. They play TSUN, so do we. They play Michigan State and we don't, but I don't expect Sparty to be a factor in the Big Ten, and if they are we might play them in the Big Ten Championship Game. Notre Dame plays USC, but nobody knows how good they're going to be...they went from #1 to unranked this past season. However the two teams they play that could give them the edge over us would be the Oklahoma Sooners anf Stanford Cardinal. Those two teams are better than any team on the Ohio State schedule this season. That could give Notre Dame the edge.
I hope that scenario doesn't come to light. If it does, we'd be in the Rose Bowl. That's great...a BCS Bowl...the "Grandaddy of em All." Before the BCS, that's where any team from the Big Ten wanted to go, the premiere bowl game for the conference. Back then, if Ohio State was undefeated and won the Rose Bowl, they'd be claiming a National Championship. The BCS put a stop the that, there's only been one split National Championship since the BCS system came into place. Would a split National Championship be a possibility? Yeah, but also unlikely.
So who would I want in the BCS National Championship Game which takes place at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California? I want an SEC team. If I had to pick one, I'd want Florida.
Why Florida? This SEC dominance started when Ohio State lost to Florida 41-14 in the 2006 BCS National Championship Game (decided the champion of the 2005 season). Since then the SEC has had a team win the BCS National Championship every year since then, once having both the participants being from the conference. Florida won twice (including the game against Ohio State), Alabama three times, LSU once, and Auburn once.
Nothing would be sweeter way to end the BCS era of college football by not only defeating an SEC team, but beating the team that started their run....with the head coach who started that run being the Buckeyes head coach. It would bring a sweet closure to the BCS era, giving the Buckeyes their second title in the era and a 2-2 record in the big game.
When will Ohio State lose again? Hopefully we won't be finding out the answer to this anytime soon.
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