How can people knock Ohio State's schedule and failure in recent Bowl Games?

**Thunder Dan** · 08-11-2008

and not even mention Oklahoma? Check out this schedule, and they got killed by USC and West Virginia in recent bowl games, and oh yeah, lost to Boise State.

08/30/08 vs. Chattanooga TV Norman 6:00 PM CT
09/06/08 vs. Cincinnati TV Norman 2:30 PM CT
09/13/08 at Washington TV Seattle, Wash. 6:45 PM CT
09/27/08 vs. TCU TV Norman TBA
10/04/08 at Baylor TV Waco, Texas TBA
10/11/08 vs. Texas TV Dallas, Texas 11:00 AM CT
10/18/08 vs. Kansas TV Norman TBA
10/25/08 at Kansas State TV Manhattan, Kan. TBA
11/01/08 vs. Nebraska TV Norman TBA
11/08/08 at Texas A&M TV College Station, Texas TBA
11/22/08 vs. Texas Tech TV Norman TBA
11/29/08 at Oklahoma State TV Stillwater, Okla. TBA
12/06/08 Big 12 Championship TV Kansas City, Mo. TBA

**DMX7** · 08-11-2008

Oklahoma has taken some heat but their championship loss was like 4 years ago and Boise State just played a game for the ages. Ohio State has been playing lame duck Big 10 schedules and been murdered in the previous two championship games. I don't think most people want to see them play in the championship game this year, that's all. I'm not one of those people though, I don't have a problem with them especially since they are playing a nice non-conference game this year with USC which is more than you can say about Texas.

**RonMexico** · 08-11-2008

Oklahoma has a cupcake schedule this year again, which will put them in the BCS again probably.

**MajorMike** · 08-11-2008

I get what you are talking about Dan (...hey, isn't Dan M...). I think you must see it as a regional thing. I know uo gets destroyed in local media about all that in this area. (Why doesn't Stoops eat cereal? Because he can't keep from losing his Bowl)

uo got the same thing right after and it died down over time. Ohio has done it the last couple years and I would expect it to wane somewhat.

Additionally, media outlets really like uo; just one of those things. In a recent article ranking the B12 non-conf schedules, they rated uo's as "Good" with a combined 2007 record of 24-26 highlighting the only away game @ 4-9 UDub, while rating OSU's "Bad" with a combined 2007 record of 27-21 highlighting the only away game @ 5-7 Wazzu.

To be honest, 3 of your 4 are bad (yes we play Troy, too) but Y'town and Ohio?

Furthermore... uo plays in the toughest division in all of football plus will play vs Top 15 KU in conf AND a B12 game if they get there. If Mizzou gets there, this would put uo playing 2 Top 10s, 2 Top 20s plus @ Stillwater & @ College Station.

**RonMexico** · 08-11-2008

please refrain from lumping Stillwater and College Station together...

If OU bought it in the last 2 National Championship games, there would be as much national hate against them. Then again, they don't call themselves "The University of Oklahoma."

**Thunder Dan** · 08-11-2008

Originally Posted by RonMexico

please refrain from lumping Stillwater and College Station together...

If OU bought it in the last 2 National Championship games, there would be as much national hate against them. Then again, they don't call themselves "The University of Oklahoma."

Ohio State has won 3 BCS games since 2002 though, Oklahoma can't say that

**RonMexico** · 08-11-2008

Originally Posted by Thunder Dan

Ohio State has won 3 BCS games since 2002 though, Oklahoma can't say that

I concur. We all hated it when Jason White won the Heisman because he had 3 legit NFL receivers on his team, but no arm at all.

The fact remains that Oklahoma was not in 2 straight BCS le game beatdowns, so they aren't going to garner the national distaste that OSU has right now. They were in 2 Fiesta Bowl beatdowns, which led WVU to hire their interim coach full-time and Chris Petersen to get mentioned as a candidate for every major head-coaching vacancy from here on out until he leaves Boise State. If OU gets to another BCS game and falters this year, some people are going to look a little closer at Stoops and that non-conference schedule.

I'm not saying I thought LSU should have been in the le game last year either just because they won the SEC le and Les Miles proclaimed that they were "undefeated in regulation." I also don't think Missouri should have been snubbed for the BCS after making it to the Big 12 Championship game.

Still, I don't think anyone can dislike OSU as much as they hate USC and how much Pete Carroll gets away with over there, so I think you have that going for you. It's tough to be on top and Tressel runs a top notch program, so there's going to be some jealousy. I was also in New Orleans in January and I'll say that most OSU fans were very gracious in defeat, but there were a couple that got out of hand. I would never be able to say the same thing about USC fans... I mean, I'm a Texas A&M fan and I was jumping up and down when Vince Young jogged into the end zone to put them in the lead in '06. I also laughed when Pete Carroll was so flustered that he called a timeout on the conv. attempt (and the famous "Pete Carroll Face" appeared). I also laughed when Matt Leinart said "I still think we're the better team" and this is the guy I have to cheer for on Sundays as an Arizona Cardinals fan.

Plain and simple - OSU has received hate over the past 2 years because the Big 10 is viewed as "down," they've played easier schedules over the past couple of years, and they got destroyed by SEC teams in the le games. If they go undefeated this year after with this beefier non-conf sched, then there will be little debate from a lot of people across the country. I'm honestly cheering for them to beat USC because I think Tressel has good kids and keeps them in line out there, while USC is full of classless individuals who taunt opponents during bowl games and receive free mansions for their families (sorry, "allegedly"). People should respect Jim Tressel more than they do Pete Carroll, but like John Edwards, I hope ole Pete is caught real soon, because that will be a wonderful collapse...

**j-6** · 08-11-2008

Laugh all you want, but up-and-comer Cincinnati, Jake Locker and U-Dub (playing at Qwest in Seattle), and perennial bowl program TCU (who beat them in 05) isn't an easy stretch of games for anyone. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if the Sooners lose one of those three, slap Baylor, and have any hope at a national le on the line when OU rolls into Dallas for the Shootout.

edit after reading Ronnie's post - People rag on tOSU because there's some lame national perception that they are slow, white, and boring while the two SEC teams they lost to gets to be fast, black, and action-packed. That 0-3 bowl record to SEC squads under Tressel doesn't help either. Maybe when Beanie gets national fellation this season you'll find redemption.

**RonMexico** · 08-11-2008

The weakest sched is Tech with 2 FCS teams on there.

**MajorMike** · 08-11-2008

uo will kill all 3 opps. OSU plays Wazzu at Qwest as well.

Tulsa beat uo a few years ago but I wouldn't consider them a tough opponent, either.

**K-State Spur** · 08-11-2008

The question should be why Bill Snyder and KSU got drilled over their schedule for years, but many traditional powers are given a pass.

**Thunder Dan** · 08-11-2008

Originally Posted by CaptMike

uo will kill all 3 opps. OSU plays Wazzu at Qwest as well.

Tulsa beat uo a few years ago but I wouldn't consider them a tough opponent, either.

Nobody cares about Oklahoma State enough to worry about who they play.

**Thunder Dan** · 08-11-2008

Originally Posted by RonMexico

I concur. We all hated it when Jason White won the Heisman because he had 3 legit NFL receivers on his team, but no arm at all.

The fact remains that Oklahoma was not in 2 straight BCS le game beatdowns, so they aren't going to garner the national distaste that OSU has right now. They were in 2 Fiesta Bowl beatdowns, which led WVU to hire their interim coach full-time and Chris Petersen to get mentioned as a candidate for every major head-coaching vacancy from here on out until he leaves Boise State. If OU gets to another BCS game and falters this year, some people are going to look a little closer at Stoops and that non-conference schedule.

I'm not saying I thought LSU should have been in the le game last year either just because they won the SEC le and Les Miles proclaimed that they were "undefeated in regulation." I also don't think Missouri should have been snubbed for the BCS after making it to the Big 12 Championship game.

Still, I don't think anyone can dislike OSU as much as they hate USC and how much Pete Carroll gets away with over there, so I think you have that going for you. It's tough to be on top and Tressel runs a top notch program, so there's going to be some jealousy. I was also in New Orleans in January and I'll say that most OSU fans were very gracious in defeat, but there were a couple that got out of hand. I would never be able to say the same thing about USC fans... I mean, I'm a Texas A&M fan and I was jumping up and down when Vince Young jogged into the end zone to put them in the lead in '06. I also laughed when Pete Carroll was so flustered that he called a timeout on the conv. attempt (and the famous "Pete Carroll Face" appeared). I also laughed when Matt Leinart said "I still think we're the better team" and this is the guy I have to cheer for on Sundays as an Arizona Cardinals fan.

Plain and simple - OSU has received hate over the past 2 years because the Big 10 is viewed as "down," they've played easier schedules over the past couple of years, and they got destroyed by SEC teams in the le games. If they go undefeated this year after with this beefier non-conf sched, then there will be little debate from a lot of people across the country. I'm honestly cheering for them to beat USC because I think Tressel has good kids and keeps them in line out there, while USC is full of classless individuals who taunt opponents during bowl games and receive free mansions for their families (sorry, "allegedly"). People should respect Jim Tressel more than they do Pete Carroll, but like John Edwards, I hope ole Pete is caught real soon, because that will be a wonderful collapse...

See last year nobody expected Ohio State to land in the BCS game. They lost a Heisman winner QB and had to replace 14 starters- I'm a big tOSU fan and even I expected them to lose 2-3 games. The problem is that they didn't, they played a easy OOC schedule, and the Big 10 teams all basically sucked. But it's not Ohio States fault the Big 10 sucks, and it's not their fault teams like WVU lost their way out of the BCS Game..or any other team. They were a victim of cir stance where they had a young team that wasn't ready to play in that game, ended up losing, and I'm afraid that hurt their chances at getting this years team into the BCS Game when they are actually a really good team. I just read these articles about how Georgia will play Oklahoma and how they will both beat out Ohio State if tOSU loses to USC- they forget to mention that Oklahoma is worse in bowl games than Ohio State is.

I just think that the 2006 team was over confident and expected to walk into a BCS Championship. Showed up to the game over weight, throwing up on the sidelines...all that, and they got killed

I think the 2007 team was just a really green team that had all the dominoes fall right for them to get into the game- but were overmatched.

I fear the 2008 team will get written off because of the last 2 years when on paper, this is the best Ohio State team since 1997- and is it fair? I don't know, but if you are going to crucify one team, you have to be fair.

**Spuradicator** · 08-11-2008

IMO I think Ohio State is going to smash this year, they were green last year, but have like what 17 or 18 returning starters.

**RonMexico** · 08-12-2008

Public perception is the reality right now. Like I said, if they lose only to USC or go undefeated and there are no other deserving 1-loss teams out there, then I think they have a definite argument to make it to the game this year. If they win the BCS le, then it would silence all doubters. So, if they are as good as you claim this year, then they should be able to back it up on the field because the voters and the computer should give them the chance.

However, don't forget about the heartbreak I endured in the 1997 Rose Bowl at the hands of Joe Germaine...