Will Ohio State's Cupcake Schedule Allow Them to Steal Another National Championship?

Preface


Just for a different, albeit completely ridiculously moronic, point of view, I thought I'd share this pot-stirring post from BleacherReport.com

Please bear in mind this was written by an SEC fan who hides behind multiple alias names on several college football message boards, blogs, and forums all over the Internet.

To read the comments on the original, click on his name directly below.

You know you are relevant and that you matter in a big way when people like this guy write these types of "articles".

Here you go:

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Written by "Joe College" - B/R Resident Moron and Buckeye Hater


The 2002 national championship game is controversial because Ohio State won by a referee’s bad call. Not a missed call, a bad call.

It came four seconds after the game ended, while the Hurricanes were celebrating victory. If it were a blatant penalty in a big game, a flag would have been thrown immediately.

Miami fans agree it was a bad call. Ohio State fans rationalize that the referees missed a call earlier in the game when a Miami player stepped out of bounds.

Nobody is going to sort it out now. The tainted game is history.

The important question now is this: Will the Buckeyes steal another national championship with its 2010 schedule, which is loaded with cupcake teams to advance Ohio State into the title game?

The schedule is ideal for that to happen. Five out of their first six games are nothing more than scrimmages. They play Marshall, Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Illinois, and Indiana--hardly a murderers row.

They have a September 11 test with Miami, who was a third place team in the ACC conference last year. The Buckeyes don’t face their next real test until October 16 at Wisconsin.

While other teams are facing stiff competition before mid-October, Tressel has time to mold his team into a well-organized unit while not being challenged on the field.

He can develop Pryor from being a broken-play quarterback into solid decision-maker.

The lightweight schedule will help Ohio State avoid injuries, spend more time preparing for Wisconsin, and increase playing time for back-up players.

This amounts to an unfair advantage of extended practice time to prepare for the remainder of the season.

The inordinate amount of Buckeye preparation time is not limited to the Wisconsin game. Ohio State has Big Ten bottom-feeders Purdue and Minnesota, with a bye before the Penn State and Iowa games.

This gives the Buckeyes a huge advantage of three more weeks without serious opposition to prepare for the last two credible Big Ten opponents.

The absence of quality opposition, with lengthy periods between meaningful games, is a luxury top teams from the SEC and Big Twelve don’t enjoy.

Take preseason favorite Alabama. They play top-ten ranked Florida and middleweights Penn State, Arkansas, South Carolina and Ole Miss by mid-October.

Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and others also have strong challengers before mid-October.

These national championship contenders have greater tests earlier where they can sustain injuries and heartbreaking losses.

They have to expose their strategies against better competition, while Ohio State reveals little in its tune-up games.

The question remains: Is there sufficient competition on Ohio State’s schedule to warrant playing for the national championship? The answer becomes clearer with a team-by-team analysis of the Buckeye schedule.

Each opposing team will receive a grade of A to F, designating the level of opposition for the Buckeyes.


A = Heavyweight

B = Middleweight

C = Lightweight

D = Cupcake

F = Embarrassing


Marshall (7-6)

Marshall is from Conference USA with an unimpressive record. This Thursday night game is on ESPN and the Buckeyes will get great reviews as they manhandle the Thundering Herd.

Grade = D


Miami (9-4)

If Miami’s January bowl appearance is any indicator, it won’t be much of a match-up. Miami has some pronounced weaknesses that have to be corrected before this game, such as poor tackling, no running game, and an indecisive quarterback.

Grade = B-


Ohio (9-5)

Ohio State hasn’t lost to a Mid-American team in over 100 years. Grade D

Eastern Michigan (0-12)

Can you imagine paying $70 to see this game? It’s easy to feel sorry for the scalpers.

Grade = F


Illinois (3-9)

After this season, Illinois will be looking for a new coach.

Grade = D


Indiana (4-8)

Indiana hasn’t beaten Ohio State since 1985.

Grade = D


Wisconsin (10-3)

Wisconsin is ranked 85th out of 120 teams in terms of strength of schedule. It will be hard to tell how good they are before they play Ohio State. They have lost three in a row to the Buckeyes and haven’t been able to stop an inexperienced Pryor. What will they do against an experienced Pryor?

Grade = B-


Purdue (5-7)

Purdue is in for a beating by Ohio State this year. Enough said.

Grade = D


Minnesota (6-7)

Minnesota has only beaten Ohio State seven times in its' history.

Grade = D


Penn State (11-2)

Penn State will start out as a middleweight and take a pounding at Alabama and a couple of other games. They will be reduced to a lightweight by the time they meet the Buckeyes. They just don’t have the talent, especially at quarterback.

Grade = C


Iowa (11-2)

Iowa was fortunate to win four games by 3 points or fewer last year. They haven’t won an outright Big Ten championship since 1985 and it’s doubtful that they can match last year’s eleven-win record.

Grade = B-


Michigan (5-7)

Michigan could be looking for a new coach and the team could be in chaos by the time this game comes around. This grade may be a little high.

Grade = C-


A closer look at the schedule shows half the teams Ohio State faces had losing records in 2009. Two of the teams with winning records came from Conference USA and the Mid-American Conference.

Despite a winning record, Miami finished third in the ACC Coastal division. Even the best Big Ten teams had inflated winning records, feasting off uncompetitive non-league teams and marginal conference lightweights.

Phil Steele ranks the strength of the Buckeye 2010 schedule at 61 out of 120 division-one teams. That means over half the teams in the country have tougher schedules this year.

How could this happen to a team that prides itself as a national juggernaut?

It’s safe to say that there are probably six to eight highly ranked teams that would go undefeated if they had Ohio State’s schedule.

The Buckeyes also don’t play a conference championship game, which further weakens their case for strength of schedule.

While the NCAA prohibits conferences with fewer than 12 teams to play championship games, the Buckeyes have failed to beef-up their regular season schedule by adding more out-of-conference heavyweights to replace the current embarrassing level of cupcakes.

After breezing through this “padded” schedule, the Buckeyes sit home while other teams risk their standing by participating in conference championship games.

If you don’t think these games mean much, ask Tennessee and Texas, who both lost and were excluded from playing for the national title.

Championship games are played at a “fever pitch,” which can result in any team suffering national title elimination and devastating injuries. Ohio State has no such worries.

The ease of the regular season games all but guarantees that Ohio State will be playing for the national championship. While other contenders face legitimate competition, the Buckeyes will thrive on a soft schedule.

The Buckeyes’ only real competition will be at the BCS Championship finale, which in essence amounts to a one-game Ohio State season.

The Buckeyes may win a national championship in 2010. The bigger question will be—do they deserve to play for it?

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Once you have read this, whether you're a Buckeye fan or hater, please post your thoughts below.


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Ohio State: My Team's OOC Schedule Can Beat Up Your Team's OOC Schedule

I'm guessing you figured out the title of this piece is a play-on-words taken from the old "My Dad can beat up your Dad," argument.

I know in the past, the Buckeyes have, and still continue to work hard at scheduling out of conference games verses other quality BCS teams.

And sure, they also have played some cupcakes along the way—But who hasn't?

The bottom line however here is that I dare any fan of any other program to provide me with evidence that would suggest that their team has scheduled, and played in as many big-time OOC games as my team, The Ohio State Buckeyes.

Here is every OOC game Ohio State has played since 2000, as well as the OOC games from 2009 and those that have been scheduled so far, all the way through 2019. That's a span of 20 years.

Bowl game opponents (**) are also noted, and included.

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2000—Fresno State, Arizona, Miami (OH), **South Carolina

2001—Akron, UCLA, San Diego State, **South Carolina

2002—Texas Tech, Washington State, Cincinnati, San Jose State, **Miami (FL)

2003—Washington, San Diego State, NC State, BGSU, **Kansas State

2004—Cincinnati, Marshall, NC State, **Oklahoma State

2005—Miami (OH), Texas, San Diego State, **Notre Dame

2006—Northern Illinois, Texas, Cincinnati, BGSU, **Florida

2007—YSU, Akron, Washington, Kent State, **LSU

2008—YSU, Ohio, USC, Troy, **Texas

2009—Navy, USC, Toledo, New Mexico State, **Oregon

2010—Marshall, Miami (FL), Ohio, Eastern Michigan

2011—Akron, Toledo, Miami (FL), fourth OOC game still TBD

2012—Miami (OH), Cincinnati, California, UAB

2013—California, three OOC games still TBD

2014—Navy, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Kent State

2015—Virginia Tech, three OOC games still TBD

2016—Oklahoma, three OOC games still TBD

2017—Oklahoma, three OOC games still TBD

2018—Tennessee, three OOC games still TBD

2019—Tennessee, three OOC games still TBD

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Now, I know Ohio State hasn't won every one of these OOC games, nor will they win all of those yet to be played.

That is not the point here. The point is they are scheduling big games verses top notch opponents like no other school in the country and have been for a very long time.

There have been rumors the Ohio State has been trying to schedule home and home two-game series with other SEC opponents such as Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and LSU but I have no confirmation as of yet.

I had actually heard that the home and home in 2018 and 2019 with Tennessee was supposed to be Georgia, but UGA didn't want to play in Columbus.

If you wish to dispute me on this, that's fine, but you better bring an arsenal of knowledge with you and plenty of big time OOC games for any team you claim is doing a better job at going out and playing other top-level teams.


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My Team's OOC Schedule Can Beat Up Your Team's OOC Schedule

By HD Handshoe
Founder—BlockONation


So I'm guessing you figured out the title of this piece is a play-on-words taken from the old "My Dad can beat up your Dad," argument.

I know in the past, the Buckeyes have, and still continue to work hard at scheduling out of conference games verses other quality BCS teams.

And sure, they also have played some cupcakes along the way—But who hasn't?

The bottom line however here is that I dare any fan of any other program to provide me with evidence that would suggest that their team has scheduled, and played in as many big-time OOC games as my team, The Ohio State Buckeyes.

Here is every OOC game Ohio State has played since 2000, as well as the OOC games from 2009 and those that have been scheduled so far, all the way through 2019. That's a span of 20 years.

Bowl game opponents (**) are also noted, and included.

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2000 - Fresno State, Arizona, Miami (OH), **South Carolina

2001 - Akron, UCLA, San Diego State, **South Carolina

2002 - Texas Tech, Washington State, Cincinnati, San Jose State, **Miami (FL)

2003 - Washington, San Diego State, NC State, BGSU, **Kansas State

2004 - Cincinnati, Marshall, NC State, **Oklahoma State

2005 - Miami (OH), Texas, San Diego State, **Notre Dame

2006 - Northern Illinois, Texas, Cincinnati, BGSU, **Florida

2007 - YSU, Akron, Washington, Kent State, **LSU

2008 - YSU, Ohio, USC, Troy, **Texas

2009 - Navy, USC, Toledo, New Mexico State, **Oregon

2010 - Marshall, Miami (FL), Ohio, Eastern Michigan

2011 - Akron, Toledo, Miami (FL), fourth OOC game still TBD

2012 - Miami (OH), Cincinnati, California, UAB

2013 - California, three OOC games still TBD

2014 - Navy, Cincinnati, Virginia Tech, Kent State

2015 - Virginia Tech, three OOC games still TBD

2016 - Oklahoma, three OOC games still TBD

2017 - Oklahoma, three OOC games still TBD

2018 - Tennessee, three OOC games still TBD

2019 - Tennessee, three OOC games still TBD

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Now, I know Ohio State hasn't won every one of these OOC games, nor will they win all of those yet to be played.

That is not the point here. The point is they are scheduling big games verses top notch opponents like no other school in the country and have been for a very long time.

There have been rumors the Ohio State has been trying to schedule home and home two-game series with other SEC opponents such as Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and LSU but I have no confirmation as of yet.

I had actually heard that the home and home in 2018 and 2019 with Tennessee was supposed to be Georgia, but UGA didn't want to play in Columbus.

If you wish to dispute me on this, that's fine, but you better bring an arsenal of knowledge with you and plenty of big time OOC games for any team you claim is doing a better job at going out and playing other top-level teams.


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Five Top 10 Teams—Five Strongest 2009 OOC Schedules

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com


This is the follow-up to my "vastly popular" Five Top Teams—Five Pathetic OOC Schedules.

Now the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak.

These teams I have selected here, once again must be a projected top ten to fifteen team heading into the 2009 season.

There were some other teams close but that just did not quite make it.

You can't do a worst-of, without a best-of can you?

Of course not!


No. 5: Oklahoma Sooners

9/5/09—vs. BYU
9/12/09—vs. Idaho State
9/19/09—vs. Tulsa
10/3/09—@ Miami-Fla

BYU, Tulsa, and Miami are all better than average teams, so despite Idaho State, OU ranks No. 5.

I'm not sure that OU will score as much as they did last season and Miami is the x-factor.

If Shannon has them prepared, they certainly have enough talent to possibly pull an upset at home.


No. 4: Oklahoma State Cowboys

9/5/09—vs. Georgia
9/12/09—vs. Houston
9/19/09—vs. Rice
9/26/09—vs. Grambling State

The Cowboys check in at No. 4 on the top five.

Obviously, Grambling State is no match for OK State, but even in a retooling year, Georgia could surprise the Cowboys and make it close, but I do expect them to win their home opener.

Houston and Rice from Conference USA, are teams that may not impress the casual fan but they are teams that both can score a lot of points so the Cowboys can't overlook them!

I still expect OK State to win both of these games by two touchdowns or more.


No. 3: Ohio State Buckeyes

9/5/09—vs. vs. Navy
9/12/09—vs. USC
9/19/09—@ Toledo (in Cleveland)
10/31/09—vs. New Mexico State

Navy is no Youngstown State and will provide an opening day test for the young Buckeyes.

The Midshipmen have led college football in rushing the past two seasons and could give the inexperienced Buckeye defense trouble early.

I really don't have to say anything about USC other than they will be reloaded as usual and the Buckeyes will need to pressure and force new USC starter Aaron Corp into mistakes, as well as have an A+ effort on offense to come away with a win.

Toledo is a borderline cupcake that should be improved from last year, when they did become the first MAC school to ever beat Michigan in of all places, Michigan Stadium. Don't look for a Rocket victory at Cleveland Browns Stadium though!

New Mexico State is a true cupcake, but overall this schedule still earns OSU the No. 3 slot.


No. 2: Oregon Ducks

9/3/09—@ Boise State
9/12/09—vs. Purdue
9/19/09—vs. Utah

Because of the round robin, the Pac-10 teams only play three OOC games, but not one of these three that Oregon scheduled are cakewalks.

Purdue, from the Big Ten, and the only BCS team of the three, looks to replace QB Curtis Painter and RB Kory Sheets, but could still win as many as 7-9 games and could keep it close.

Boise State and Utah are the Kings of BCS busting and a year ago, Boise went 12-0 during the regular season, including a win over the Ducks in Eugene, and all Utah did was go 13-0 and finish No. 2 in the final AP poll.

Even with only three OOC games, Oregon is easily in this top five at No. 2.


No. 1: Virginia Tech

9/5/09—vs. Alabama
9/12/09—vs. Marshall
9/19/09—vs. Nebraska
10/31/09—vs. East Carolina

Va Tech's 2009 OOC schedule brings to mind thoughts of hidden landmines, just waiting to blow up in your face!

There are no cupcake, warm-up games to ease into the season this year for the Hokies.

Right off the bat, they kick off in Atlanta vs. the Crimson Tide. Alabama is a top 10-15 team that could derail the Hokies season before it ever gets started.

Marshall should pose little threat but they aren't from the FCS either!

Nebraska, another team that should appear in the top 20-25 could also be the downfall for the Hokies. I would lean towards saying I doubt it though.

Skip Holtz can coach and his East Carolina Pirates are no cupcake! Va Tech lost at home to ECU last year and will have to travel to Greenville for this one! The Hokies better watch out once again!

Every season, Va Tech seems to always get national recognition in the polls early in the year, but then falter somewhere along the way and fade from our collective memories.

With this schedule it could happen once again, but I absolutely applaud them for their 2009 OOC schedule and award them the No. 1 spot on this list!

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I really wish all the top teams in the nation would schedule this way, but I won't hold my breath, well, because I like breathing and being alive!

Thanks for reading and as always, feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section!

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Five Top 10 Teams— Five Pathetic OOC Schedules

by HD Handshoe
Founder
BlockONation.com


This isn't just a Buckeye site.

We follow the college football scene across the board and when something catches our eye and we believe it's worthy of bringing it to you, that is what we do!

After researching the 2009 out of conference schedules of several of the top teams in college football, I have compiled a list of what I believe to be the top five weakest, most pathetic OOC schedules for 2009.

The teams I have selected are all teams that will be in, or very near the top ten of the AP poll to open the 2009 season.

I think I speak for many, if not most, college football fans when I say teams need to start "manning up" and stop playing I-AA or DII teams and start playing other top teams on the road, during the season!

Follow the example set by Ohio State and USC last year and this year. Hopefully, they do it again soon because the big time games during the season are amazing!

They can be high-risk in terms of a BCS title run, but with high risk comes high reward for the team that wins!

Now, on with the show!

No. 5: Texas Longhorns

Texas has a great coach in Mack Brown and a Heisman contender at QB in Colt McCoy. They also have loads of talent on defense so they could probably beat just about any team in the top 25, but scheduled these OOC games instead:

9/5/09—vs. University of Louisiana Monroe

9/12/09—@ Wyoming

9/26/09—vs. UTEP

11/7/09—vs. Central Florida


No. 4: Penn State Nittany Lions

It's not Lewis & Clark, it's Royster and Clark! JoePa has another talented squad one year removed from a Big Ten title and a near miss at a trip to the BCS title game.

Penn State's schedule got even weaker in 2009 so will we really know how good they are before the bowl season? Not against these OOC opponents we won't, and they're even all home games of course.

9/5/09—vs. University of Akron

9/12/09—vs. Syracuse

9/19/09—vs. Temple

10/10/09—vs. Eastern Illinois


No. 3: LSU Tigers

Charles Scott should be the best back in the SEC and the Tigers should be improved over last years team.

They don't dodge the bullets in the SEC, but they play these teams out of conference, so they're another team we may not know much about outside of the SEC until their bowl game.

9/5/09—@ Washington

9/19/09—vs. Louisiana

10/31/09—vs. Tulane

11/14/09—vs. Louisiana Tech


No. 2: Ole Miss Rebels

In their defense, Ole Miss hasn't been a top team since Eli Manning left in 2004 so the reason they have a weak OOC schedule is acceptable.

But, it still ranks at No. 2 on my list because they are very good now even if they, or nobody else saw it coming!

The OOC opponents they will be facing however; not so much!

9/5/09—@ Memphis

9/19/09—vs. Southeastern Louisiana

10/17/09—vs. University of Alabama Birmingham

11/7/09—vs. Northern Arizona


No. 1: Florida Gators

It was tough narrowing this list down to the top five.

It was not tough putting Florida at No. 1.

They have arguably one of the best coaches in the game in Urban Meyer, a two-time BCS Championship and Heisman winning quarterback in Tim Tebow, and they have all eleven defensive starters and all eleven back-ups to those starters back from last years SEC and BCS championship team.

I didn't think it was possible for their OOC games in 2009 to be even more pathetic than 2008, when they played a down and rebuilding Miami Hurricanes team along with home games vs. Hawaii and The Citadel.

Then, I looked at 2009 and realized I may have thought too soon:

9/5/09—vs. Charleston Southern

9/12/09—vs. Troy

11/21/09—vs. Florida International

11/28/09—vs. Florida State

All four of these games are home games and even though it's a traditional rivalry game, Florida State is not what they once were.

I wanted to address that in case anyone tried to defend UF's OOC games by saying FSU is a good team.

No, they are not!

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Thanks for reading and as always, feel free to agree or disagree in the comments section!

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