FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Agreed. I'm a Michigan fan but I have said all along that I respect the job that Jim Tressel has done. He's come in, got the recruits and beat Michigan 5 out of 6 times. He has a National Championship (beat Miami) and lost two against LSU and UF, but at least he got the Buckeyes to those games.

I can't really hate Ohio State. They are a good program.

As far as Carson goes: It's one thing to be an alumnus but he lives and plays for an Ohio team. That was kind of stupid on his part.

Yea good blog,

Thanks guys.

Good blog, mostly agree

Can't wait to watch the first time FB Tyler Whaley "misses" a blocking assignment for his QB. WHOOPS!

PS: USC's online ticket system blows.

PPS: Great blog entry.

PPPS: Go Big 10!

The HMIC says (head monkey in charge):

It is tough enough for Cincy to compete with the Browns for fan support in Ohio - do the Bengals really need their star QB to give the folks in the middle of the state 1 more reason to choose to follow Cleveland? I serously doubt he has brought Cincy a lot of new fans from California to make up for it...

The next Cincy game in Cleveland, I hope the fans have the courtesy to throw some peanuts to go with the half empty cups of beer headed Carson's way..


Will blog for banannas....

Haha nice stuff Prove It

Well, I'm an SC fan I never complained about Ohio St being in the National Championship game; they won the most games during the season. By those rules, that's fair enough for me.

And SC lost to Stanford. That alone should keep them out of the Title game.

Thing is, WHY did Ohio St win the most games? Could it be because of their chickshit schedule? Ohio University? Youngstown? Kent St in NOVEMBER!!? Not to mention all the wimpy teams they face in their own conference?

How can you compare the Pig 10 to the Pac 10 in terms of strength? In Bowl games, the Pac 10's record last year alone was 4-2, while the Pig 10 barely managed a 3-5 record. Purdue barely beat Central Michigan!

I don't blame Carson Palmer a bit for what he said regarding Ohio St. More power to him. God, if I had to live in Ohio and listen to sad-sack fans brag about their pathetic program that got destroyed in back-to-back National Championship Games after-----AFTER!!!!-------AFTER!!!!!-----Herbstreit and Lou Holtz bragged on them all year; how tough their defense is; how Tressell recruits; the Leave it to Beaver-lookin sweater-vests he sports----and then they play a couple two-loss SEC teams and get crushed, and you still brag about your team?!!! Are you skeezixs out of your mind? Heck, the only National Championship you turkeys have won in the last twenty years came at the hands of a very, very controversial call in the endzone.

I think it would be great if you people in the midwest could only play with the talent you grow. Even in Pro Football. In fact, I think that would be great in general, for all areas of the country. Because, alas, then I wouldn't have to hear about Indy, New England or the Giants ever again. Tampa Bay, Miami, New Orleans, Houston, Dallas, San Diego, Atlanta and San Francisco would be the cream of the crop every year, because that's where the talent it.

You don't like Carson Palmer? Petition the Bengals to not recruit from the west coast, specifically California. And you thought the Bengals had rotten teams in the 90s?

Then you can merely dance with whom you bring to the party.

I'm getting really tired of people always ripping and tearing down THE OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY. Sure we lost two national championship games in a row, but atleast we were there. The two years that they made it, they weren't even supposed to be there. The first year they made it, they had to replace a **** load of defenders and still got there. Then last year they had to replace probably one of the greatest offenses that has came threw Ohio State and still made it. I know it's no excuse for losing them, but still they overcame all of that and still made it. This is the year that, in my mind should win it all. This team is complete. If they don't win it this year, then by all means rip the **** out of them, til then stop complaining cause your team didn't make it. If you really want to complain about Ohio State making the national championship, then maybe your team should do a lot better and make sure THE Buckeyes don't get in. Til then, keep your pie whole shut and enjoy the success the Buckeyes will continue to have!!!

BMonk, where in my essay does it say anything about me complaining about my team not making it?

It's the most common theme and last refuge for fans of failure programs; people who have no argument whatsoever; whose debate skills at best rival a 12 year old: "Stop complaining that your team didn't make it!" and "Take care of business during the season" ,"Sure, we lost two Championships in a row....but at least we were there!"


Tell that to SEC fans who have to play four or five brutal games a year, like Auburn, Georgia, Florida, LSU, Tennessee and Alabama, who historically beat each other round-robin all season, and then some team like Ohio St, who basically has a cake-walk schedule, runs the Pig 10 table and finds itself playing for a National Championship.

God, deliver me from weekends where I'm watching a hard-hitting Auburn-Georgia game, only to have a Newsflash bulletin brought to me by ABC about Ohio St beating Kent St on the same day by 40 points. Like I care. You know when i care about Ohio St? When they play Michigan. Or Wisconsin. Or whenever they play someone tougher than a solid high school team.

I'd love to see Ohio St have to play in the SEC. Put Ohio St in the SEC, then the SEC would have 13 teams. Let Ohio St play in the SEC for ten years, and I'll bet you a hundred dollars that in ten years the Buckeyes would never finish higher than 3rd place. In fact, I bet they'd average around 5th or 6th.

I just want Pig 10 fans to admit they play in a wimpy conference, and they play wimpy schedules.

I like how Michigan lost its first two games last year (out of conference, by the way), and then ran the table in the Pig 10 until Ohio St beat them. That alone should tell you how weak and sissified they are.

By the way, Bo Schembechler, that "3 yards and a cloud of dust" nitwit you chumps are so proud of, went to the Rose Bowl 10 times. You know how many Rose Bowls he won? 2.

One out of five. Twenty percent of the time.

Now that's pathetic.

Sideburnedhero

"Thing is, WHY did Ohio St win the most games? Could it be because of their chickshit schedule?"
No, because OSU beats teams like Stanford, UCLA, Pitt, etc. Try and pump them u pall you want, Stanford wouldn't see daylight in the standing of any of the major 6 conferences. It doesn't matter how good your coaches and players are, if you can consistently convert that to wins, you aren't playing for the title.

"In Bowl games, the Pac 10's record last year alone was 4-2, while the Pig 10 barely managed a 3-5 record."
The 3rd place team in the Big 10 played the PAC10 champion who would have been playing for the NC but they choked against a team destined to finish dead last in their conference until they got the upset. The 4th place team played the 2nd place team in the SEC. Heck, the 8th place team was playing the 2nd place team from the ACC! The 10th place team was in a bowl againat the MAC champion. With bowl scheduling like that, what would you expect the conference record to be.
By the way - the PAC10 was the only conference to have a team loose a bowl game to a team from outside the major 6 conferences. Nice work.

"...and you still brag about your team?!!!"
In 3 years they have had 5 losses - 3 to the National Champions, 1 to the teaam that finished 1st in the Big 10, the other to a team that finished 3rd. They may not be the best team in the country, but they are good, and they do know how to put away scrub teams like Stanford.

Goof.

You're an idiot. Take a writing class. I don't even know what the hell you're talking about.

"The 10th place team was in a bowl against the MAC champion"? Are you out of your mind? Since when did the Pig 10 send 10 teams to Bowl games?

How many times has Ohio St beaten a SEC team? Answer me that, Brainiac.

"I just want Pig 10 fans to admit they play in a wimpy conference..."

Lets pull apart the Fan Nation classic - Big 10 vs. SEC. 2007 was the 1st time since 2003 the SEC had a winning record in the series. If you go back more than 1 year, you HAVE to go all the way back to 2003 to have SEC even the record.

But should it matter much that Mich beat Vandy? So look at these games in terms of how they finished in the conference (3rd and 4th in the Big 10 = 2nd place in a division, etc.)

When both teams finished equally, the SEC has the edge 4-2. Impressive 67%, but how much do you want to read into the outcome of 1 game changing the record to .500?

When the SEC team finished higher in the SEC than their opponent finished in the Big 10, the SEC record is 5-3. A different outcome in 1 game making it .500 doesn't speak well towards them being a clearly dominant conference.

When the Big 10 team finished higher in the Big 10 than their opponent finished in the SEC, the Big 10 record is 4-0. That's right - not a win for the SEC against a team that finished higher in the Big 10 - a feat the Big 10 accompolished 3 times in the same time span.

Beat a team that finished higher in the Big 10? They have been struggling with teams that finished lower!

Sideburnedhero

They didn't send 10 teams to bowls - 2 higher placed teams didn't go to bowls in 2007.

Throw all the garbage you want, it only makes it more apparent you don't know what you are talking about.

Sideburnhero,,,,your Purdue beating Central Michigan argument is very interesting..and incredibly compelling. But, Central Michigan is actually incredibly good. When you compare barely beating Central Michigan to USC losing to Stanford. I know I keep throwing losing to Stanford around but how the hell can you complain about Ohio State beating Kent State by 40 points when you guys can't even beat a team that Kent State probably could have beaten?

But, let's look at some non-conference opponents of your Trojans or even some SEC teams. A couple of years ago your Trojans took on Idaho..Idaho...I don't recall them being in many bowl games recently..garbage team. This past year, I do believe is when it was Florida took on Western Kentucky..again Western Kentucky...that is absolutely horrible. So while the SEC conference schedule maybe incredibly tough they play soft non-conference schedules for the most part. And you know what? Ohio State and USC play this year...let's line 'em up and see what happens.

Wow, How interesting to read eveyones comments. The Ohio State fan that I am I am very confused about USC fan comments? No one here can say anything about who should be were, who should play who. We as fans should follow our teams and respect the other teams that we play. I actually like USC and the way they play. Tuff hard headed football!! OSU does the same. Palmers comments were his own to deal with. Playing on an Ohio team he should have been more respectfull to the state that pays his bills. Is the bowl championship fair? I don't think so, there should be play-offs then there would be no question as to who should be where playing who for the title.
The confusion would end. But until the powers that be decide to make a change we as fans will have to deal with it.

BadgerFan,

Thanks for the comment.

You're absolutely right in that Central Michigan is a solid team; that quarterback was dynamite, and I kinda dig the MAC the same way I dig college football in general in the sense that it is "Little America." It isn't as corporate as the NFL and pro sports atmospheres.

But, I am getting tired of repeating myself, although I am an SC fan, I have never complained about THEM not getting better Bowls, and I will be the first to admit that even if SC had beaten Oregon last year, and still lost one game to Stanford, I'D HAVE VOTED TO KEEP THEM OUT OF THE NATIONAL TITLE. I love SC, but I enjoy winning fair and square, without the help of refs, politicians, fan-base, etc.

Wanted to be clear on that.

Yes, BadgerFan, SC played Idaho last year. I wasn't real proud of that.

But they did play Auburn two years in a row, Arkansas two years in a row, and VA Tech.

Also, Badgerfan, I absolutely agree with you about the SEC scheduling wussy teams outside of the conference. Yes, I think the SEC is toughest conference, and yes, I think they have the toughest scedules. But when they're not playing teams in their division, they're playing Arkansas St and Middle Tennessee A&M State University College U, or whatever the names are.

The Big 10 is guilt of this, too.

However, the Pac 10 probably, top-to-bottom, has the toughest schedules week-in and week-out because they play everyone in the conference.

Also, Stanford is a wimpy team. But perhaps they aren't as wimpy as we think. Maybe? They beat SC and they beat Cal. Cal destroyed Tennessee. That said, I don't find them to be as wimpy as Kent St. Yes, you can argue that Cal beat Tennessee early in the year, and spiriled down late and lost to Stanford, which would be a fair argument. I just think Stanford's tougher than Kent St; they've beaten better teams of late. In fact, I think Stanford's no wimpier than Northwestern.

PS if you cats wanna argue this any further, which I'm sure you do, look me up on my fannation page and ask for my email address.

GOOF-BALL,

Okay, man. Sorry I called you an idiot. Hey, man, I'm here to help. But Jesus, that first little essay you wrote didn't make any sense; i couldn't make heads or tails. Your last one cleared some stuff up.

You can keep on hurling your facts at me, man, but all I see is wins and losses.

4-2 record at 67% is, yes, only agame above .500, but if you were to tell me tomorrow that I'd make positive choices the rest of my life at a two-thirds rate, I'd be happy.

Take last years Bowls. I saw Mchigan St lose to BC by a couple points, and Purdue slightly beating a MAC school. Penn St beat Texas A&M, who hasn't won a Bowl game since Ty Detmer (correct me if I'm wrong on that, but they're the worst Bowl team ever---worse than even UCLA). But Indiana got CRUSHED by Ok St, Illinois got crushed, Ohio St got crushed, and Tennessee sneaked past Wisconsin.

The Big 10 went 3-5. The year before last, they went 2-6. Those are not high percentages.

The Pac 10 was 4-2, and the year before 3-3.

And--even more amazing to me, is that three of the five losses in Bowls last year, the Big Ten teams got slaughtered.

GOOF, please send me the website where you're getting the info regarding Big 10 vs. SEC, because I like the information.

I mean, I can see where there'd be rivalry between the Pac 10 and Big 10 because of the traditional Rose Bowl. And I can also see the SEC vs Big 10 rivalry, because of the other New Years Day Bowls. But I'm really, really uncertain as to why SEC fans hate the Pac 10 and SC. I don't hate them.

My point is, I'd like you to send me the website you're getting your facts from so I can use it for an argument next time Billy Joe Danny Frank Jr. decides to start bashing my ****.

No web site - had to look the info up myself (let me tell you - calculating tie breakers in a conference is no fun). There's a lot of sites that list the records of teams and their opponents year by year, but almost none that resolve conference ties using traditional means (1- heads up play, 2/3- common opponents and division record (can't remmeber which I applied 1st), 4th was overall record, and I don't think I needed 5th - highest conference team beat)

Alright, Goof-Ball,

Tell you what. I'll just use you for a reference in the future. How's that?