What Will Be the Buckeyes' Record in 2008?

[generaladm]

OSU will be ranked at least in the top 5 for week 1. If they beat USC in week 3, which I believe they can, they have to rise to the top 2. Win out and there's no way they don't play for the NC. Tough games at WISC, ILL, and MSU, but this is a team that is half All-American, half NFL talent. Anything can happen, but as long as they fight for every play, I think they can beat any team in college football. 13-0, 4th consecutive Big Ten Championship, 2nd NC in 6 years. Go Buckeyes!

[pianobuck46]

Originally Posted by Buckeneye

13-0.

vs Florida for the marbles.

I could live with that. If this isn't their time, I'll be surprised.

Therefore, it's their time! 13-0, Baby!

['BusNative]

All 13 of 'em.

[HorticullyBuck]

My friend from G Tech were at a BBQ, he thinks he knows everything i guess G Tech is right up there with yale & harvord. He doesnt know much about college football, but assumes he does (yea one of those guys). I said the buckeyes are going to trhe national championship game, i also said that even if we loose to USC we still have a chance cause we'll run the table. He bet me 100 dollars that the buckeyes wont even make the top 5 at the end of the season.

I am a very happy man right now, and will be in jan.

[Not Jimmy R no more]

13-0 NC champs

[Mr.Blonde]

I hate having your fate in the hands of others. An interesting read.

Everybody Hate on Ohio?State - Sunday Morning Quarterback

can't really account for this - a writer I don't like that much, on a subject I don't really care about - but in the wee hours I was scanning Pete Fiutak's workmanlike breakdown of next year's frontrunners for the Trophy Which Must Not Be Named and came across this line under the entry for Beanie Wells:
...there's an anti-Ohio State sentiment out there, and will be all season long...
- - -
I don't know that anyone else will come closer to saying what is probably true about the Buckeyes right now, which is that, even just five years removed from an undefeated, mythical championship season, they are for all intents and purposes the Buffalo Bills. I don't think this is disputable, and encourage the skeptical reader to introduce the topic on any blog or message board with regular contributions from SEC fans if they wish to test the premises.

Unlike the not-so-lovable losers that taxed pro football's patience in the early nineties by merely winning the AFC over and over again, Ohio State can actually be derailed by sentiment. No writer could vote the national punchline out of Super Bowl XXVIII, but if December rolls around and there are any questions whatsoever about OSU's credentials - whether it's one of several one-loss teams vying for one of the mythical championship slots, or if the Buckeyes are up against two other undefeated heavies, however unlikely that is - the avalanche of columns under the umbrella of "What, these guys again?" will put the comment threads on mainstream sports pages and RSS feeds everywhere.

And there will be questions, all spring, all summer, through the season. You can bet that. They come with the premise, which is that there is something inherently flawed about Ohio State, and by extension the rest of the Big Ten over which it reigns, relative to the best teams in the Pac 10, Big 12 and, naturally, SEC. A conference championship in itself won't buy much respect; where did the last two Big Ten titles get OSU "when it counted"? For that, the Buckeyes will have to beat USC in September, and hope from there that the Trojans are still the Trojans - no more losses to Stanford or Oregon State. By the same turn, if Southern Cal turns out to be the one loss in question when it comes to the final vote, ongoing dominance against Michigan will be no salve. Ohio State fans know this. Thanks to two lousy games against teams it had a better-than-reasonable expectation of beating, Ohio State has forfeited the benefit of the doubt for itself and its conference.

So in that little throwaway line, I think Fiutak has overcome sleep deprivation and the electric shock collar Rupert Murdoch applied to keep Pete within reach of his dungeon laptop at all times and articulated one of the great themes of the next nine months. Anti-OSU - hence, anti-Big Ten - sentiment is real, and it's an insidiously anecdotal kind of disdain, like an urban myth that refuses to die. The Buckeyes have plenty of wind at their back in reality: the 2002 mythical championship win over loaded Miami and three other BCS wins since 1999, two straight conference championships, the second-best overall record (a half-game behind USC) over the last three years, and the best conference record. They're 25-7 against ranked teams since 2002.

[tonystarx]

I absolutely relish the fact that so many outsiders despise OSU. I've always taken pleasure in proving my critics wrong in my personal life, and it should be no different for our Buckeyes. The only thing that somewhat bothers me is that if USC, OU, any top SEC team...basically any other top program...were in our shoes and on our current streak, public perception would probably be the total opposite. But since it's OSU, and on the biggest stage in college football, we get all the bad press and hate mail. I remember USC blowing out a very talented, hyped, highly regarded OU squad in the title game by like 50 points a few years back. But I don't remember them catching the same flack OSU got after their 27-point loss to Florida in the '06 title game. OSU was 2-1 against three #2-ranked teams that season. Nobody has ever done that. Yet OSU had to relive that defeat unlike any other title game loser in CFB history. That game just gave the haters the opportunity they were waiting for to pounce on OSU's image. But I think the Buckeyes will finally live up to expectations this year and regain their respect.

[generaladm]

Originally Posted by tonystarx

I absolutely relish the fact that so many outsiders despise OSU. I've always taken pleasure in proving my critics wrong in my personal life, and it should be no different for our Buckeyes. The only thing that somewhat bothers me is that if USC, OU, any top SEC team...basically any other top program...were in our shoes and on our current streak, public perception would probably be the total opposite. But since it's OSU, and on the biggest stage in college football, we get all the bad press and hate mail. I remember USC blowing out a very talented, hyped, highly regarded OU squad in the title game by like 50 points a few years back. But I don't remember them catching the same flack OSU got after their 27-point loss to Florida in the '06 title game. OSU was 2-1 against three #2-ranked teams that season. Nobody has ever done that. Yet OSU had to relive that defeat unlike any other title game loser in CFB history. That game just gave the haters the opportunity they were waiting for to pounce on OSU's image. But I think the Buckeyes will finally live up to expectations this year and regain their respect.

I can't figure it out either. Oklahoma has been in 3 BCS Champ. games. They won the first, and lost the next two, getting beat by 36 in one. USC played in two BCS CGs, won one, lost one, yet somehow they get credit for winning one in a year that they didn't even make the game! I don't remember the reaction to OU losing back to back NC games being 1/10th as bad as we're getting it. And they still seem to get ranked higher than they deserve every year because of their reputation. I've asked casual OSU haters (not fans of rivals) why they hate the Buckeyes so much. usually the only reason they can give is players saying "THE Ohio State University". Weak. The only other thing I can think of is that people got used to talking [censored] when we got beat by UM, now, whenever we lose, they automatically say, "See they can't win the big games!". Oh well. To quote Dave Chapelle as R. Kelly, "Haters wanna hate. Lovers wanna love. I don't even want none of the above. I want to [censored] on you.". Mark it 13-0.

[Mr.Blonde]

Originally Posted by generaladm

the only reason they can give is players saying "THE Ohio State University". Weak.

Thats actually pretty funny. If I actually heard that one live, I'd laugh my ass off.

I agree with the Oklahoma opinions. They seem to have received a free pass for their 2 NC game blowouts.

Wonder why that is?

[BayAreaBuckeye]

The hating is going to be huge this year. As the Buckeye's pile up win after win, I think it's going to become even worse than anything we've seen yet.

I kind of relish the idea, but it drives me crazy at the same time. I naively always want to use logic to convince the haters that they are wrong.

[Gatorubet]

Originally Posted by BayAreaBuckeye

The hating is going to be huge this year. As the Buckeye's pile up win after win, I think it's going to become even worse than anything we've seen yet.

I kind of relish the idea, but it drives me crazy at the same time. I naively always want to use logic to convince the haters that they are wrong.

Once you beat the Trojans, that [censored] stops.

[Mr.Blonde]

Originally Posted by Gatorubet

Once you beat the Trojans, that [censored] stops.

I don't know if it "stops", but it sure dies down until Michigan Week.

[BayAreaBuckeye]

Originally Posted by Gatorubet

Once you beat the Trojans, that [censored] stops.

I don't know. I'd like to think that you're right, but I'm not convinced. We'll have to beat the Trojans first I guess.

I think the hate-curve might dip for a little while after a USC win, but as it becomes more and more obvious the Buckeyes are going to the National Championship game it will increase exponentially.

[Mr.Blonde]

Originally Posted by BayAreaBuckeye

I don't know. I'd like to think that you're right, but I'm not convinced. We'll have to beat the Trojans first I guess.

I think the hate-curve might dip for a little while after a USC win, but as it becomes more and more obvious the Buckeyes are going to the National Championship game it will increase exponentially.

"Hate-curve" - I like that.

[generaladm]

I don't see it that way. If we lose to USC, people will say we were exposed for what we are. If we win, they'll say SC had a down year. I don't see the hatin die down unless we run the table. And even then it won't completely go away. You have to remember who's doing most of the hatin. The same people who have been insisting the south will rise again for 140 years. No offense, Gator. You're one of the good ones.