ohiobuck94
Buckeye Beach Bum
A writer who finally gets it. Something us Buckeye fans have known all along. :)
from The Mobile Register
Ohio State best program in game today
Sunday, August 29, 2004
By MARK INABINETT
Sports Reporter
By the numbers, Ohio State is college football's best program.
According to a statistical ranking compiled by the Mobile Register, the Buckeyes combine better than any other college program the tradition, foundation and direction needed to ensure a spot among the country's elite.
"I don't know for sure that we have the No. 1 program in the country," Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel said, "but we are very fortunate to have an excellent program that has had great success within the scope of a top-notch academic institution."
Ohio State's climb to No. 1 in the Register poll started in 64 statistical-based categories. These ranked the 117 Division I-A teams in a variety of college football's measurable facets -- such as wins, bowls and All-Americans, rather than subjective criteria such as fan fervor, fight song and fiercest rivalries -- stretching from the first game between Rutgers and Princeton on Nov. 6, 1869, to LSU's win over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.
Schools making the top 25 of any category earned points (25 points for first place down to one for 25th), and those point totals produced three broader top-25 rankings in the divisions of Tradition, Foundation and Direction.
Tradition ranked schools by their place in college football history. Foundation rated schools by the building blocks needed to sustain a successful program. Direction ranked schools by the momentum being carried into the 2004 season and beyond.
Schools earned points toward the overall best-in-the-nation ranking by their placements in the Tradition, Foundation and Direction top 25s.
Michigan placed first in Tradition, Tennessee topped Foundation and Miami (Fla.) finished No. 1 in Direction.
Ohio State earned its position as the nation's best program by finishing near the top in all three ratings -- second in both Foundation and Direction and fourth in Tradition.
The overall No. 1 ranking doesn't mean, necessarily, that Ohio State will win the national championship this year, although the Buckeyes having been winning for decades -- including the 2002 national championship -- and have positioned themselves for success in the decades to come.
Michigan, Tennessee, Florida State and Miami followed the Buckeyes in the overall top five.
Alabama placed 15th and Auburn 18th. Tennessee's No. 3 ranking led the six SEC schools in the top 25, with Georgia seventh, Florida 12th and LSU 14th.
Ohio State had no holes in its football résumé.
The Buckeyes showed up in 53 of the 64 categories, including 44 times in the top 10.
"I think it's been special for a long, long time," Ohio State athletics director Andy Geiger said of the school's football program. "Success begets success.
"I think simply it's the tradition. There's an element of the program that just repeats. Take our freshman class, for example. It's a mixture of the best from Ohio with wonderful youngsters who have come from across the country to be part of Ohio State football. We are constantly renewing."
Tradition? How about six Heisman Trophy winners, including the only two-time winner of the award (Archie Griffin)? Or one of seven coaches to win 200 games at one school (Woody Hayes)? Or 756 wins, 358 NFL draft choices and 29 conference championships?
Foundation? How about the biggest football-revenue stream in the nation and more athletic-department income than any other school? Or one of the four stadiums that seats at least 100,000 spectators? Or never losing a scholarship to NCAA sanctions?
Direction? How about one season removed from a fifth national championship? Or 14 players picked in the 2004 NFL draft? Or one losing record in the past 37 seasons?
"Ohio State is special for many reasons," Tressel said, "our excellent high school football in Ohio, our players, staff, band, alumni, faculty, etc., all of whom love their school and relish the role that football plays."
Ohio State hasn't stayed near the top of college football by standing still. Geiger brought in Tressel, who had spent 15 years as the head coach at another Ohio college, Division I-AA Youngstown State, to lead the Buckeyes in 2001, the team's first season in renovated Ohio Stadium. The famed "Horseshoe," built in 1922, had a three-year facelift that added about 5,500 seats and 76 luxury boxes, among other improvements. Tressel has won 32 of 39 games at Ohio State, including the 2002 national title.
Michigan came in second to its archrival overall. The Wolverines have won more games than any other team, rank first in the all-time Associated Press poll and are closing in on Notre Dame for best all-time winning percentage. The Irish enter 2004 at .7461, Michigan at .7458.
With the biggest stadium in the nation, Michigan also finished fifth in Foundation, and with a 29-year bowl streak came in seventh in Direction.
With 104,079-seat Neyland Stadium among its attributes, Tennessee ranks among the leaders in attendance and revenue. NFL teams have selected more Volunteers in the past 10 drafts than players from any other school, helping explain why Tennessee is one of the six schools that has played in a bowl game every season in the past decade.
Tennessee flanked its first-place Foundation ranking with a 10th in Tradition and a fourth in Direction.
Like Ohio State, Florida State finished in the top five without a first-place finish in Tradition, Foundation or Direction, but the Seminoles came in 11th, third and fourth, respectively, in those rankings, and finished at least tied for first in nine of the Foundation and Direction categories.
The Seminoles have built their football tradition largely in the 28-season tenure of current coach Bobby Bowden, who has prospered in the fertile recruiting ground of Florida by guiding FSU to 27 straight winning seasons, seven more than the second-best current streak.
Miami came in seventh in Foundation and 13th in Tradition and led Direction by finishing first in nine categories. Over the past five years, Miami has produced 20 first-round NFL draft picks, players who led the Hurricanes to the best record in college football during that span. No other school has had more than six first-round picks in the past five drafts.
Alabama was one of five schools that scored more than 400 points in the Tradition rankings. For comparison, Tennessee's winning Foundation total was 355 and Miami's Direction score was 335. The Crimson Tide has played in and won more bowl games and had more 10-win seasons than any school and can count iconic coaches Bear Bryant and Frank Thomas among the 24 Hall of Famers associated with its football heritage.
However, Alabama received a penalty in the Foundation rankings for the 21 scholarships that it lost in its most recent NCAA probation, dropping the Tide into a tie for 17th with UCLA in that category.
Alabama tied for 23rd in Direction, hampered by a roller-coaster ride over the past five seasons, which has featured the highs of an SEC championship, a BCS bowl bid and a hearty increase in football spending and the lows of four head coaches, two losing records and NCAA probation.
In ranking 14th in Tradition, Auburn can count on Shug Jordan, who was the Tigers' coach for 25 seasons, the same length of time that Bryant was at Alabama, John Vaught at Ole Miss and Vince Dooley at Georgia.
Only Notre Dame and Southern Cal have had more No. 1 draft picks than Auburn. Tigers Tucker Frederickson in 1965, Bo Jackson in 1986 and Aundray Bruce in 1988 in the NFL and Ken Rice in 1961 in the AFL were the first players chosen.
Auburn ranked 20th in Foundation, but hurt its overall rating by failing to make the top 25 in Direction, appearing in seven of the 21 categories in that division. While the Tigers have been in four bowl games in the past five seasons, none was a BCS game, and Auburn's players have seen an erosion in recognition in the past 10 years. From 1984 through 1993, 11 Tigers were consensus All-Americans and 53 were selected in the 1985 through 1994 NFL drafts. In the past 10 years, Auburn has had three consen sus All-Americans and 27 players drafted.
Like Tennessee and Alabama, Georgia, Florida and LSU ranked in the top 25 in Tradition, Foundation and Direction.
Arkansas was the only other SEC team to make one of the final three top 25s. The Razorbacks, on a six-year bowl roll, placed 21st in Direction.
Ole Miss narrowly missed making the top 25 in Tradition. The Rebels tied for 26th with Illinois and Texas A&M.
All 12 of the current SEC members scored points in Tradition, Foundation and Direction with one exception: Mississippi State failed to place in the top 25 of any of the 22 Tradition categories.
Even Vanderbilt led a category: The Commodores were No. 1 in graduation rate, one of the Foundation categories.
While the SEC led all conferences in the overall rankings with six teams among the top 18 (second was the Pac-10 with five teams ranked, but only USC among the top 20), all of college football is looking up at the Ohio State Buckeyes.
"The most significant changes in the last five or six years -- there have been two," Geiger said. "First has been Jim Tressel. Woody Hayes' idea was that you win with people, and that's absolutely right. He's been tremendous.
"The other thing has been the expansion and renovation of our stadium. Our stadium is a national landmark. We put $197 million into our stadium to preserve it, and, in the process, we improved every sight line. We bored a hole in the future by making an enormous investment in our infrastructure."
That commitment has help earn Ohio State the distinction as college football's best program.
The top 25s used to determine the Tradition, Direction and Foundation rankings are posted online. To view them, visit http://www.al.com/ncaafootball/mobileregister
from The Mobile Register
Ohio State best program in game today
Sunday, August 29, 2004
By MARK INABINETT
Sports Reporter
By the numbers, Ohio State is college football's best program.
According to a statistical ranking compiled by the Mobile Register, the Buckeyes combine better than any other college program the tradition, foundation and direction needed to ensure a spot among the country's elite.
"I don't know for sure that we have the No. 1 program in the country," Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel said, "but we are very fortunate to have an excellent program that has had great success within the scope of a top-notch academic institution."
Ohio State's climb to No. 1 in the Register poll started in 64 statistical-based categories. These ranked the 117 Division I-A teams in a variety of college football's measurable facets -- such as wins, bowls and All-Americans, rather than subjective criteria such as fan fervor, fight song and fiercest rivalries -- stretching from the first game between Rutgers and Princeton on Nov. 6, 1869, to LSU's win over Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 4.
Schools making the top 25 of any category earned points (25 points for first place down to one for 25th), and those point totals produced three broader top-25 rankings in the divisions of Tradition, Foundation and Direction.
Tradition ranked schools by their place in college football history. Foundation rated schools by the building blocks needed to sustain a successful program. Direction ranked schools by the momentum being carried into the 2004 season and beyond.
Schools earned points toward the overall best-in-the-nation ranking by their placements in the Tradition, Foundation and Direction top 25s.
Michigan placed first in Tradition, Tennessee topped Foundation and Miami (Fla.) finished No. 1 in Direction.
Ohio State earned its position as the nation's best program by finishing near the top in all three ratings -- second in both Foundation and Direction and fourth in Tradition.
The overall No. 1 ranking doesn't mean, necessarily, that Ohio State will win the national championship this year, although the Buckeyes having been winning for decades -- including the 2002 national championship -- and have positioned themselves for success in the decades to come.
Michigan, Tennessee, Florida State and Miami followed the Buckeyes in the overall top five.
Alabama placed 15th and Auburn 18th. Tennessee's No. 3 ranking led the six SEC schools in the top 25, with Georgia seventh, Florida 12th and LSU 14th.
Ohio State had no holes in its football résumé.
The Buckeyes showed up in 53 of the 64 categories, including 44 times in the top 10.
"I think it's been special for a long, long time," Ohio State athletics director Andy Geiger said of the school's football program. "Success begets success.
"I think simply it's the tradition. There's an element of the program that just repeats. Take our freshman class, for example. It's a mixture of the best from Ohio with wonderful youngsters who have come from across the country to be part of Ohio State football. We are constantly renewing."
Tradition? How about six Heisman Trophy winners, including the only two-time winner of the award (Archie Griffin)? Or one of seven coaches to win 200 games at one school (Woody Hayes)? Or 756 wins, 358 NFL draft choices and 29 conference championships?
Foundation? How about the biggest football-revenue stream in the nation and more athletic-department income than any other school? Or one of the four stadiums that seats at least 100,000 spectators? Or never losing a scholarship to NCAA sanctions?
Direction? How about one season removed from a fifth national championship? Or 14 players picked in the 2004 NFL draft? Or one losing record in the past 37 seasons?
"Ohio State is special for many reasons," Tressel said, "our excellent high school football in Ohio, our players, staff, band, alumni, faculty, etc., all of whom love their school and relish the role that football plays."
Ohio State hasn't stayed near the top of college football by standing still. Geiger brought in Tressel, who had spent 15 years as the head coach at another Ohio college, Division I-AA Youngstown State, to lead the Buckeyes in 2001, the team's first season in renovated Ohio Stadium. The famed "Horseshoe," built in 1922, had a three-year facelift that added about 5,500 seats and 76 luxury boxes, among other improvements. Tressel has won 32 of 39 games at Ohio State, including the 2002 national title.
Michigan came in second to its archrival overall. The Wolverines have won more games than any other team, rank first in the all-time Associated Press poll and are closing in on Notre Dame for best all-time winning percentage. The Irish enter 2004 at .7461, Michigan at .7458.
With the biggest stadium in the nation, Michigan also finished fifth in Foundation, and with a 29-year bowl streak came in seventh in Direction.
With 104,079-seat Neyland Stadium among its attributes, Tennessee ranks among the leaders in attendance and revenue. NFL teams have selected more Volunteers in the past 10 drafts than players from any other school, helping explain why Tennessee is one of the six schools that has played in a bowl game every season in the past decade.
Tennessee flanked its first-place Foundation ranking with a 10th in Tradition and a fourth in Direction.
Like Ohio State, Florida State finished in the top five without a first-place finish in Tradition, Foundation or Direction, but the Seminoles came in 11th, third and fourth, respectively, in those rankings, and finished at least tied for first in nine of the Foundation and Direction categories.
The Seminoles have built their football tradition largely in the 28-season tenure of current coach Bobby Bowden, who has prospered in the fertile recruiting ground of Florida by guiding FSU to 27 straight winning seasons, seven more than the second-best current streak.
Miami came in seventh in Foundation and 13th in Tradition and led Direction by finishing first in nine categories. Over the past five years, Miami has produced 20 first-round NFL draft picks, players who led the Hurricanes to the best record in college football during that span. No other school has had more than six first-round picks in the past five drafts.
Alabama was one of five schools that scored more than 400 points in the Tradition rankings. For comparison, Tennessee's winning Foundation total was 355 and Miami's Direction score was 335. The Crimson Tide has played in and won more bowl games and had more 10-win seasons than any school and can count iconic coaches Bear Bryant and Frank Thomas among the 24 Hall of Famers associated with its football heritage.
However, Alabama received a penalty in the Foundation rankings for the 21 scholarships that it lost in its most recent NCAA probation, dropping the Tide into a tie for 17th with UCLA in that category.
Alabama tied for 23rd in Direction, hampered by a roller-coaster ride over the past five seasons, which has featured the highs of an SEC championship, a BCS bowl bid and a hearty increase in football spending and the lows of four head coaches, two losing records and NCAA probation.
In ranking 14th in Tradition, Auburn can count on Shug Jordan, who was the Tigers' coach for 25 seasons, the same length of time that Bryant was at Alabama, John Vaught at Ole Miss and Vince Dooley at Georgia.
Only Notre Dame and Southern Cal have had more No. 1 draft picks than Auburn. Tigers Tucker Frederickson in 1965, Bo Jackson in 1986 and Aundray Bruce in 1988 in the NFL and Ken Rice in 1961 in the AFL were the first players chosen.
Auburn ranked 20th in Foundation, but hurt its overall rating by failing to make the top 25 in Direction, appearing in seven of the 21 categories in that division. While the Tigers have been in four bowl games in the past five seasons, none was a BCS game, and Auburn's players have seen an erosion in recognition in the past 10 years. From 1984 through 1993, 11 Tigers were consensus All-Americans and 53 were selected in the 1985 through 1994 NFL drafts. In the past 10 years, Auburn has had three consen sus All-Americans and 27 players drafted.
Like Tennessee and Alabama, Georgia, Florida and LSU ranked in the top 25 in Tradition, Foundation and Direction.
Arkansas was the only other SEC team to make one of the final three top 25s. The Razorbacks, on a six-year bowl roll, placed 21st in Direction.
Ole Miss narrowly missed making the top 25 in Tradition. The Rebels tied for 26th with Illinois and Texas A&M.
All 12 of the current SEC members scored points in Tradition, Foundation and Direction with one exception: Mississippi State failed to place in the top 25 of any of the 22 Tradition categories.
Even Vanderbilt led a category: The Commodores were No. 1 in graduation rate, one of the Foundation categories.
While the SEC led all conferences in the overall rankings with six teams among the top 18 (second was the Pac-10 with five teams ranked, but only USC among the top 20), all of college football is looking up at the Ohio State Buckeyes.
"The most significant changes in the last five or six years -- there have been two," Geiger said. "First has been Jim Tressel. Woody Hayes' idea was that you win with people, and that's absolutely right. He's been tremendous.
"The other thing has been the expansion and renovation of our stadium. Our stadium is a national landmark. We put $197 million into our stadium to preserve it, and, in the process, we improved every sight line. We bored a hole in the future by making an enormous investment in our infrastructure."
That commitment has help earn Ohio State the distinction as college football's best program.
The top 25s used to determine the Tradition, Direction and Foundation rankings are posted online. To view them, visit http://www.al.com/ncaafootball/mobileregister
Damn Coop
