Buckeyes Strong Class Ensures More Losses to SEC

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I’m very happy for THE Ohio State University and their coaching staff. The Buckeyes landed one of the top recruiting classes in the nation last week and maintained a decided advantage in what is becoming the mediocre Big 10 conference.

Ohio State has made four straight appearances in BCS bowl games and six this decade. After the Buckeyes were handed the 2002 BCS national championship by an over zealous officiating crew, they won their next two BCS bowl games.

But the past three BCS bowl games have been less than kind to the Buckeyes. Ohio State lost the first two in embarrassing fashion against Florida and LSU in consecutive national title games and earlier this year they fell to Texas in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl.

Despite the BCS bowl game losses, Ohio State continues to recruit some of the nation’s best prep prospects. Over the past two years, the Buckeyes have signed 16 of the top 200 players as rated by Scout.

This year Scout rated the Buckeyes as the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation, beating out Alabama and LSU for the top honors while Rivals listed Ohio State’s class as the third best, behind Alabama and LSU.

The Buckeyes strong class figures to keep them in contention for the Big 10 title next season and almost certainly will help garner their seventh BCS bowl invitation this decade.

Considering how bad the Big 10 has become, it’s reached a point where Ohio State only needs to get past Penn State to secure a spot in the Rose Bowl or possibly earn a berth in the BCS national championship game.

Clearly, the Buckeyes biggest rival, Michigan, will be in a rebuilding mode for at least the coming season and perhaps until 2010. Outside of the Nittany Lions, there isn’t a team that has a realistic shot at winning the Big 10.

Looking ahead to the coming season, Ohio State has a rematch with Southern California. Should they beat the Trojans, there’s a good chance the Buckeyes could be in Pasadena on January 7, 2010 for the BCS national championship game.

If the Buckeyes do make it all the way to Pasadena, they’ll get a chance to do something that’s hounded the program for over 30 years: defeat an SEC team in bowl game.

The SEC Owns Ohio State

Make no mistake, the SEC rules the roost and the unless the champions of two other BCS conferences can remain undefeated, the winner of the SEC championship will line up to play for the BCS title.

As recent history has shown us, a one-loss and perhaps even a two-loss SEC team is going to get the nod over teams from the other BCS conferences with an equal number of losses.

For the SEC there’s nothing better than a good Ohio State team making it to the BCS title game. Once the Buckeyes show up, the carnage can begin.

The mighty SEC, regardless of which team makes it out alive in the nation’s most dominant football conference, loves the Buckeyes.

We can look ahead to the coming season and there are six teams that can be identified as having a shot at the BCS title. Florida, Alabama, LSU, Texas, USC and yes, THE Ohio State will all vie for the crown.

For Ohio State, the recruiting successes are a testament to the strength of their program. But those recruiting successes also keeps the Buckeyes strong enough to win the Big 10 and earn a BCS bowl berth.

And if the Buckeyes turn their recruiting efforts into a BCS title game appearance, that’s grand for Ohio State, but it means the Buckeyes may very well have to play an SEC team in order to win a national championship.

That ain’t so grand.

All the Buckeye faithful can be proud of the recruiting success and I’m happy for them too. But happiness can turn to pain very quickly, especially when that pain comes in the form of an SEC team.

Just as a thought, if the Buckeyes want to avoid further embarrassment, perhaps they should slack off a bit and sign high school players that aren’t quite as talented as those they’re currently getting.

Hey, there’s nothing wrong with the Alamo Bowl. Winning a bowl game of any kind is much better than losing badly to an SEC team on the national stage.