Few teams in sports truly draw my ire. There is the Red Sox, Duke basketball, and, when they actually mattered, the Indiana Pacers. Then there's Ohio State football. It started with the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, when the Buckeyes upset the top-ranked Miami Hurricanes in one of college football's most memorable championship games. I have never been especially fond of the Hurricanes, but that game never sat well with me, largely due to questionable officiating that lent the Buckeyes a helping hand. Ever since, I have absolutely loathed the Scarlet and Grey.
That being said, the Buckeyes will emerge victorious from this year's title game against LSU, and they will deserve it. After last year's thrashing at the hands of the Florida Gators, the Buckeyes are due for a change of fortune. Ohio State endured two tough national title defeats last year in football and basketball. I think the school has suffered enough. But goodwill can only carry a team so far, as they will need far more than good karma to overtake a potent LSU team.
The Tigers will have home-field advantage heading into tonight's clash in the Louisiana Superdome. But despite being favored, they will meet their match against a Buckeye team that is no stranger to playing the underdog role. The SEC is a far superior conference to the Big Ten. While not a knock to Ohio State, we can be reasonably assured that LSU faced more tests in the regular season than the Buckeyes. And we'd be remiss to forget that LSU's two losses both came in wacky triple-overtime games, which is college football's way of saying LSU could have very well been undefeated this season.
On the other hand, Ohio State has only lost once, with the lone loss coming from an Illinois team that is very good, despite the egg they laid against USC in the Rose Bowl. And what did the Buckeyes do in response to a loss that seemingly derailed the team's title hopes?
They answered adversity with a road win against a Michigan team that seems all the more impressive following the Wolverine's stirring 41-35 Capital One Bowl victory over the No. 12 Florida Gators and Heisman winner Tim Tebow. While we are on the subject, if tonight's game can capture even half the excitement of Florida-Michigan, we'll all be in for a treat--perhaps enough even to keep you glued to the TV on the first Monday of the term....
While we would all love a close game, these Buckeyes prefer to win big. In all but one of Ohio State's 11 wins, they won by at least two scores. They surrendered an average of twelve points per game, which will certainly be put to the test by a Tigers offense that notched over 500 points on the season -- an average of nearly 39 points per game. LSU certainly does not figure to put up points in bunches this time, not against a team that runs the ball as well as Ohio State. Behind sophomore Chris Wells, Ohio State will be able to control the ball, putting a great deal of pressure on quarterback Matt Flynn to overcome the nation's top-ranked defense.
Both teams are capable of winning this game but Ohio State is the better bet. Ignore the spread. Ignore the location. Ignore the disparity between the SEC and the Big Ten. Those are just excuses for people who want to ignore how dangerous Ohio State truly is.
And why is Ohio State being overlooked? Because I am not the only one who can't stand the Buckeyes. Michigan is one of the most popular teams in the country, making their Columbus rivals one of the most hated. Honestly, I have never met anyone from outside Ohio who actually liked the Buckeyes. LSU, well, maybe they're not uber-popular, but they do pass the "anyone but Ohio State" test. That will not be enough for the Tigers to pull out a win. After all, national championships are not popularity contests.
