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Big Ten Schedule

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Carmen Ohio

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After watching this week's play it appears the teams with the best chance of running the table are Ohio State and Wisconsin. But because we don't play each other and Wisconsin doesn't play Michigan State the possibility of a split championship is very real. Especially when you consider how bad the players will want to do it for Alvarez. With one of the best defenses in the country and all the play makers we have on offense, I can't imagine anybody left on our schedule beating us. On the other hand as long as Wisconsin has a strong running game and just enough defense they'll be in the picture. If this scenario holds true, the most significant games in the Big Ten this year will be Wisconsin @ Minnesota and Purdue @ Wisconsin. All this assumes we win our remaining games and hang a loss on MSU, PSU and Minnesota. Having said all that, I have a gut feeling that at the end of the season we're going to be alone atop the Big Ten, ahead of a pack of 3 loss teams languishing toward the bottom of the polls.

The Undefeated and Their Toughest Remaining Games

Michigan State - Michigan, @Ohio State, @Purdue, @Minnesota
Minnesota - @Penn State, @Michigan, Wisconsin, OSU, MSU, @Iowa
Wisconsin - @Minnesota, Purdue, @Northwestern, @Penn State
Penn State - Everybody

BTW - Don't be shocked if Michigan beats Michigan State. If the Wisconsin game didn't wake them up, Lloyd's got one foot in the grave.

After watching Penn State and Northwestern, I'm not nearly as concerned with the game at Happy Valley. There is no way Michael Robinson can handle our defense. In this one, we can only beat ourselves.
 
After watching Penn State and Northwestern, I'm not nearly as concerned with the game at Happy Valley. There is no way Michael Robinson can handle our defense. In this one, we can only beat ourselves.
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I don't think we are worried about PSU as much as we are worried about going on the road, after a bye week, and at nite.

I also wouldnt be suprised if scUM beats MSU just b/c.

I think at the end of the year it is going to come down to the game in Minny. I think they will be able to run on the other teams in the big ten and all the other teams will struggle in a couple games.
 
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The Bucks suffered through a tough stretch a few years ago...I wouldn't mind seeing Michigan go through the same crap for a few years. I hope the Spartans beat them senseless.

However, I hope a Michigan decline isn't permanent (i'm sure it wouldn't be). Nothing in sports is better than the OSU/Michigan game, and it's because both teams are always so good.
 
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i said this in another thread but here it goes

against these teams in the big ten that gave up 30-40 points yesterday i just can't imagine what our O will do to them, i look towards the indiana game for us to have 650-700+ yards of total offense
 
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I have a fear that scUM will lose three or four games before the big game at the end of the year.
I have a fear that we will underestimate a four or five loss scUM team that is playing for their coaches job, at home, in the biggest rivalry in sports.
I have a fear that we wont remember how much better than scUM our teams were back in the 90's, but we still got our ass handed to us because we underestimated them, and the rivalry.
I know Jim Tressel isn't John Cooper, but it will be much more difficult for JT to prepare the team for its biggest game of the year if their opponent looks inferior.
If you don't think scUM can beat us, watch The Game from last year, and remember that they are dealing with many of the same things we dealt with last year. By the end of the year a lot of those inexperienced players become experienced, and underestimated.
The biggest toughest game of the year still awaits us, just like it does every year, regardless of schedules.
 
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tedginn05 said:
i said this in another thread but here it goes

against these teams in the big ten that gave up 30-40 points yesterday i just can't imagine what our O will do to them, i look towards the indiana game for us to have 650-700+ yards of total offense
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We put up big numbers in one game, and you all of a sudden think that means that will happen in every game? I have seen offensive explosions under JT, the problem is we haven't yet seen consistency. Lets see if we can duplicate it on the road at night. If we put up those numbers at PSU, then I will be singing the offenses praises as well.
 
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Sdgobucks said:
I have a fear that scUM will lose three or four games before the big game at the end of the year.
I have a fear that we will underestimate a four or five loss scUM team that is playing for their coaches job, at home, in the biggest rivalry in sports.
I have a fear that we wont remember how much better than scUM our teams were back in the 90's, but we still got our ass handed to us because we underestimated them, and the rivalry.
I know Jim Tressel isn't John Cooper, but it will be much more difficult for JT to prepare the team for its biggest game of the year if their opponent looks inferior.
If you don't think scUM can beat us, watch The Game from last year, and remember that they are dealing with many of the same things we dealt with last year. By the end of the year a lot of those inexperienced players become experienced, and underestimated.
The biggest toughest game of the year still awaits us, just like it does every year, regardless of schedules.
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A Jim Tressel team will never not be ready for this game. Might they get outplayed yes, but they will be ready.

I can't remember a big game where we just looked unprepared under Tressel. There have been games where we havent looked good, but it wasnt b/c we werent prepared and underestimated our opponent.
 
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Just because a team has an easy schedule doesn't mean they will win the games. It takes a great team to win all the games. Look at Purdue? Everyone had them winning them all just because they didn't see OSU or scUM. It doesn't work that way. I think the Big 10 final standings will surprise a lot of people this year.
 
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JonathanXC said:
Just because a team has an easy schedule doesn't mean they will win the games. It takes a great team to win all the games. Look at Purdue? Everyone had them winning them all just because they didn't see OSU or scUM. It doesn't work that way. I think the Big 10 final standings will surprise a lot of people this year.
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What you say is interesting because the "everyone" you talk about are the sportswriters whose publications and sports shows make big bucks off the zeal of college football fans... and the people who believe them. In the Big Ten, there is no such thing as an easy schedule and the aforementioned "everyone" didn't take into account Purdue's natural rivalries and how hard it is to win any conference game on the road. Nor did they point out that a big reason Iowa's Greenway and Hodge looked so good was because of their awesome, now-graduated defensive line.

As we showed in 2002 with our defensive brilliance in 14 games and as we showed with our defensive breakdowns against Wisconsin and Michigan in 2003, when you're on the road... generally, great defense wins big games and the lack of it loses them. When you look at our remaining schedule no game is "easy"... but I strongly believe that this year's defense will go down as one of the greatest ever at Ohio State.

If we don't beat ourselves (Texas), there's simply no team in the league that should be able to hang with us. I'm not trying to play fortune-teller... how we perform on the road against a quality opponent is in my mind the last true barometer of what we should have this year. Without that, any speculation is as idle as "everyone's".
 
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Even in 2003 we had 600 total yards of offense at Indiana. I'm thinking this year we will likely have about 400 at half, and then we will get to see a lot of the 2006 and 2007 starters. I don't really see a defense in the Big 10 that scares me. Penn State probably has the best defense we will see this year...and I guess scUMs defense will likely play it's best game of the year against us...but other than that, our offense has already seen the toughest defenses (Texas and Iowa) that it will see all year. Playing big games early is a plus...we are very prepared for this Big 10 season. I don't think Penn State is prepared for us at all.
 
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