More important: Beating Michigan or beating Florida?

[Dryden]

I have to admit, I'm not as excited this year as I was in 2002. I don't know why. Maybe it's because we're the prohibitive favorites, have the Heisman winner at QB, and I've become spoiled by JT. I expect to win, but I'm also not as nervous as I was in 2002 going into that match-up with the mighty Miami Hurricanes, and the national title drought standing at 34 years and counting. Heck, I'm not even as antsy as I was anticipating the 2005 showdown with Texas. Maybe it's just the 51 day layoff, the lack of Gators on this board, or the diversion of the men's roundball team, but I feel like I'm waiting for the Spring Game and not the National Title game.

I know a lot of people will wind up devastated, but it's probably worth pointing out that Tressel did the unfathomable and lost two national title games while at YSU.

Time to play the What If? game. A common sentiment that I have heard and read over the years from Buckeyes fans is that (and this was more often expressed in reference to the disappointments under Cooper) they would rather see the team beat Michigan than win the national title. So there's the question.

Are you prepared for an OSU loss?

Was beating Michigan enough to claim the season a success, or does the team have to put the exclamation point on it and dispatch the Gators?

 

[BuckNutty]

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?!?!?!?

 

[buckeyeboy]

The season's still a success even if we don't beat UF b/c we won the Big Ten title outright, went undefeated through regular season play, have the Heisman Trophy winner, and we beat scUM and Texas.

That being said, I'll be very disappointed if we lose. The way I see it, many things have to go your way in order to even play for the NC: you must have great talent, you must have great coaching, and the ball must bounce your way at least a few times throughout the season. All this must be done in an era of reduced scholarships and greater parity. In short, I think you've got to be disappointed if we don't win b/c it could be another 30+ years before you see another NC.

 

[daddyphatsacs]

They didnt come this far to lose............this game is more important to me at the moment.

Big Ten titles come more frequently than national titles. You've got to savor the times that you are fortunate enough to witness a title run.

 

[crazybuckfan40]

Why not Both?

 

[OH10]

If we lose, I'm pleased with the season. I'll be ecstatic if we win.

Beating Michigan in the biggest game in rivalry history means a whole hell of a lot.

 

[DaddyBigBucks]

I have to admit, I'm not as excited this year as I was in 2002. I don't know why. Maybe it's because we're the prohibitive favorites, have the Heisman winner at QB, and I've become spoiled by JT. I expect to win, but I'm also not as nervous as I was in 2002 going into that match-up with the mighty Miami Hurricanes, and the national title drought standing at 34 years and counting. Heck, I'm not even as antsy as I was anticipating the 2005 showdown with Texas. Maybe it's just the 51 day layoff, the lack of Gators on this board, or the diversion of the men's roundball team, but I feel like I'm waiting for the Spring Game and not the National Title game.

I know a lot of people will wind up devastated, but it's probably worth pointing out that Tressel did the unfathomable and lost two national title games while at YSU.

Time to play the What If? game. A common sentiment that I have heard and read over the years from Buckeyes fans is that (and this was more often expressed in reference to the disappointments under Cooper) they would rather see the team beat Michigan than win the national title. So there's the question.

Are you prepared for an OSU loss?

Was beating Michigan enough to claim the season a success, or does the team have to put the exclamation point on it and dispatch the Gators?

I'm not sure I can break this down to one question. I try to maintain perspective so that when the pendulum swings the other direction that I don't end up as crazed as some of the Seminole fans that I am surrounded by. With that in mind; this season is absolutely a success right now, regardless of the outcome in Glendale.

As time goes by, it will become harder and harder to maintain perspective. My younger brother was 33 and a half when OSU won it's first title in his life. My son was two weeks old. There may well be multiple BCS National Championships during my sons childhood.

The point of this is that, while fans as old as my brother and older have a chance at maintaining perspective; it won't be long before we have young fans that, in Tressel's own word's, "have never suffered". It won't be long before some of these youngsters feel as if a Capital One Bowl berth is an abject failure.

When I first arrived in Tallahassee, I had to catch some games at a sports bar while I waited for the backwater cable company to try to find my house. I will never forget the bellyaching of the FSU fans at that sports bar. Their whining can best be summarized by the words of a kid who looked to be about 20. After yet another failed drive by the Jeff Bowden led offense, he spluttered "we might not even go to a BCS bowl this year!!1!!". He had no sense of perspective whatsoever.

I am not saying that high standards are bad. But I am saying that a sense of football history can be a good thing. There were fans of the Big Three in Florida that honestly believed that their team was immune to the cyclical nature of college football. No one is immune, and they now either know that; or they have become embittered, delusional neurotics.

But this post is not about Tallahassee or how the mighty Seminoles have fallen. This post, as with all of my posts, is about the Buckeyes. The 2006 (and 1 in '07) Buckeyes have been one of the best groups ever, with numerous brilliant performances and too many story-lines for all but the most insatiable among us to follow (this probably includes most members of 'The Planet'). The 2006 edition of The Game has been emblazoned on my memory forever. But a part of me will always feel like the next game is more important than the last, that the future is more important than the past. Look forward, but with appreciation of the history that placed you in the present.

If the expected occurs on Monday, I will cry tears of 200 proof Buckeye Pride. If the (almost) unthinkable occurs, my eyes will remain dry.

Either way, God Bless Jim Tressel, Troy Smith and the Ohio State Buckeyes.

 

[HailToMichigan]

You don't even get the chance to play Florida if you don't beat Michigan.

 

[ScarletBlood31]

You don't even get the chance to play Florida if you don't beat Michigan.

Exactly. That's why I voted that beating Florida was more important.


Then again, I couldn't stand the shame of having a dream season ended by scUM, which would be a nightmare. I guess if I had to lose to either of them, i would say Florida.

 

[Dryden]

For those wondering why I ask this, the impetus for this was a few things. One, as I said, I'm much more calm entering this game. From early December 2002 until kickoff of the Fiesta Bowl in 2003, I wasn't even a functional human being. I'm much more relaxed now having watched JT operate for six years and knowing that one crystal football is already on display at the WHAC. I get the sense a lot of Buckeye fans feel this way. Heck, BP's Florida/OSU game thread is only 53 pages long. The LSU/ND thread stands at 43 pages, and we didn't play either of them this year! What was the 2005 Texas Game thread at before kickoff ... like 400 pages?

Another reason I ask this is from the quote in the NY Times article The Two Sides of Jim Tressel, which read:

"If I had to choose between winning a national championship and beating Michigan, I'd choose beating Michigan," said James Hunt, 49, a Buckeye fan from Vermilion, Ohio.

Well ... we beat Michigan. Happy? :)

 

[rocketman]

Two crystal trophies displayed in the WHAC. Nobody else has two. That has got to get you motivated somehow.

 

[OCBucksFan]

Odd question, I have heard it said "if the Bucks beat the team up north then the season was a success" however, these guys have had a great 3 years at tOSU, I think it's important that they leave thier final mark in the history books with a crystal football.

 

[jwinslow]

Beating UM, no qusetion.

Losing to UM means they're in the title game and the reborn UM thanks to English has come true. Beat them again, and only so much has changed.

Beating UM is far more pivotal to future success. Recruits like Ginn, Wells, Saine & Clifford liked UM growing up, yet the on-field disparity helped way them our way. UM got SHUT OUT of ohio this year.

 

[milkman21]

Beating UM, no qusetion.

Losing to UM means they're in the title game and the reborn UM thanks to English has come true. Beat them again, and only so much has changed.

Beating UM is far more pivotal to future success. Recruits like Ginn, Wells, Saine & Clifford liked UM growing up, yet the on-field disparity helped way them our way. UM got SHUT OUT of ohio this year.

True, and to further this point, I want to point out that we have no title game if not for beating Michigan. In that respect, the UM game is bigger and more critical.

 

[CookyPuss]

Beating UM, no qusetion.

Losing to UM means they're in the title game and the reborn UM thanks to English has come true. Beat them again, and only so much has changed.

Beating UM is far more pivotal to future success. Recruits like Ginn, Wells, Saine & Clifford liked UM growing up, yet the on-field disparity helped way them our way. UM got SHUT OUT of ohio this year.

Only time will tell, but this game could prove to be a major tipping point in the history of the rivalry. The pendulum had swung to scUM's side through the 80s-90s. This win has solidly moved the momentum in our favor. They knock off our #1 ranked squad at home and some of those old feelings start to creep back. scUM's loss to USC has lessened the impact of this game slightly in the short term, but we will always remember the #1 Bucks downing the #2 Weasels. For that reason, I vote it "more important."

If we lose this next game and JT wakes up with the brain of Cooper trapped in his body, then all of this will soon fade away and we will dream of better days. But, I don't see that happening. I think a win in this game feels more like icing on the cake because it is expected.