Greeting all. first time poster.
I saw the last warning about not bashing the Bucks, and I hope that this post does not come off that way. I am an aspiring sportswriter, and looking for feedback on this column. I tried to be as unbias as possible, while still getting my points across. I will let everyone know that I live in Ohio and root for the Buckeyes, however I am not a die hard fan. I am hard on the Big 10, but I believe my points are fair. If you disagree, please let me know.
I simply wanted to share my thoughts on the Big 10, Ohio State, and college football in general. I welcome any criticism, praise, and counter points. Here are my thoughts?.
1 - Ohio State is the cream of the crop in the Big 10. They beat the teams that they should beat, and play tough against the teams that they should play tough against. Until the Big 10 rebounds from their lack of depth in talented teams, or OSU stumbles? the Bucks should be two ?big game wins? away from a national championship every single year. Beat the ?out of conference? team on the schedule, and beat (insert flash in the pan Big 10 team of the year here), and you come up roses. Every time.
2 - The Big 10 isn?t as bad as everyone thinks, but it also isn?t as good as you think. The Big 10 is not the MAC. The Big 10 is not the WAC. The Big 10 is still a place where quality football recruits want to play. Unfortunately, the Big 10 is losing top recruits to "warm weather schools", and the records show this to be a trend that could have a negative impact on the conference in the future. Less top recruits means less playmakers. Less playmakers mean less wins. The Big 10 has the lowest number of teams with winning records from any BCS conference. The breakdown looks like this?
Big 12 ? 8 teams with winning record
SEC - 8 teams with winning record
ACC - 8 teams with winning record (very surprising to me)
Pac 10 ? 6 teams with winning record (also surprising, I thought it would be lower) Big East ? 6 teams with winning record
Big 10 ? 5 teams with winning record
On a positive note, the Big 10 has as many teams (3) ranked in the BCS top 25 than the ACC (3), MORE than the Pac 10 (2) and the Big East (2) however less than the Big 12 (5) and SEC (5).
As I mentioned before? the Big 10 isn?t as bad as the national media says. Let?s pretend, for a moment, that we are a mid level team in a conference looking to make a run. To do this, we must knock off the top 4 teams in our conference.
Facing Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, and Minnesota (shockingly, 4th in the Big 10 at 7-3) seems to be much more difficult than facing Big East foes Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, West Virginia, and Connecticut.
In the same regard, staring down the barrel at Alabama, Florida, Georgia and LSU or Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Texas and Missouri seems to be a much greater task.
To bring my point full circle, The Big 10 is not that bad? but it isn?t that good either.
3 - Terrell Pryor is an absolute player. He is the sole reason that the Buckeyes will be relevant for the next few years on the national scene. I believe he can pull a ?Vince Young? and lead the Bucks to victories over superior teams. Package that with the schedule over the next year or two and the Bucks should get to the BCS title game with wins over 2 or 3 good teams. I also think Pryor is the type of player that could WIN the big game. BCS Champions in the next few years? I wouldn?t be surprised.
4 - Penn State losing to Iowa is 50 times worse than Ohio State losing to Illinois last year. The Illini were a complete team who went on to play in a BCS Bowl game (I won?t mention that they got throttled by USC by 5 touchdowns). Iowa this year is a stepping stone. An irrelevant team that lost to Pittsburgh. Penn State should have beaten this team by 3 scores. Ohio State would have handled a team like this without missing a step.
Again, I will commend Ohio State for being the cream of the crop in the Big 10 and taking it to teams that they should take it to. Ohio State knows how to win that game. Penn State apparently doesn?t.
5 - Just a fun fact? in the past 2 seasons, the Big 10 is 0-4 in BCS games, and have been outscored by an average of 40.25 ? 18.25. That?s a difference of more than THREE touchdowns. I thought that was just an interesting fact.
6 - Heisman race is an interesting debate. If Teabag Tebow gets it, I will be [censored]ed. He shouldn?t even be in the conversation. Graham Harrell and Michael Crabtree are the most exciting and excellent players on the most exciting team. If the Red Raiders navigate the Big 12 undefeated, it should be Harrell hands down in my opinion. Sam Bradford has more TDs than Harrell, so if the Sooners can upset Texas Tech this weekend, Bradford could make a case as well. Colt McCoy is a tool. Period.
7 - Another fun fact? Eddie George won the Heisman Trophy despite NOT leading his own conference in rushing. He was outgained by Darnel Autry of Northwestern.
8 - The BCS Bowl Games are a joke. Does anyone here want to see Pittsburgh take on North Carolina (potential Big East champs vs. potential ACC champs) in the ?Fiesta Douche Bag Loserville Nobody Cares About Us Bowl?? Tell me the sponsors want to see this game when teams like OSU, Oklahoma, and Florida may not be on the big stage? Eliminate this system IMMEDIATELY!
9 - Michigan still sucks.
I'd love to hear any feedback as far as writing style for this particular blog, content, and any counter points that I may be missing. I also just love college football and would enjoy hearing other people's thoughts.
