Game Thread Sugar Bowl: tOSU vs Arkansas, Tue, Jan 4th, 8:30 ET ESPN

[brutus2002]

It was a down year for some of the traditional powers, the rest of the conference is up as a whole. Florida has struggled after losing Tebow. Georgia and Tennessee barely managed to get bowl eligible. That is three traditional powers that were down. Alabama got a little beat up in the SEC West where at one point 5 teams were ranked in the top 20(still 5 in the top 25). Arkansas, Mississippi State(so long as Mullen stays there), and Auburn are all rising fast. Its going to be interesting over the next few years to see who can manage to stay on top.

I've read on some of the Razorback forums people disrespecting Ohio States schedule. I don't really agree with that. Its one thing to question TCU and Boise States schedule. You guys went up against traditionally great teams at home and on the road, and for the most part dominated. The only stumble was to Wisconsin who is playing some great football this year. I view the close game against Iowa like our close game with Mississippi State, they were pumped up and fighting to stay relevant(or in Miss St.'s case fighting for a fallen teammate).

I'm interested in what you guys think of the SEC "bias" that some of the media seems to have. We welcome it down here and relish being in the best conference. I can imagine it gets tiring for other parts of the country to hear about one conference being the best year in and year out.

What kind of game plan do you see your team coming out with on defense? offense?

Unfortunately I live in Alabama...in the burbs within an hour of Tuscaloosa. The one thing I have realized is that the majority of SEC don't know shit about College Football as a whole. All they know is SEC.

I went out to eat at a restaurant last night with my wife and kids wearing my OSU stuff WAITING FOR A TABLE...some Auburn guys says,"OSU huh"...I said damn right OSU...I asked him if the Newtons were around so they could pay for all of our meals with the hundreds of thousands they got...

Then I said:

How many Heismans you guys got? We got 7...tied for most all-time
How many recognized NC's you got? We got 7
How many Individual award winners you got? We have more than any...all-time
First round draft choices they had...we had the 2nd most...3rd most draft choices overall
We are in the top 5 in all-time wins and winning %'s

Most BCS bowls ever

107 K in our stadium!!!

Last but not least I told him when they found a tradition to come and talk shit because right now they are little sisters of the wannabe club...Then I told him to enjoy probation after they get nuked with all the stuff the FBI has on them over the Milton McGregor investigation...freakin cheaters!!!

Could have heard a pin drop!!!!

 

[Mrstickball]

National Total Offense Rankings of Ohio State's Opponents:

#102 MARSHALL
#31 MIAMI (FL)
#94 OHIO
#91 EASTERN MICH.
#57 Illinois
#54 INDIANA
#17 Wisconsin <-----Only loss
#104 PURDUE
#76 Minnesota
#68 PENN ST.
#61 Iowa
#6 MICHIGAN

Arkansas is #10 in Total Offense.

I'll take them scoring less than Michigan did against us, hehe.

 

[Poe McKnoe]

So I've visited www.poonsec.blogspot.com [NSFW, unless your work doesn't mind you looking at Southern hotties] but I didn't see a lot of Arkansas fans on there.

Should I be worried? I see a lot of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida fans??

 

[HogFan77]

Unfortunately I live in Alabama...in the burbs within an hour of Tuscaloosa. The one thing I have realized is that the majority of SEC don't know [censored] about College Football as a whole. All they know is SEC.

I went out to eat at a restaurant last night with my wife and kids wearing my OSU stuff WAITING FOR A TABLE...some Auburn guys says,"OSU huh"...I said damn right OSU...I asked him if the Newtons were around so they could pay for all of our meals with the hundreds of thousands they got...

Then I said:

How many Heismans you guys got? We got 7...tied for most all-time
How many recognized NC's you got? We got 7
How many Individual award winners you got? We have more than any...all-time
First round draft choices they had...we had the 2nd most...3rd most draft choices overall
We are in the top 5 in all-time wins and winning %'s

Most BCS bowls ever

107 K in our stadium!!!

Last but not least I told him when they found a tradition to come and talk [censored] because right now they are little sisters of the wannabe club...Then I told him to enjoy probation after they get nuked with all the stuff the FBI has on them over the Milton McGregor investigation...freakin cheaters!!!

Could have heard a pin drop!!!!

Auburn fans are pretty crappy from my experience. Their program is one of the dirtiest in the history of college football and they almost act proud of the fact. Most of the rest of the SEC is ready for them to get a nice hard kick in the rear by the NCAA. Good job giving them hell!

 

[brutus2002]

I understood why people thought that at the beginning of the year, but considering how average the Big 10 is this year, I'm not sure why people still feel that way. Sad as it is, I don't like the Big 10's chances in the majority of the games. Wiscy will do well and hopefully the Bucks as well, but I doubt we'll win 50% of our bowl games this year.

How do you know the B10 is average? I know nobody wants to play Wisconsin right now. I think we can play anyone in the country (we beat Oregon last year). MSU has faded a little but they have a month to prep for Bama. PSU is playing ALOT better than they did versus Bama.

The only bowl teams from the B10 that have gotten worse as the season has went on is Illinois and NW...NW lost their stud QB.

I think we match-up better in these bowl game than people think.

 

[brutus2002]

Auburn fans are pretty crappy from my experience. Their program is one of the dirtiest in the history of college football and they almost act proud of the fact. Most of the rest of the SEC is ready for them to get a nice hard kick in the rear by the NCAA. Good job giving them hell!

Bud I wasn't gonna do it but I that guy had a smart-ass grin on his face and then I let him have it. I thought he was gonna cry...BTW my wife was pissed and didn't talk to me during our meal

 

[BigWoof31]

Unfortunately I live in Alabama...in the burbs within an hour of Tuscaloosa. The one thing I have realized is that the majority of SEC don't know [censored] about College Football as a whole. All they know is SEC.

I went out to eat at a restaurant last night with my wife and kids wearing my OSU stuff WAITING FOR A TABLE...some Auburn guys says,"OSU huh"...I said damn right OSU...I asked him if the Newtons were around so they could pay for all of our meals with the hundreds of thousands they got...

Then I said:

How many Heismans you guys got? We got 7...tied for most all-time
How many recognized NC's you got? We got 7
How many Individual award winners you got? We have more than any...all-time
First round draft choices they had...we had the 2nd most...3rd most draft choices overall
We are in the top 5 in all-time wins and winning %'s

Most BCS bowls ever

107 K in our stadium!!!

Last but not least I told him when they found a tradition to come and talk [censored] because right now they are little sisters of the wannabe club...Then I told him to enjoy probation after they get nuked with all the stuff the FBI has on them over the Milton McGregor investigation...freakin cheaters!!!

Could have heard a pin drop!!!!

You did not tell them anything close to that. But those are interesting stats, most I didn't realize.

 

[SweetSwineoMine]

I've been perusing a few of the national media sites this morning and it seems like the general feeling of the talking heads is that OSU's past record against SEC teams in bowl games will carry Arkansas to a win. Forgive me for not buying into the hype over past results, but I just don't think that is going to matter. Arkansas has a dismal bowl record with only 12 wins. If past history were a predictor of current or future events, how can anyone really pick one over the other by those standards?

I think that looking at the bodies of work for both teams this year gives a more realistic view on how good they are. Arkansas has played against and beaten more ranked teams than Ohio St., but it's not like the Buckeyes have played a soft schedule. I may be leaning in a particular direction on who I think will win the game, but I'll hold out another couple of weeks before actually making my prediction.

Anyway, like I said a few weeks ago. I'm thrilled that we're in our first BCS bowl against a storied program like Ohio St. I'm looking forward to this being a great game and hope the Hogs come out on top.

I'll also say that you Buckeyes have already garnered much respect in my eyes(like that means anything to you guys) as a cool and classy fan base. We're used to the weekly hatred filled discussions with our SEC brethren, so having mutually respectful conversations is a welcome sight.

 

[SweetSwineoMine]

So I've visited www.poonsec.blogspot.com [NSFW, unless your work doesn't mind you looking at Southern hotties] but I didn't see a lot of Arkansas fans on there.

Should I be worried? I see a lot of Georgia, Alabama, and Florida fans??

You shouldn't be worried. Like every fan base, we have our hotties, our notties, and our tree pigs.

We don't have many pics of our girls up because we're all still pretty new to the interwebs down here.

 

[Oh8ch]

Gonna be a great game between y'all and w'all.

 

[Poe McKnoe]

I'll also say that you Buckeyes have already garnered much respect in my eyes(like that means anything to you guys) as a cool and classy fan base. We're used to the weekly hatred filled discussions with our SEC brethren, so having mutually respectful conversations is a welcome sight.

Don't venture to the Scout boards. I've already seen a few Buckeyes trolling on the Arkansas scout board.

We don't hate you....yet. There's still a month until game time.

 

[Hogtropolis]

Serious Question About OSU's Schedule

I am really wanting to hear what OSU fans have to say about their schedule. I know you can only play the schedule you are given, but my questions are:

1.) Does playing a weak schedule make you worried about playing a team that has been battle tested much more than OSU?
2.) Do you think that the high rank of your defense nationally is directly correlated to the quality of opponent that you were able to play this year, or do you really feel this is one of the best OSU defenses in recent memory?

Here's the schedule I am referring to.

*Only 2 games played against opponents with an 8-4 or better record (Wisc. and Ohio) and only being 1-1 against those teams.
*An 0-1 record against teams ranked in the top 25 at the end of the season.

I'm just interested to hear your take on playing such a weak schedule. Thanks.

 

[Bill Lucas]

I am really wanting to hear what OSU fans have to say about their schedule. I know you can only play the schedule you are given, but my questions are:

1.) Does playing a weak schedule make you worried about playing a team that has been battle tested much more than OSU?
2.) Do you think that the high rank of your defense nationally is directly correlated to the quality of opponent that you were able to play this year, or do you really feel this is one of the best OSU defenses in recent memory?

Here's the schedule I am referring to.

*Only 2 games played against opponents with an 8-4 or better record (Wisc. and Ohio) and only being 1-1 against those teams.
*An 0-1 record against teams ranked in the top 25 at the end of the season.

I'm just interested to hear your take on playing such a weak schedule. Thanks.

No one has to justify anything to you. You're going to think what you're going to think of the schedule anyway. That's the only response I'm going to give to your trollish post.

 

[Buckeye86]

I may be leaning in a particular direction on who I think will win the game, but I'll hold out another couple of weeks before actually making my prediction.

It is already clear what the argument is going to boil down to.

Arkansas fans will point to their schedule, their resurgent run game, and their good enough defense as the reasons they will win. Ohio State fans will point to their superior defense and their good enough offense as reasons they will win. Cliches will also be thrown around in abundance about games being won in trenches and fewer mistakes and so forth.

That is a summary of the next month of discussion. Let's just drop it and post pictures of pretty girls.

 

[SweetSwineoMine]

Don't venture to the Scout boards. I've already seen a few Buckeyes trolling on the Arkansas scout board.

We don't hate you....yet. There's still a month until game time.

I've found that it's best to stay off the Scout boards. I don't even like our fans on there.

Look, every school has it's douchebags that flame every chance they can. There will be some of those that make their way over here and make us all look bad, but that's just the way it goes I guess.

I like some trash talking, but there's a cool way to do it and a there's a crappy way to do it. I like to think that I avoid the latter. I love the Hogs and get just as giddy inside when they do well as any fan does for their school, but my life won't end after a loss. I'm also not going to get offended by anything I read on a message board.

I'm just looking forward to the next month's worth of over-analysis and the Lazy-Boy prognosticators telling us all how the game will play out before enjoying the actual game, which is what it's all about anyway. It will be a great game and I can't wait.