Why It Is So Frustrating Being a Buckeye Fan

[WoodyWorshiper]

I probably should have said "bolstered everyone's expectations". Not that that'll change your stance. But I do think it's fair to say that the fan base as a whole has historically (since the 60's) been more focused on beating TSUN, winning the conference, and going to the Rose Bowl. Faulty generalization? Perhaps, but I'd wonder if during those years that you list you actually went into the season hoping/expecting a National Championship or was it something where the "path" seemed to sort of open up as the season went along?

I don't know about BB73, but I feel pretty confident that he'd answer about the same as this. Yes, in 1973, 1974, and 1975 NC's WERE the expectation before the season started, plain and simple. 1979 caught everybody off guard because of the "circumstances."

Peace.

 

[lvbuckeye]

I think your right on until cable TV and every game being televised the NC was only Mythical a Vote..even though the BCS is flawed there is an actual game. An undefeated Buckeye team was never going to play Nebraska Penn State etc. They could only play the Pac 10 representative..this hurt especially when we played UCLA again after winning in the Colesium. The team might have been more focused if they played a different opponent.

even with the BCS, championships are still mythical and the NCAA still does not recognize them.

 

[LordJeffBuck]

even with the BCS, championships are still mythical and the NCAA still does not recognize them.

I guess that it depends on what you mean by "recognize". The NCAA does not designate a single "recognized" national champion for FBS teams, but it does provide a list of FBS national champions as determined by several "recognized" organizations (AP, UPI, BCS, etc.).

Here is a LINK to the NCAA champs, with the "recognized" organizations listed at the bottom. According to the NCAA, Ohio State has seven "recognized" national championships: 1942 (AP); 1954 (AP); 1957 (UPI, FWAA); 1961 (FWAA); 1968 (consensus); 1970 (NFF); and 2002 (consensus).

It is interesting to note that the NCAA relies on an organization known as the National Championship Foundation to determine FBS national champions for years prior to 1936, which was the year of the first AP poll. However, the NCF also determined national champions from 1937 to 2001, but those national championships are not "recognized" by the NCAA. The NCF awarded Ohio State national championships in 1944 (co-champs with Army) and 1973 (co-champs with Notre Dame and Michigan), as well as 1942, 1954, and 1968.

So, if we add in the NCF titles, then Ohio State has nine national championships by organizations "recognized" by the NCAA:

1942 (AP)
1944 (NCF)
1954 (AP, NCF)
1957 (UPI, FWAA)
1961 (FWAA)
1968 (consensus)
1970 (NFF)
1973 (NCF)
2002 (consensus)

I think that a reasonable argument could be made for each of the nine NC's, except for 1970.

 

[Gatorubet]

Is that a Bama accent I hear Jeff? :p

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Is that a Bama accent I hear Jeff? :p

Nah, if I were a 'Bama fan, then I'd claim twenty national championships....

I think that most people would agree that Ohio State won legitimate national championships in 1942, 1954, 1957, 1968, and 2002; the 1961 title is at least semi-respectable, given the organization that granted it plus the NCAA recognition.

I think that the AP voters screwed Ohio State in 1944, because of the war-time sentiment in favor of Army. That 1944 Buckeye squad had the same record as Army (9-0-0) against arguably a more difficult schedule; three Walter Camp All-Americans (Les Horvath, Bill Hackett, and John Dugger), which at that time was an 11-man AA team; another All-American (Bill Willis); and the Heisman Trophy winner (Les Horvath). Many computer models have Ohio State equal to or more highly ranked than Army.

I believe that Ohio State had the best team in 1973, but let's face it - no one is going to beat Notre Dame in a writers' poll when the Irish finish with a perfect record and a victory over Bear Bryant in The Game of the Century!

The 1970 chamionship is 100% bogus, IMHO (although I know that some Buckeye fans disagree with me).

So, I'd say six solid NC's, maybe 7 or 8, depending on my mood (and whether I'm talking to a Michigan or Notre Dame who's bragging about how great his team was in his great-grandfather's day).

 

[martinss01]

hey, 50-50 is good enough for me. 2-7 (2-12 counting losing the last game of the regular season) is something else entirely.

whats the 2-7 (2-12)? sorry, on some pretty good pain medication currently .

i think it's ignorance more than arrogance. i don't think the average scout board Buckeye fan really knows how hard it is to win every game. but past success breeds future expectations, and like it or not, the Buckeyes have bred enough past success that people expect them to win all their games.

while i agree with the ignorance statement. i remember the posts on this board leading up to the 06 nc game. you would have thought we were playing a mac team at times. we as a group were cocky, very cocky. thats not to say everyone was, but the minority was very vocal.

i'm not sure. i think both sides of the equation have been well represented. we're Buckeyes. we expect to win them all. when we don't we get frustrated.

i also think we are victims of our own success. i think because of our consistency, past success, and the fan support we tend to get put in games we don't necessarily deserve against teams we probably shouldn't be playing. i think this year is a perfect example. if you look at our body of work and compair it to others who are not going to a bcs game can you honestly say from an objective viewpoint that is right? i can't.

last year as well. we lost late which should have ended all nc talk. but because something like 6 teams lost in the last 2 weeks we backed our way into the nc game. it shouldn't have happened. but it did. you can say we didn't take advantage of the opportunity and would be right to do so. but realistically, we were in over our heads.

A) the '05 team was better than the '06 team except for Troy's maturity. what seemed like the entire defense got drafted. i thought the #1 initial ranking was too high in '06, but the O was good enough to carry the team and force opponents to play unbalanced for the most part.

exactly. the only team that stopped our offense and stayed multidimensional did to us what OU did to tech this year. its what always happens to great offenses with less than stellar d's. "we" the fans just got sucked into the espn highlights along with the media and forgot that while offenses sell tickets, defenses win championships. its no mistake that the last 2 nc's we lost were to teams with significantly better defenses.

B) the '06 team was better than the '07 team. replace a Heisman QB, 2 1st round WRs and a 4th round RB; 90% of the offense. IMHO, '07 honestly exceeded rational expectations.

without question. i walked away from the 07 nc game damn proud of tOSU. absolutely great season. the defense was significantly better than 06 and it showed in the nc game. but the offense had taken a step back as one would expect.

C) i honestly think the Bucks were overrated at the beginning of the '08 season. those holes in the defense didn't magically disappear over the summer. the D-line was still a liability... but to my eyes, they quit in LA. that's what disappointed me the most. the Penn State game didn't bother me. i thought Terrelle made enough plays to win. it was, after all, his best passing performance, and it was against the best defense he's faced all year. unfortunately, the Nits caught a HUGE break when the ball got poked out.

100% agree. the dline and safeties in my mind were both something that could be exploited. i also agree that several members of the team hung it up in the second quarter against usc. the penn state game in my mind was the turning point game. i thought as you did that pryor had his best game against penn state. as disappointed as i was in the loss, i was very proud of how the team played. it was a great game.

is this a product of Ohio State being that good, or the Big Ten being that bad? there's better competition in every other conference except the Pac Ten, and although USC seems to always blow a game they shouldn't in conference, they're pretty good at kicking the [censored] out of whatever Big Ten team they face. Petey's undefeated against the Big Ten.

both and lets not forget petey hasn't played many of those on the road either. he's one of the best coaches in college football and arguably the best recruiter in the nation. doesn't hurt that he has consistently played the second best team in the big 10 the last few years. when the hell do we get a shot at the second best team in any conference?

, i am of the opinion that the ridiculous expectations that are heaped on the Buckeyes each and every year are to some degree directly related to how freaking disappointing EVERY professional team in Ohio is. when's the last time an Ohio team won a championship? 1990? before that it was the '70s with the Big Red Machine, and it's 1964 for the Browns, and '48 for the Tribe (no, the Crew doesn't count.) honestly, the Buckeyes are the ONLY team that can be expected to compete for a title basically every year. so all of our hopes get pinned on them. no wonder why Ohio State players make such consummate professionals. they face more pressure in Columbus than they ever will in their pay-for-play careers...

very good point, i honestly hadn't thought about that. i just wish some of the people lumping all this pressure and expectation on these kids remember that they are exactly that. these aren't 22+ yr old professionals. they are 17+ kids still going to class everyday and trying to figure out how to sort laundry properly. high expectations are great. but i don't want to log on to some webcam of a member offing themself bodybuilding.com style if we loose to texas.

 

[berryfan]

Seeing some Florida teams, I can only offer my local perspective.

Ever year, it seems that in the state of Florida, that one of the big 3 (Florida, FSU or UM (that's University of Miami as it is known down here) seems to be in the national title hunt every year. Recently it's been Florida, before that Miami for a few years and in the 90s no doubt Florida State had its years along with Florida Florida with Miami being the dominant team in the 80s. I know fans from each of those three schools and grew up locally with Miami and Miami's fan base starting just after their first national championship expects to have a winning season every year. I'd say Florida and FSU's mentality have been a bit longer than that.

I can guarantee you that for instance in the case of Florida fans this year, they would be just as equally frustrated as Ohio State would be if they don't win the championship. Same would go for FSU or Miami if they were in the big game or were having a team they'd expect to be realistically in the hunt. They expect winning every year. I have friends who are USC fans who feel the same way as well as fans from Texas. Granted, in the case of Florida teams that's probably a more recent feeling that has come about in at least the past 25 years.

Another personal viewpoint I'll add is that this type of frustration you mention seems to be emdedded in areas that traditionally have good high school football and it extends up to the college teams in those states. In alphabetical order: California, Florida, Ohio, Texas. Now, you might be able to throw in another state in there, but I'd say those states stick out in my mind has having top-notch high school teams/players, year in and out.

Take a look here at national champions and you'll see a pattern of teams from those states, NCAA Division I FBS National Football Championship - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Even on those teams like for instance Oklahoma, LSU, Notre Dame, Nebraska, a lot of those teams pulled in a lot of players from the 4 states mentioned above. There's so much talent coming out of those states that it trickles out. I know in the case of the state of Florida that's a big reason we now have football at programs like South Florida, Central Florida, Florida Atlantic and Florida International that we did not have 10 years ago, because of the talent level.

However, coming from a historical standpoint given Ohio State's long and fine history of playing football, I'd have to stay the frustration level is probably among the highest in the country. We expect to win.

Take a look also at Alabama fans after their loss in the SEC game to Florida.

 

[lvbuckeye]

whats the 2-7 (2-12)? sorry, on some pretty good pain medication currently .

2-7 is Ohio State's record in games that would have given them a national championship in the last 40 years. 2-12 adds the other 5 games where they could have played for it all, but didn't beat TSUN.

i agree with the rest of your post. :)

 

[lvbuckeye]

Take a look also at Alabama fans after their loss in the SEC game to Florida.

that's a great point. given their storied history, 'Bama fans have probably been infinitely more frustrated than Buckeyes over the last 15 years or so.

 

[berryfan]

that's a great point. given their storied history, 'Bama fans have probably been infinitely more frustrated than Buckeyes over the last 15 years or so.

That's what I told some friends who are Miami fans after their loss in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl. It's been a long time coming for the Buckeyes and you Miami guys won it in 2001-02 season. Eventually, my friends kind of took that well after they realized it really had been a long time for the Buckeyes.

Incidentally, most of my Miami friends seem to have more negative feelings toward Michigan...not sure really why.

 

[stxbuck]

Finishing 2nd leaves a horrible feeling in your stomach-and a lot more second guessing than having a great season, but not making the Rose/BCS Championship game. Mack Brown summed it up very well today in a press conference when he was asked what he thought about the Buckeyes losing the last 2 NC games " I think anyone who criticizes them is crazy-no one else was in the game besides UF and LSU(paraphrase). Sometimes I think it's better to finish 4th than 2nd"-less heat from the fans b/c you didn't leave them with a bad memory hangover all off season.

 

[lvbuckeye]

can't argue with that. it always feels better when you win your last game.

 

[martinss01]

2-7 is Ohio State's record in games that would have given them a national championship in the last 40 years. 2-12 adds the other 5 games where they could have played for it all, but didn't beat TSUN.

i agree with the rest of your post. :)

interesting. i wonder what the rest of the nations is. i suspect the majority will be below 50%. expecially during the pre bcs bowl days. maybe its just because i hate them so much. but the scummers keeping us out of the nc hunt in only 5 of the last 40 yrs just seems really wrong to me.