Ohio State vs. Florida

OSU 34, Florida 14

{deletion due to BB posting rules}

 

OSU 28
Florida 24

 

Whatever makes the BCS look the worst is what I want to happen. In saying that I think SEC is much better than the Big 10 and couldn't make myself cheer for OSU...

 

Oh yeah,

UF 27
OSU 20

 

At this point, I'm leaning to OSU. Not totally sure though. Florida is capable of winning, but OSU is #1 for a reason

 

I don't see it. Florida beats an undefeated team, while Mich beats a 2-loss team. In my mind, that would give Florida the title outright.

 

What, I can't say that Urban Meyer is a whiner? That's against the forum posting rules? FWIW, the following article expresses my sentiments nicely:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/columns/story?columnist=forde_pat&id=2685389

(Warning: For the faint of heart, he calls Urban Meyer a whiner.)

 

I hope that Florida mops the field with Ohio State and that Southern Cal does the same thing to Michigan.

Why? I want Florida to win since they are a fellow SEC member. And I want Southern Cal to win because I am tired of all of the talk about Michigan being the second best team in the nation when all they did to merit such talk was to beat an overrated Notre Dame team and lose to Ohio State by 3 points.

 

It's an inherant assumption that your location being listed as Columbus indicates you are an OSU pusher. It's noteworthy that I tabulated the average OSU fan's projected score for the game against Michigan and it was OSU 35, Michigan 16. While OSU has shown itself to look the best team in college football, its fans have a fantastically overinflated image.

I would like to forecast Florida as the winner, but as of now there's just no way that's a reasonable calculation. If this were like an insurance company laying huge premiums on young male drivers, Florida should be the pick, since the SEC has a big advantage over the Big 10 since they started playing bowl games against each other. But like insurance companies should, we have to look at the matchups on a more individual team basis.

 

Surprise, Surprise...I'm a Michigan fan (sort of). This game is a win-win for me. If Florida loses, then it will "quiet down" all the SEC "complainers". If OSU loses, then I won't have to witness all the idol worship that is so widespread in these parts over Buckeye football.

But the objective side of me says that OSU is 2 or 3 touchdowns better than Florida. Of course, the long lay-off may come back to haunt them.

 

If OSU beats UF at least they will have proven they are more than just the Big 10 champion... in an overall down year... when they didn't even play the 3rd best team in the conf.

I personally can't stand UF and don't care for Meyer... and yes he is a whiner. They belong in my top 5 most disliked CFB teams along with ND and USC. That said, I am a UT and SEC fan.

Along with Andy but for different reasons, I see this as a no lose situation... but maybe a no win too. If OSU wins then we can hear Meyer and UF whine some more. If UF wins then the SEC argument for being the best conference are further validated.

It could go a number of ways however the objective side of me says UF wins. OSU played only 3 teams that ended up in the BCS top 40 (UM, PSU, Tex) and Texas is probably overrated at #19. UF played 6 such teams losing only to Auburn at Auburn.

That has relevance because OSU will not throw anything at UF offensively that they haven't seen. The strongest suit for OSU against UF is that they are more balanced than UF's previous opponents. OSU however doesn't run it as well as Arkansas or Auburn. They don't have any more talent in the passing game than UT or LSU.

Moreover, OSU won't throw anything at UF defensively that they haven't seen... and seen done by better athletes.

On the other side, OSU has not faced a defense with UF's athleticism. The defense that was most effective at stopping OSU this year was who? A pretty bad Illinois team. Coached by who? The guy who assembled the UF defense... but with much more recruiting clout. The second most effective defense even without help from their offense was Texas... also the most athletic defense OSU has faced.

Against UF, OSU will face both the most athletically talented defense they've seen and a defense coached at least equal to any they've seen.

Offensively, UF will put more speed on the field by far than anyone OSU has played. UF is faster than Texas and much faster than Michigan. Manningham is the only UM WR that would see significant playing time for UF.

There are always things that happen that have nothing to do with speed, competition, or coaching. Mistakes, bad calls, fluke plays,... but if you are going to go with the team that has played the better schedule, beaten more good teams, has more athleticism,... then that team is UF.

... and I can't believe I just made another argument for the hated Gators.

 

To Meyer's credit, he's still saying today what he's been saying all along an what we've all been saying: the BCS is broken and we need a playoff. So I guess I'm a "whiner." I have good company.

For the real whining, look at Michigan's Lloyd Carr. His classless attack against Urban Meyer is telling of Carr's desperation in Ann Arbor. He shouldn't use Meyer as his whipping boy to take out his frustration about being dominated by Tressel.

Like Scott, I hate doing anything that sounds like I'm sticking up for Meyer, but I have to be as objective about this as I can be. Michigan had it's chance. They may well be better than Florida. They may well be the second best team in the nation. But they had their chance against the Bucks and couldn't cash in.

 

The Buckeyes are going to be National Champs! This is a great matchup and I am pulling for OSU. The score will be close. I predict OSU 35 Gators 21.

 

Didn't Florida beat FSU the second time around to cash in as you say when they won it all?

 

OSU 38 Florida 17 - Someone , Anyone Please tell me the ranked conference teams that SEC schools competed against this year out of their conference- (Tenn vs. Cal) At least the top BIg 10 teams will try to schedule a truly elite non- conf school- SOmeone mentioned that OSU will not show Florida anything that they hadn't seen before by better atheletes- I guess there are faster more atheletic people than Troy Smith and Teddy Ginn JR. in the SEC....Oh yeah, if by some chance Florida does beat OSU than this message will self-destruct in 27 days and I will start watching Womens Lacrosse......

 

Hey, Kentucky beat Central Michigan. They were ranked towards the bottom of some polls? They are in a bowl game at least...

Overall, I am a pro SEC guy but sometimes they are a little overrated but not this year...

 

Yes. And what did that prove? Both teams were 1-1 against each other. Remember that if the bowl tie-ins had not been prohibitive, Florida would not have played for the national title that year. Arizona State was shut out of a shot because of being locked into the Rose Bowl. Didn't help that they lost to Ohio State, either

 

I threw away my preseason mag, but I know Florida had the nation's toughest schedule at the end of the season and played 9 bowl eligible teams. Arkansas played USC. Tennessee played Cal. Florida played FSU which normally is a ranked team. South Carolina has Clemson which is normally ranked and was for most of this season. Vandy played Michigan. LSU had someone...I forget who. Those are just off the top of my head.

Overall, the SEC tends to have tougher schedules, but I hate that SEC and Big Ten schools schedule I-AA teams. I take pride in the fact that Tennessee has a policy forbidding such. Big Ten schools do a lot of in-state games, such as Mich playing the directional schools and Ohio State plays in-state schools very regularly. On the whole, I'd say both conferences play fairly tough schedules with some exceptions. My biggest gripe with the Big Ten is that, given the lack of divisonal play, you can make a mild argument that the two best teams don't always play each other (who wouldn't want to see Ohio State play Wisconsin this year?) Same criticism is true of the Pac-10.

Remember that when schedules are made, they're made years in advance. Tennessee played Marshall this year and when they scheduled they were a ranked team. Tennessee recently added Oregon, Oklahoma, and a couple years back when N.C. State was surging, they were added. Who knows what the teams will be like when the scheduled games are actually played.