You ranked Michigan State "good team" and Wisconsin beat them. Wisconsin also beat Michigan and Iowa, who are no creampuffs (Michigan was #13 at the time they beat them). Wisconsin's only three losses came to Penn State ("good team"), Illinois ("very good team"), and Ohio State (I'd assume "very good team"). Wisconsin got dominated by Ohio State, but Wisconsin put up a good fight against Illinois (Wisc. had 519 yards, Illinois had 410) and Penn St (Wisc. had 244 yards, Penn St. had 216). As for their bowl game against Tennessee, Caesars-Hilton favors Tenn by 2, MGM-Mirage favors Tenn by 1.5, and Stations casino favors Tenn by 2. You ranked Tenn "good team" (imo, Tenn is a "very good team"). I personally don't like Wisconsin. I want them to suck. In 2004, Georgia beat us 45-16. Then Georgia plays Wisconsin in the bowl game, and Georgia only wins 24-21. In 2005, we beat Auburn 20-17. But in Auburn's bowl game, Wisconsin beat them 24-10. In 2006, we beat Arkansas 31-26. Wisconsin beat them 17-14. This year, Wisconsin plays Tennessee. Just like the last three years, I figured the SEC teams would easily crush Wisconsin. But it never happens. As for Michigan, they are ranked #32 in the BCS (which uses the Coaches Poll, which has Michigan at #31, and the Harris which has Michigan at #32). That is similar to Penn State, who is #33 in the BCS (Coaches have them at #28, Harris at #33).
John, not to disagree, but you need to look at Wisc schedule "this" year. It seems you're basing most of your argument on history, I'm speaking of the present. Wisc has "not" impressed me "this" year. If you look at that conferences QOC this year, its just sad. As I related to one of the "Buckeye" folks in here, I don't blame OSU for having a "puss" schedule this year, but heres the point I have been trying to make. LSU has played "more" quality teams this year and have defeated the majority. To put it another way, they are "battle tested"! Had OSU played the same schedule we've had to contend with this year, no way do they make it to the NCG. Bottom line, the Tigers "are" the better team and "should" win this thing. If they don't, with all due respect to OSU, they have no one to blame but themselves! :tigereye::tigereye::tigereye::tigereye::tigereye:
To defend Wisky, PJ Hill was out for a good portion of the year, otherwise some of those big ten games they lost very likely would've been another story, including the game in Columbus. Donovan is a solid QB, but not good enough to carry the team himself. Beckum is also one of the best TE's in the country, and will give TN's D problems...trust me on that one. Course that's coming from one of us "Buckeye Folk". Wisky was one of the conference favorites this year coming in, largely b/c they returned 18 starters from last years team, which beat Ark last year, and was good enough defensively to limit RunDMC. their PUSS schedule is as much an AP manufactured myth as people thinking (and more importantly ranking) b10 teams lower than many of us feel they deserved. Wisky is healthy for the first time this year, and I expect them to play a good game against TN.
Well, to be honest I don't think Tenn is all that, but I think the Vols will still win. Look, I'm just stating the facts as I see them. Its like I told you before, Its not OSU's fault they got the schedule they have. You have to play with the cards you're dealt so to speak. Tenn has been all over the board this year, As their schedule shows: *Cal..................................31-45 Loss Southern Miss...................39-19 Win *Florida.............................20-59 Loss Ark St..............................48-27 Win Hargrove Mil Academy.........37-20 Win *Georgia.............................35-14 Win *Miss St.............................33-21 Win *Alabama............................17-41 Loss *South Carolina....................27-24 Win OT Louisiana Lafayette.............59-7 Win *Vanderbilt..........................25-24 Win *Kentucky...........................52-50 Win OT SEC Championship *LSU.........14-21 Loss I,ve starred all the "good" or "very good" teams to show you what I mean. They are 4 and 5 against "good teams" or "very good" teams. All this being said, compare the QOC to Wisc. Even though Tenn lost to several good or very good teams, the at least had the opportunity to play them. Tenn should still win this game.
OSU is just as good as LSU, Georgia, Florida, or Tennessee. If OSU was in the SEC, sure they might get beat 41-14 by Florida every know and then like last year. Just like Georgia got beat down 35-14 by Tennessee this year. Just like Tennessee got beat down by 59-20 by Florida this year. And just like Florida got beat down by Georgia 42-30 this year. Fortunately, LSU got lucky this year and we didn't take a beat-down this year (like the 34-14 and 45-16 beat-downs we took from Georgia in 2005 and 2004). But OSU would still have just as much success in the SEC as LSU, Georgia, Florida, or Tennessee. Also, here's another thing I just posted on the Who should really be in the BCS Title Game thread that is relevant here: Look, everybody, you people need to realize that the vast majority of people who have more experience with football than any of us agree that Ohio State is the #1 team in the country. Look at the AP Poll. Sixty-five sportswriters and broadcasters from across the country. They all get to sit down and decide who they think should be the #1 and #2 teams that will play for the NC. Fifty voters put OSU at #1, eleven voters put LSU at #1. No other team got more than one #1 vote (Georgia, Hawaii, VT, and Okla all got one each). USC got zero #1 votes. The two Louisiana voters both pick #1 OSU vs. #2 LSU. One Oklahoma voter wants #1 LSU vs. #2 Oklahoma, the other wants #1 Ohio State vs. #2 Oklahoma. Let's look at Oklahoma's biggest rival, Texas, one of the two quality opponents that Oklahoma beat this year. Three of the Texas voters wanted #1 Ohio State vs. #2 LSU, while the fourth Texas voter wanted #1 Hawaii vs. #2 Oklahoma. Now lets look at the other "quality" opponent Oklahoma beat this year (twice), Missouri. The Missouri voter wanted to see #1 Ohio State v. #2 Oklahoma. What about Colorado, a Big 12 school who beat Oklahoma this year? The Colorado voter wanted to see #1 Ohio State vs. #2 LSU. What about Nebraska, they have a lot of pride in the Big 12, right? The Nebraska voter wanted #1 Ohio State vs. #2 LSU. I could go on and on, but you can see how it all went down for yourself here. Look at the Coaches Poll. Sixty Division I-A coaches from across the country, including Les Miles, Jim Tressel, Frank Beamer, Mark Richt, Bobby Bowden, Tommy Bowden, Butch Davis, Rich Rodriguez, Jeff Tedford (California), Greg Schiano (Rutgers), Jim Grobe (Wake Forest), Chris Petersen (Boise State), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Mack Brown (Texas), Bill Callahan (Nebraska), Dennis Franchione, (Texas A&M), Dan Hawkins, (Colorado), Mike Leach (Texas Tech), etc. Full list is here. These sixty coaches all get to sit down and decide who they think should be the #1 and #2 teams that will play for the NC. Fourty-six coaches put OSU at #1, eleven coaches put LSU at #1. No other team got more than two #1 votes (Okla got 2, Hawaii got 1). USC got zero #1 votes. Look at the Harris Poll. One hundred and fourteen panelists -- comprised of former players, coaches, administrators and current and former members of the media. They all get to sit down and decide who they think should be the #1 and #2 teams that will play for the NC. Ninety-eight voters put OSU at #1, seven voters put LSU at #1, and six voters put Oklahoma at #1. No other team got more than one #1 vote (Georgia, Hawaii, VT got one each). USC got zero #1 votes. Eddie Crowder (All-American at Oklahoma in 50's, head coach and AD at Colorado in 60's and 70's) wanted #1 Oklahoma vs. #2 Ohio State. Steve Owens (the second Oklahoma player to win the Heisman, AD of Oklahoma in the 90's) wanted #1 Ohio State vs. #2 Oklahoma. You can see who voted for who at this PDF file. Now sure, you could say that Vegas has picked LSU as the favorite over Ohio State. But Vegas is taking more into consideration that just who is the best team in the country with everything else being equal. Ohio State has to come all the way down here deep into SEC territory, to our very own backyard, and play in front of our fans, which are respected as among the most intimidating in the country. Besides, look at it like this, in the 9 years of the modern BCS system, Vegas has gotten the favorite wrong six out of nine times, including last year when they picked OSU by 7 over Florida, and five years ago when they picked Miami by 13 over Ohio State. But if you look at the BCS rankings, you will see that the #1 ranked team has won 5 times, and the #2 ranked team has won 4 times. The BCS ranking has been doing a better job of picking the favorite than Vegas has.
Yeah, you're right, let's all relax -- our LSU team and fans alike. The "truth" is that OSU is not as good a team as they really are. Period! It's all a big conspiracy. There is absolutely no reason to get fired up or pissed off for this game. As for our team, all they have to do is put their pretty jerseys on and walk out onto the field, and everything will be alright. At practice, our coaches should constantly remind our boys that there is nothing to worry about, that we will probably "blowout" Ohio State, and about how Ohio State played a "majority of cupcakes this year." As for our fans, LSU should launch a massive PR campaign to inform them that this game is going to be a blowout. Ohio State sucks. They don't belong in the NC, much less any bowl game. No reason to get fired up or pissed off. It's not like we're playing an SEC team. Everybody should show up expecting an easy victory, just like the wealthy elite of Washington DC did when they came to picnic and watch their Union forces in the first major battle of the Civil War (the Union got routed by the South that day). We might as well just adopt the same attitude that Ohio State had last year in regard to their game against Florida... and expect the same result.
