Hoke's Ohio Gambit

Soon after Brady Hoke took over at Michigan, Ohio State fans started to realize that he wouldn't call the school as Ohio State, THE Ohio State University, or OSU but simply called the school Ohio.  This ploy is reminiscent of Woody Hayes habit of refusing to address Michigan other than as "That School Up North" or as Buckeye fans have grown accustomed, TSUN.  My particular favorite when referring to that school is scUM but most rabid fans have variations on that theme.  In the past I've heard Michigan fans refer to the Buckeyes as O$U or Suckeyes but none of that has raised an eyebrow until Brady started referring to the school as simply Ohio.

In the past 12 months this practice has caused more angst than the actual loss a month ago.  Of course the loss was tempered by the fact that Urban Meyer was hired 3 days later but it continues to amaze me how much this bothers people.

The most ironic thing about this is it was common early in the 20th century to refer to Ohio State as simply Ohio.  If you listen to a radio broadcast from the 60s the announcer doesn't call the school Ohio State but rather Ohio.  Merchandise in that era also typically only used those 4 letters.  Even today if you call out to any Buckeye fan - O-H! and you will almost certainly get an enthusiastic I-O! in return with nary a word about S-T-A-T-E.  The most famous Buckeye tradition is when the band spells out the team name but no one is upset that we only spell out O-h-i-o in script instead of adding the superfluous State.  Everyone knows that when you talk about football in Ohio, you are talking about Ohio State.  In fact, the university would most likely still be referring to themselves by that 4 letter designation if not for a lawsuit brought against them by Ohio Univeristy in the late 20th century as they felt the Buckeyes singular use of the word OHIO was an infringement of their team's copyright.  They won the case and Ohio State could no longer sell merchandise with only those 4 letters.  That infuriated some at the university and that is the reason we now refer to ourselves as THE Ohio State University.  That's because when it comes to most collegiate things in Ohio, it is THE State University.  This was a way to tweak Ohio for their silly lawsuit and it is a tradition that has stuck.  Which is why I find it odd that Buckeye fans are so upset about Hoke's description of the school as simply Ohio.  When he was growing up the school was known as Ohio and he is just returning to the past.

In that way Brady Hoke is a genius and Buckeye fans who dismiss him as a joke are kidding themselves.  He understands the rivalry and what will play to the Wolverine faithful much more than RichRod ever did.  Considering that Rodriguez got 3 years in Ann Arbor, Hoke is setting himself up for a lifetime appointment by playing to the Michigan fans.  The fact that he's a solid recruiter and has surrounded himself with outstanding football minds is icing on the cake.

The golden era of the Ohio State - Michigan rivalry will forever be linked with Woody and Bo but I have a feeling that Hoke and Meyer are about to bring about a 2nd golden age.  The rest of the Big Ten Conference should be worried as I see an era of Big 2, Little 10 on the horizon.

Does it make sense for Penn State to join the ACC?

I've written in the past my feelings about Penn State and I'm quite aware that my feelings about them have gotten increasingly negative over the years.  It hasn't always been that way.  My earliest memories of Penn State is the beating they gave Woody Hayes' last Ohio State team in 1978 and the movie about John Cappiletti and his brother Joey.  In all honesty thought I really never gave them a lot of thought until they joined the league in 1993.  I distinctly remember looking forward to meeting them in our first game and on the day of our first meeting I made a point to go out of my way to meet with Penn State fans to welcome them to the league.  Even though the brass at many of the universities weren't thrilled with the idea, the fans seemed to be excited to be in the league.  I particularly remember sitting with a couple at the Ohio State skull session and figured if they were representatives of the normal Penn State fan that we had done well getting them to join.

Fast forward 18 years and it seems to be a common thought in Happy Valley that they want to leave the league.  Certainly the Sandusky situation didn't help and the Big Ten official resposne just threw gas on the fire. But the feelings go back further than that and I've always felt that the main issue for Penn State is they are just a bad geographic fit with the rest of the league.   It seems odd to say that in a day when Boise State is in the Big East but that is why leagues like the Big East are continually in flux.  A solid league has teams that don't mind looking out for fellow league members and somewhere that went awry in regards to Penn State.

That got me to thinking about their options.  The Big East might have been a good option a year ago but it was aways a long shot as they'd need to get a few ACC teams to create a good league.  The exit of Syracuse and Pitt has weakened the Big East to the point that it is no longer viable.  Contrast that with the ACC.  In the past 10 years they ACC has picked up quality northern teams in Virginia Tech, Boston College, Pitt, and Syracuse. They are currently sitting at 14 teams and while I think 16 is a bit unwieldy, here's how the league would look if you added Penn State and Connecticut

North
Penn State
Connecticut
Boston College
Syracuse
Pitt
Maryland
Virginia
Virginia Tech

South
Miami
Florida State
Clemson
North Carolina
Wake Forest
Duke
North Carolina St.
Georgia Tech

If I were an Penn State/ACC fan, I'd drool at that league and it actually might make more sense than the current 14 teams as it lines up perfectly as two "leagues" of 8.  I could see this league not caring about getting interaction between the Northern and Southern teams so the league games would only be the 7 divisional games leaving schools free to play 5 out of conference or rivalry games.  The two divisional winners would meet in the championship game to represent the league in the BCS.

The problem of course for Penn State is that they'd almost definitely lose money on the sports side of things unless they got some sort of consessions from the league.  That ignores the possibility that the school could lose millions of dollars in grants if they left the Big Ten's academic consortium.  There are other schools that do things because they feel it is right for the university despite monetary loss (Notre Dame).  Is it possible that Penn State could do that as well?  Anything is possible and the fact that the ACC culture would be a better fit for Penn State might mean that the decision makers decide their forturnes are better found elsewhere.

Penn State - The Black Sheep of the B1G

I distinctly remember when Penn State got the invite into the Big Ten in 1990.  The B1G has always been a conservative organization but adding the Nittany Lions caught the nation unaware.  Things were a lot less politically correct back then and as the presidents did this without athletic department input, this set off a battle in the press between the presidents and the AD, most specifically Bo Schembechler at Michigan.  The person caught in the middle was Jim Delany, the newly hired commission for the Big Ten.  It was made quite clear to the Nittany Lions that they weren't wanted, the most obvious sign was the fact that the ADs refused to change the name from the Big Ten.  Over time passions cooled and rivalries were built.  Long time ADs retired and Jim Delany gained more power which made the B1G a much more welcoming place but the die had been cast.  Penn State had taken into its culture a feeling of persecution and self pity about any slight that came from their fellow members.

Like any school with a proud tradition, Penn State has an overdeveloped sense of their value in the grand scheme.  There is no doubt that they bring great value to the league as they along with Michigan and Ohio State are the only schools to contribute to the league the full share of gate revenues ($4 million per year).  When you consider that the average for the other schools is about half that amount it is fair to say that Penn State contributes double the value to the B1G of an average school (including TV contracts).  The administration knows this and has been frustrated for years that they don't have a true rival.  Some even have thought that Joe Paterno set off the latest round of conference realignment when he made a comment in 2009 wondering why they didn't add a school.  Many thought at the time he was looking for a Syracuse or Rutgers so they would have a season ending rival.  Instead the league ended up with Nebraska as no team from the East brought in anywhere close to the value needed to make financial sense.  When the time came to split the league into 6 team divisions, everyone knew that they couldn't put 3 of Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, and Penn State in the same division.  Most figured that since it was obvious that Ohio State and Michigan would be in the same division that Penn State would be put into the Western Division.

Penn State balked at that and I can't say I blame them.  Not only didn't they get a natural rival but they were being asked to travel 1000 miles for the closest in division rival.  Over time Penn State has realized that the only natural rivalry they can ever possibly have is with Ohio State but the thing is the Buckeyes don't really care that much about them due to their long time rivalry with that school up north.  I've felt for a long time that when it became obvious what they were being asked to do the Penn State brass blew up and threatened to leave the conference and join the Big East.  If that happened it would have given the Big East a ton of credibility that they lost when Miami/BC/VaTech left for the ACC.  The B1G couldn't allow that so they appeased Penn State.  The result was Ohio State and Michigan were split and the league was proposed that Penn State be inserted as the last game of the season.  Ohio State and Michigan fans joined up to kill the second part of the plan though I'm sure we haven't seen the last of the proposal.  Instead Penn State had to settle for being Ohio State's next to last game.

Of course there is a lot of supposition in that paragraph but Penn State has complained about their treatment for the last twenty years.  The fact that everyone in the B1G toed the line on the division split struck me as odd and it always felt like something was hidden.

One thing I have seen over the last twenty years is you don't want to mess around with Jim Delany because he will not hesitate to go a different direction if he doesn't get his way.  A good example is when he wanted to renew his college football contract with ESPN and they decided to play hardball and basically told him ... "where else are you going to go?"  That comment will end up costing them billions as he decided to form his own football network with FOX which forced ESPN to pay a premium to still get B1G games but also pay many times their worth for the contract for every other conference for fear everyone would form their own network and cut ESPN/ABC out entirely.

Penn State has been a pain in Delany's side since they joined and if it weren't for the football money they bring I doubt they'd still be a member.  Now the same Penn State leaders that made his life tough are now gone due to their part in the Sandusky scandal.  Today Delany's office released a press statement that has strongly admonished Penn State for its role in the scandal and unlike the recent troubles at Ohio State and Michigan it was clear that the B1G office is going to be working with the NCAA to penalize the school instead of working actively to protect them.  The statement was worded so harshly that some Penn State fans are hoping to leave the B1G.  The problem is the Big East imploded over the last year and it really isn't an option for Penn State anymore.  The only place the could go is if the ACC wanted to goto 16 teams.Perhaps that's the best course as it seems the Penn State experiment has been nothing but grief for the last 20 years.  The only thing this needs is for Swarbuck at Notre Dame to send a back channel message that they see the writing on the wall for the Big East and are ready to join.  A swap of Notre Dame for Penn State would be a huge win for the B1G and Penn State would get what many have claimed they've always wanted.  Out.

Be careful what you wish for because you just might get it.