Signing Day Blues

Today is national signing day and it closed on a sour note as the top offensive lineman recruit, Seantrel Henderson, chose to sign with USC over Ohio State and others. The O-Zone had pretty much given up on getting him last week even though all the pundits were saying he was a lock for the Buckeyes. Even with all the negativity, I was hoping we'd get him because we only recruited one other offensive lineman.

The Big Ten Superconference

The O-Zone forum really amuses me as many of the people post without really investigating the facts. I realize it is a public bulletin board and everyone is entitled to their opinion but I always try to have a fact based opinion vs. a emotion/faith based opinion. For instance, I believe that Jim Tressel is a good coach because he continues to beat Michigan and win the conference not because I feel he is a good coach. Sometimes however it is fun to put rationality aside and just do a "King for a day" type of post. Usually that involves the perfect college playoff system but lately people are arguing about who should join the Big 10. I haven't done a ton of investigating on this but I'm pretty sure that the only way it makes sense is to add a single team to get a league championship game. Adding any more teams will only dilute the payoff which I'm sure the league will avoid (yeah I know it is more complex but I'm not writing about that today). Sometimes however it is fun to dream and I was thinking... If I were king, how would I set up the New Big 10?

Pittsburgh as the 12th team

The internet has been buzzing lately that Pittburgh is going to be announced as the 12th team to the Big Ten in a press conference on Thursday. The Big 10 has denied the reports but this rumor is unstoppable at this point. I have done quite a bit of study on the "12th team" topic but I'm not ready do a post on the whole topic as it needs more study. Still I feel the need to talk about Pittsburgh just for prediction's sake.

Buckeye Thursday's - A personal journey

Yesterday's announcement to Buckeye Nation went something like this in my head:

Ohio State Sports Information Office - "The first game of the 2010 season will be played on THURSDAY, September 2nd, 2010."

Buckeye Nation - "Huh? Wait ... say that again? "

Ohio State Sports Information Office - "The first game of the 2010 season will be played on THURSDAY, September 2nd, 2010."

Buckeye Nation - "The Buckeyes are opening on a Thursday?!?!?? OMG!"

Vitale: Carroll beat the posse

Dick Vitale has been playing the role of a good basketball analyst for a long time (as opposed to actually being a good basketball analyst). But when there is something he believes in he is pretty direct. I was watching the Georgetown/Connecticut game today and heard him say the following about Pete Carroll:

“Well, you know, to me, he beat the posse. Posse coming after him down there, the NCAA. He takes the money, the program gets hurt in the future. I really have a problem with that. These guys go on, they leave the program, take their cash and run. Because, you know, the NCAA is still investigating them for Reggie Bush. And I just feel that he beat the posse, got his cash, and off he went.”

It certainly sounds like the watercooler talk in Bristol is that USC is headed for probation. While I'm glad someone on ESPN is finally starting to talk about it I'm annoyed it has taken this long.

On the other hand, I feel for the honest players on the USC program. Whether Pete Carroll was actively involved in the scandal for him to leave them at this moment is the act of a coward. For his sake, he'd better succeed this time in the NFL because I don't know how he could ever look a kid's parents again and say, "Send your kid to me and I will take care of him." I have no doubt he could say it, I just don't know how anyone could ever believe it.

Thank God for Jim Tressel.

What college is the best at developing talent?

As soon as the whistle blows on the last bowl game, the college football world turns its attention to recruiting. There is an amazing amount of attention put on this and this is especially true when you realize we are tracking the whims of 18 year olds. The funny thing is every college team has 85 players on scholarship but can only start 22. This means that while every highly regarded high school player feels they are destined to be a star in the NFL that facts are that only about half will ever even be a starter in college. The problem for the college coaches is it is really tough to know just how good a high school player will be when they get to college. One thing to consider is the NFL has a lot more information on their draft picks and every year there are numerous player picked in the first round that never make it in the pro's. The college coaches have less information and have to account for varying levels of coaching instruction given to high school players and the fact that recruits are at least 2-3 years from reaching their body's maturity. Still ... there is an attraction to recruiting. Recruiting is the future of every program and since it is impossible to know the true rank of a class it can be fun to follow.

Southern Speed - What are they really talking about?

I'm going to write something you will never see on a major website because it is a taboo.

Every year during college football there is a term that is repeated ad naseum -- SOUTHERN SPEED. If you played a drinking game while you were watching College Gameday and did a shot every time they mentioned SOUTHERN SPEED you'd never be able to get off the couch by the end of the broadcast. Goto any Buckeye forum and there's no way to get a Buckeye fan's blood pressure to rise faster than to hear the word SOUTHERN SPEED.