Wolverine247 Board

looking at the schedule they'll have to be favored in every game, or every game but one (michigan). Anything more than 1 loss would have to be considered a disappointment given that there's now time to adjust to the system more and fully implement it. That alone is a pretty impressive(/sad statement given the state of the BIG). The defensive side of the ball will have some more questions but probably won't dip in performance from this year if Roby stays.. I don't really see a loss on the schedule... but 12-0 is not going to happen

True, but that says more about the weakness of their schedule again next year than anything else. Their OOC schedule is once again void of a single quality FBS opponent. And UNL and MSU rotate off their B10 schedule. So it basically comes down to PSU, which will take another step backward due to sanctions and a new QB, Wisky, which will have a new coaching staff and probably a new QB, and us. And we will have a new QB too. Those are the three toughest games they will play all year. It's not entirely their fault, but it's not exactly a gauntlet either. Let's just hope we are much improved next year. We might be the only team realistically standing in their way to another undefeated season.

They were as good as their 12-0 record as Michigan was with their 11-2 record last year.

They had flaws. They were far from a dominant team.

They got breaks and made the most of them, so give them credit for that. They still have more talent than anyone else in the Big Ten and they proved to be the best team in the conference this year. And knowing how bad the Big Ten is, take that with a grain of salt.

They'll only get better from here.

I'd agree with what TAMU said that they're the 8-12 best team in the nation. The best team in the weak Big Ten.

Going undefeated in Urbie Liar's first year is impressive, they're going to be a force in the Big Ten for years to come.

My take on it is that this was year one for an entirely new system. Osu struggled consistently throughout the entire year. We were very explosive on offense at times and very bad on defense at times but managed to win the games because we had all aspects of a good team step up at different times. We had a good Qb win us games, good OL and DL win us games. Coaching and preparation win us games, and when all else failed a good backup Qb win us a game. None of these aspects of the team all stepped up at the same time that's why we weren't consistent or dominant by any means but we had a good and even kind of a special team this year

I think it was Eaton who said OSU is a fringe top 5 team...I think that is about right.

OSU benefited from a weak Big 10 and a weak OOC schedule. Still, going undefeated is going undefeated. But a bowl game would have given us a true metric of where they are at.

Oh Clint, you certainly know how to kick the hornet's nest.

First of all, I think credit is due the Buckeyes. I didn't watch all their games, but Meyer and his staff had some good gameplans, particularly against PSU. And while they benefited a lot from turnovers, many times you make your own luck. Their offense held them together at the beginning of the season and their defense picked up the slack late.

That said, they were fortunate to be undefeated. Too many close calls with bad teams (Indiana, Cal come to mind immediately). Cal was how many missed field goals away from a win? I mean, if you won because of some bad kicks by the other team, how much can you say you really outplayed them? Same way for PSU and Virginia. Yeah, PSU lost (4 missed FG's and a missed extra point) but it was obvious who the better team was.

Honestly, if OSU had played any other truly elite team (Nebraska was not a top 15 team, IMO - PSU should have beaten them), it's likely they would have lost. I'd put them top 10, maybe around 8th or so. Haven't checked the rankings exactly.

Based on how they played, I think they should have been 10-2. Wisconsin should have beaten them with how well they played. And Cal should have won. Frankly, given how poorly Borges was and how many turnovers OSU got close to the end zone, I'm surprised they didn't beat Michigan by more points.

In some ways, OSU played well and deserved wins. In others, they didn't. That's just how it goes. I think the AP's hesitancy to put them in the top 2 indicates that others feel that they weren't "undefeated good" either.

Agree with all of this, though i didn't look at the schedule for next year. I would've liked to see Ohio play a top 10-15 team to see how good they really are.

I agree with most of what you said. I'd rate Ohio more around 10 though. Also, if Gardner improves over the offseason and Michigan wins a game at home against ND early, I don't know if Ohio will be favored in the big house on the last weekend of the season.

Sorry, this is in reply to DCGWBuckeye

Plus he was injured too.

sorry...

That's a good unbiased view... I almost spit out my breakfast seeing a fan from your team speaking sense lol. No offense on the elite team, Michigan is not at that level yet. It'll be hard to have all the bounces go your way again next year, but you'll definitely be favored in every game, and then Michigan @ The Big House will probably be close to a pick 'em. I'd say OSU (I didn't say ohio because i'm replying to a rational poster) was a 7-10 team, and Michigan was around 15.

It just never seemed like Michigan's offense got rolling, and when you're OOC games are the top 2 defenses in the country, that makes it a bit difficult to get in a groove and practice you're stuff. Most teams use OOC games to polish their offense & defensive schemes, and deciding how to finalize their depth chart. Michigan had no such luxury, and I think that's something that come up to them later in the season. They just weren't as advanced in their schemes as other teams seemed to be, and w/ Mattison & Borges they both like to use big playbooks.

First of all, you would not be playing in the national title. Dont be stupid.

Second, you barely beat a ton of teams. You obviously were not some dominant team that smashed all the lowly talented teams you played. And that is the point clint made....and he is correct.