Ohio State University will greet the commencement of the college football playoff semifinal against Georgia. But even in this eleventh hour of his life, the valedictorian remains within reach. The Buckeyes must beat the Bulldogs in their Atlanta backyard on Saturday and face either Michigan or TCU in a national championship game in Los Angeles on January 9.
Doing so will eventually move OSU to the top of its class. Failed and again he finished in the ACT as a straight A student scoring 35 but lost to Genius scoring 36.
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As far as I can remember, to count how many times I’ve been in a bowl season that started in 1970 and could have taken Ohio State to finish in the No. Requires fingers and one toe. 2002 and he only needs one hand to record successful times in 2014.
The Buckeyes needn’t apologize for their habit of finishing right behind the best and brightest. Ohio State University is at the forefront among college football’s elite, roughly centrally located and comfortably within the 90th percentile. Ultimately, though, it gets old with Phil Mickelson going through Tiger Woods’ shadow. Experiencing greatness without being able to enjoy being known as great, as Alabama has experienced over the past decade.
As such, Saturday is an important moment in Ohio history. As a 6½ point underdog, the Buckeyes are capable of flipping the script by upsetting defending his champions. They were acclaimed for winning the Peach Bowl at a packed Mercedes-Benz Stadium, with the majority of fans rooting for the Bulldogs. OSU will have Alabama in their rearview mirrors, at least temporarily, to show the world that the Big Ten can take on the Southeastern Conference on the biggest stage. The next step is to win the CFP National Championship and give Big His Ten his fourth Natty since his 1968 (Michigan State is on a similar mission).
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For comparison, at the same range, the SEC has 20 national titles (including CFP, BCS, accredited AP and coach polls), the Big 12 has 11, the Atlantic Coast Conference has 7, and the Pac-12 has 5. I’m here. Clearly, Big Ten is a C student in that group.
Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, further climb to elite levels under Urban Meyer (83-9, 12-0 record in 2012, 2014 National Championships) has been dwarfed by Alabama’s Dynasty Run (2012 (4 national titles since 2006) and coincided with the emergence of Clemson. 1a.It doesn’t help that Clemson scored his 31-0 win over OSU in his 2016 CFP semi-finals or that Bama defeated the Buckeyes 52-24 in his game for the 2020 title. I did.
But let’s forget about those two demise for a moment and instead focus on 2002 and 2014. Ohio State was 11 ½ underdog against Miami in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl and 7 ½ dog against Alabama in the 2015 Sugar Bowl. Of the two games, Sugar comes closer to what OSU faces than his 31-24 double overtime victory over the Hurricanes that secured the 2002 BCS title. Alabama has been playing relatively close to home, and until then the Buckeyes were 0-3 against the Crimson Tide.
The Buckeyes beat a very good but not incredible Alabama 42-35 to take 28 unanswered points from a 15-point deficit in the first half. Quarterback Cardale Jones no longer needs to buy drinks in Columbus. Ezekiel Elliott’s “His 85 Yards Through the Heart of the South” began appearing on his T-shirts, and Meyer became the town’s toastman. Buckeye Nation was so excited to beat his Nicky Satan that his game win at the Nationals against Oregon meant he won 12 golfs at Christmas after already opening his set of new irons. It was like unwrapping a ball of
The Peach Bowl is a bit like Sugar in 2015. Atlanta is only 72 miles from the Georgia campus in Athens, so the Bulldogs will feel right at home as they go 1-0 against OSU. They also know the stadium well, where he played eight games. It’s like he gets 35 out of 36 in the ACT if Ohio State wins.
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Alas, for Buckeyes fans, this is just the beginning. The second is to win it all and get 36, preferably against Michigan. However, The Game II comes with such a high risk and reward component that the ‘easier’ path would be to take his TCU.
Of course, losing to the Horned Frog would send Ohio State back to underperforming. But first things first. The Buckeyes must hit the No. 2 pencil well against Georgia before facing No. 1 pressure.
Take a deep breath, loyal Buckeye. The test is near.
roller@dispatch.com