They need to lose, but you gotta like this guy.While the Buckeyes take the weekend off, here are the teams you need to be cheering for in order for the scarlet and gray to move up in the polls and solidify their bowl position.
There are only two top 25 matchups, but the three teams directly ahead of OSU play on the road and any loss by them will help the Vest's team tremendously.
National Games
#5 Florida at #8 Georgia, 3:30PM - CBS
The world's largest outdoor cocktail party comes back to Jacksonville, with first place in the SEC East on the line. Georgia took down Florida last year 42-30 and riled up Gator Nation with their celebration after the first score. The war of words has been quiet thus far, but Urban Meyer proclaimed Knowshon Moreno's play has made his quarterback better. However, Meyer has given his own team a gag order this week.
The winner obviously has the driver's seat to the SEC title game, with the loser having their national title hopes squashed. I think Florida is playing the better ball right now, putting up 112 points the last two weeks, so a Georgia loss seems like it would help the Buckeyes more.
#1 Texas at # 6 Texas Tech, 8:00PM - ABC
The biggest game ever to hit Lubbock is in primetime and this should be a high scoring affair, as TT is averaging 48 points and Texas is averaging 46 points. Some people are not sold on Texas Tech yet, as their toughest challenge has come from Kansas, a 63-21 win last week. After this game the Red Raiders take on Oklahoma State and Oklahoma in consecutive weeks, so I hope they lose Saturday and at least one of the next two to help the Bucks.
Texas is the best team in the country and if they get past this one, they only have Kansas, Baylor and Texas A&M before the Big 12 title game. This is a big game for Colt McCoy, he is the front runner for the Heisman and a poor performance could shoot down his dreams. He comes in completing over 82% of his passes and is the Horns leading rusher. I expect to see at least 800 yards of total offense in this one, so sit back and enjoy some offense (for once) in the Buckeye's off week.
Nebraska at #4 Oklahoma, 8:00PM - ESPN
This game may not have much bearing on Ohio State's chances of getting to a BCS game, but Buckeye alum Bo Pellini gets his first chance to take down the mighty Sooners. Nebraska is tied for first in the Big 12 North and a win here could help turn this program around. A loss for the Sooners would erase them from the national title picture, but something tells me they would still be ranked ahead of OSU.
#11 Boise State at New Mexico State, 7:00PM
#12 TCU at UNLV, 8:00PM
#10 Utah at New Mexico, 9:30PM
None of these games are on national TV, but they all have major implications for the Buckeyes BCS chances. Ohio State needs at least two of these teams to lose over the next four weeks and with Utah facing off against TCU next week, a Boise loss Saturday would be perfect.
Boise State doesn't face any type of challenge the rest of the season and I doubt they get one against the 3-4 Aggies, but anything can happen in the crazy state of New Mexico and the lack of blue turf just may throw them off.
Big Ten Games
Northwestern at #17 Minnesota, 12:00PM - ESPN2
Minnesota is looking to tie Ohio State for second place in the Big Ten standings with a home win over the ailing Wildcats. Who would have thought at the beginning of the year, this is where the Gophers would be at this point in the season. Don't look now, but Minny has a realistic chance to finish this season 11-1. Three (Michigan and Iowa) of their final four are at home, with an away game at Wisconsin on November 15th.
Can you believe that the Gophers may go from being 1-11 to 11-1? They got off the hook by not having to face Penn State or Michigan State, which can skew any record a bit, but props to Tight End Tim and the turn around he has done in Minnesota.
This brings back the argument of the Big Ten's scheduling. I'm of the opinion that one OOC game be eliminated and each team should have to face 9 conference teams. With all due respect to Minny, they have played one ranked team all year, OSU and 11-1 potentially sets them up to get destroyed in a bowl game by an SEC team on Jan. 1st. What are your feelings towards the scheduling?
Wisconsin at #22 Michigan State, 12:00PM - ESPN
This is an upset alert. After two straight weeks against Ohio St. and Michigan, the Spartans welcome a Badger team that got their first conference win last week against Illinois. With both teams favoring the run and the new clock rules, this game might be over before 2PM. OSU needs MSU to pull off a victory here and continue to climb the polls. At least this gives you a couple of games to flip between during the early afternoon.
