Welcome to Bowl Season, in which, for the first time in 13 years, your favorite team has no plans.
1999 was a weird year in Columbus. It was John Cooper's second-to-last season in town and the team finished a disappointing 6-6 that season on the heels of 61 wins over the previous six seasons. Just how weird was that 1999? One of the six victories notched by the Buckeyes that year came over Minnesota. And the Gophers were ranked at the time.
But back to the present. The Big Ten accepted seven bowl invitations, and surprise, surprise: Big Ten teams are underdogs in all seven games.
On one hand, hello low expectations. If the Big Ten manages to go 2-5 or better, then this bowl season will be a success for the conference (as unbelievably sad as that sounds). On the other hand, an 0-fer for the conference is a very real possibility.
Northwestern (+2½) vs. Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl is the league's best shot on paper, but the Wildcats' recent bowl history is littered with heartbreak (Exhibits A, B, C and D), so pull for Pat Fitzgerald's team at your own risk.
Michigan State (+4½) vs. TCU in the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl (it's a thing, look it up) is another winnable game for the Big Ten, but Sparty has been snake-bitten all season, with five of their six losses arriving by a total of 13 points.
Michigan (+6½) vs. South Carolina in the Outback is an interesting matchup. At first glance, you imagine Jadeveon Clowney destroying Taylor Lewan, the Big Ten's Offensive Lineman of the Year, but Denard Robinson may have a chance to get healthy and the Gamecocks have been anything but dominant since throttling Georgia in early October.
Wisconsin (+6½) vs. Stanford in the Rose Bowl could be closer than most think. Sure, the Badgers are nowhere to be found in the BCS standings and hobble into Pasadena with five losses, but those losses were by a total of 19 points (karma, Bret) and DID YOU SEE THE BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIP GAME? Side note: Can we just move this game to Chicago, already?
Nebraska (+12½) should get impaled by a very good Georgia team in the Capital One Bowl, but hey, it can't be any worse than what the Badgers did to them, right?
Purdue (+14½) stands next to no chance against Oklahoma State in the Heart of Dallas Bowl, because this confidence-inspiring man will be their interim coach and Minnesota faces similar long odds against Texas Tech in the Meineke Car Care Bowl, a rematch of a monumental collapse that cost Glen Mason a job, otherwise known as the worst decision in Gopherland in the last 25 years.
So, yeah, if the Big Ten pulls off two of these games, things went well. If the league manages to win three, we'll dance and if conference teams somehow manage to take four or more, we'll own the night.
BC-MEH. Notre Dame, the nation's top-ranked team will face Alabama in the BCS Championship Game and that's an attractive matchup. Likewise with the Fiesta Bowl, where Oregon will take on Kansas State. The other BCS bowl games? Not so much.
Don't get us wrong. We'll watch the games. After all, it's the last football we'll see for months. But, are you really excited to see Louisville take on Florida in the Sugar Bowl?
And then there's the Orange Bowl.
Northern Illinois, leading a charge of seven MAC teams in bowl games, will face Florida State in Miami and the Huskies are excited:
Coach Dave Doeren is off to North Carolina State, but NIU is riding a 12-game winning streak and they have the nation's leader in rushing yards and total offense in quarterback Jordan Lynch.
This is great news for the MAC, made possible, thanks in part, to Ohio State being on probation and the Big East being, well, the Big East. Not everyone was thrilled, however. On ESPN's bowl selection special, Kirk Herbstreit went off on the Huskies:
"I love MAC football, but to put them in the BCS is an absolute joke to the rest of those teams that are more deserving," Herbstreit said. "I can't believe we're even having this discussion."
Needless to say, Twitter was quite vocal in its disagreement with Herbstreit's stance.
HANKINS, ROBY & HYDE. With Ohio State sitting out this bowl season, the topic of early entries for the NFL draft is getting more attention than it typically would. The Buckeyes have a trio of talented underclassmen that may test the NFL waters and while they have until Jan. 15 to declare for the draft, we're starting to hear things with regards to running back Carlos Hyde, defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins, and cornerback Bradley Roby.
Godspeed, Big Hank.At this point, we're comfortable saying that Hankins will not be returning for his senior season in Columbus. Unless he tumbles at the Combine, he'll be a top-15 selection, so it makes sense for him to go.
We've also heard that Carlos Hyde is seriously contemplating an early exit, which is not great news if you have visions of an undefeated 2013 dancing in your head, but it's early and a lot can still change.
As for Roby, to the best of our knowledge, he'll be back next season.
WUH? The coaching carousel continues to spin with Skip Holtz out at USF, Jerry Moore departing Appalachian State, the Petrino that didn't wreck his motorcycle heading to Idaho, new Kentucky coach Mark Stoops promising to recruit Ohio hard, and Darrell Hazell getting an interview with Cal.
But all of that is child's play compared to this:
Reliable source tells me Tennessee has at least reached out to Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema. Would be stunned if he left #Badgers tho.
— Adam Hoge (@AdamHogeCBS) December 2, 2012
Oh please, oh please, oh please.
HELMET STICKERS++. As some of you may have already noticed, we enabled Helmet Sticker voting on user blog posts and forum topics. You spoke and we listened. Please let us know if you encounter bugs or other weirdness. Ramzy beta tested things, but he was four bourbons deep when doing so.
SALSA KNUCKLES ARE THE WORST. We get a lot of promotional requests and advertising inquiries. We pass on an unholy number of these, but we always listen to Ohio State grads trying to make it with their own business.
With that said, we're pleased to announce a partnership with the guys from GameTime Salsa. Bryce and Weston Conway are Buckeyes and have an interesting product, appealing to both our love of delicious salsa and our fear of stained knuckles.
You can pick up a case of their salsa, which contains 45 snack-size portions, in Eleven Warriors Dry Goods. It makes for a wonderful gift for the snack-loving sports fan in your life (which very well could be you) and you get the added satisfaction of knowing your money is staying local, helping fellow Buckeye fans.
ETC. The final USA Today ballots for coaches. Public per tradition... John Cooper inducted into Rose Bowl Hall of Fame (he did go 2-0 in The Granddaddy of Them All)... If you missed it, Lache Seastrunk's 76-yard, one-legged touchdown from Saturday... Karl Malone is angry about things... A&M fans are picking up this SEC thing nicely, thank you... #stepyourgameup... THIS GUY.
