For Big Ten, this game means everything
At one point Saturday, with Ohio State trailing Ohio and Michigan locked in a death struggle against Miami of Ohio, I thought, “Oh no, is Jim Delaney going to send out a press release questioning the MAC’s academic standards?”
Ohio State rallied, Michigan held on, and Delaney — the Big Ten commissioner who took a few shots at the SEC last winter — does not have to defend his league.
At least not yet.
Ohio State visits USC Saturday night, and I cannot remember a big September game that seemed so necessary. Let’s face it: if the Buckeyes did not play a top-five team from another conference, then showed up for their third straight BCS title game in January, fans around the nation would have called security. I think we all remember the lesson from the Bible: once is a happening, twice is a coincidence and three times means please, for the love of all things holy, STOP CRASHING THE TITLE GAME.
But if Ohio State wins at USC Saturday, that would shut up a whole lot of people. Winning at USC is the gold standard of this era of college football. It is an achievement nobody can dispute.
You can’t say USC is a fraud, because the Trojans play all comers in all places, and they just destroyed Virginia on the road.
foxsports.com
9/8/08
Magnolia Tribune
