By Ron Johnson
Jim Harbaugh is suspended by The Big Ten
So the Big Ten is determined to give Ohio State ANY chance they can to bring a National Championship to the Big Ten. They are so determined about it that for the second time this season, Jim Harbaugh is suspended. I have never seen something so pathetic in my life until I started seeing what the Big Ten is doing to keep themselves relevant.
Besides me, does anyone else want to point out the Ohio State University?
This is the same school that is the personal punching bag of the SEC. This is the same school that lost to Michigan last year and didn’t really do much to put themselves in the driver’s seat of the CFP. And now that they are ranked about the potential/eventual winner Georgia, the conference is doing everything in their power to ground Michigan’s chances of taking them down.
The reality: Ohio State is not the same powerhouse they used to be.
Ryan Day is not Jim Tressel. The Buckeyes got lucky with C.J. Stroud, but if they are expecting to waltz into the College Football Playoff, they got another thing coming. What is even more amazing is that the Board that votes the teams in is determined to keep Georgia from facing Ohio State in the Semifinals if everything works out the way we expect.
What does it take to get the Board to realize that this team is not that good?
Ohio State is not destined to defeat anyone outside the conference, and even if they make it to the National Championship Game, they are not going to win it…not against an SEC team at least. The Buckeyes are not a team to take lightly without question…but then again, they are not a team to sweat if you happen to be from the conference they can’t seem to defeat.
There is nothing that makes me want to pick the Buckeyes in any capacity. Whether it is cricket, pickleball, dodgeball, intramural wrestling, it does not matter. Ohio State is not going to win the big one anymore. And while the Boards of both the CFP and the Big Ten are determined to try their hardest to make that happen, it won’t help.
The worst case scenario for Ohio State will happen every single time. Even during the COVID Series, Ohio State was worthless. But instead of just building up the other schools in the conference, they settle for the Buckeyes once again. In the words of NFL Blitz, “What a truly pathetic display.”
The last time I saw it, it was called the Big Ten Conference. While it has more than ten teams (with more schools on the way via the Pac-12 Conference’s demise), it has multiple schools in it. So what makes Ohio State so special? What makes all this noise about the Buckeyes worth the money or the price of admission? Absolutely nothing. The Buckeyes were garbage in 2007, and they are garbage in 2023.
There is not much that can be said about them except for the Big Ten Board of Directors are determined on making sure that they get the right team (in their eyes, the right team) in the CFP, however, as we saw before, it won’t make a difference. Everyone in that conference and everyone on the CFP Board is hoping that Michigan falls at season’s end against the Buckeyes, thereby making it easier for them to push OSU in the Final Four.
But what about Georgia? What about Florida State? What about the other schools that could shatter their dreams? Will they rely on the officiating to get them there?
In reality, it will be either Georgia vs. Florida State, Florida State vs. Michigan or Georgia vs. Michigan. Ohio State cannot hang with anyone outside of the Big Ten. The Conference as a whole has become a pushover school, and because of this, I expect the Buckeyes to get eliminated before the NC game. The Seminoles are a different animal this season, and again, Georgia lost a majority of its roster to the NFL. Yet, both teams are playing better this season than last, and that is not even going into Michigan.
Bear in mind, Michigan won the three games that Harbaugh was suspended earlier this year.
Let’s not go into the fact that there is evidence that EVERY team in the Big Ten has stolen signs. This is nothing like the New England Patriots and Spygate. This is just blasphemy and ridiculous. The reality is that if there were signs stolen, who did it benefit? Looking at the scores, did it help Michigan blow out the teams even further? Nope. But the Board will do what it does for the benefit of helping the Buckeyes get to the dance. It does not help that the team is garbage outside of their conference. But if either Georgia or Florida State beats them into the ground, are they going to say that it was a rigged game?
Ohio State is not the answer to college football; it’s only the answer to Big Ten Football. But when Oregon starts play next season, what happens when the Ducks beat the Bucks? Will they keep Oregon out of the show next? It seems like the conference has had it out for Harbaugh since his arrival. To be fair, did anyone pay attention to the Big Ten before him? This is all about what is best for business, and Jim Harbaugh is indeed what is best for business in the Big Ten.
While the NCAA and the Big Ten have placed Ann Arbor under a microscope, they have done little to focus on the wrestling program of Ohio State that deserves the heat. But I say to Michigan: Unleash hell. Win just to spite these jabronis. Win just to remind Ryan Day that he is no Jim Tressel. Win just to show the Big Ten Conference that they didn’t do their due diligence at all. Win just to show the CFP Board that they all need to retire tout de suite.
Bottom Line: Stop riding with the hope that Ohio State is going to do anything other than what the Dallas Cowboys do every year which is choke. The Buckeyes will never be Florida State or Georgia. Ryan Day will never make it to the NFL.
And to be honest, THIS Ohio State will never be THIS Michigan either.
