It occurs to me that when Ohio State is really, really hyped in the preseason (under past coaches in the past 10 to 12 years) the players kind of fall short of expectations. One exception was the year OSU beat UM at the end of the year in the No. 1 vs No. 2 matchup, but then OSU went and laid an egg in the national title game.
My point is that OSU - in that city with that fanbase, for whatever reason - sometimes has trouble handling the pats on the back and championship expectations. Maybe this group will be different. Maybe Urban Meyer's hard-edge approach will serve them well, although his teams at Florida had trouble (on the field and on the police blotter) as the roster became entirely made up of players he recruited.
Or maybe history will repeat itself, for whatever reason, in that town, with that fanbase and a spring and summer of victory laps and preseason No. 1 anointment.
After all, they're just 21-year-olds.
So, no question they return a very talented, very proven, very experienced team. They are probably in better position to handle all the accolades than past Buckeye teams that fell short. But they still have to go out and do it. And if they do fall short this year, who do you think will be the one to chop them down? Michigan? Michigan State? Va Tech? Someone in the Big Ten Championship Game, or someone in the Final Four?
The easy answer on this site would be MSU. I'm not fishing for that answer. I'm just saying that it's so easy to anoint, February through August. Ohio State has been fortunate enough to go into seasons with great talent and high expectations in the past, and it's been a hard thing to live up to, for whatever reason, spanning other coaches.
My point is that OSU - in that city with that fanbase, for whatever reason - sometimes has trouble handling the pats on the back and championship expectations. Maybe this group will be different. Maybe Urban Meyer's hard-edge approach will serve them well, although his teams at Florida had trouble (on the field and on the police blotter) as the roster became entirely made up of players he recruited.
Or maybe history will repeat itself, for whatever reason, in that town, with that fanbase and a spring and summer of victory laps and preseason No. 1 anointment.
After all, they're just 21-year-olds.
So, no question they return a very talented, very proven, very experienced team. They are probably in better position to handle all the accolades than past Buckeye teams that fell short. But they still have to go out and do it. And if they do fall short this year, who do you think will be the one to chop them down? Michigan? Michigan State? Va Tech? Someone in the Big Ten Championship Game, or someone in the Final Four?
The easy answer on this site would be MSU. I'm not fishing for that answer. I'm just saying that it's so easy to anoint, February through August. Ohio State has been fortunate enough to go into seasons with great talent and high expectations in the past, and it's been a hard thing to live up to, for whatever reason, spanning other coaches.
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