Despite Winning 22 Straight Games, Ohio State Football Stuck in Neutral (Yahoo Contributor Network)

COMMENTARY | The Ohio State Buckeyes are the Rodney Dangerfields of the FBS. Like the legendary comedian, the Bucks cannot seem to get any respect in 2013. Even though OSU picked up its 22nd straight victory on November 16 with a 60-35 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini, the Buckeyes still lost ground in the most recent BCS standings. While OSU was able to maintain the No. 3 position in the BCS, its grip on that spot is now tenuous at best. If the current No. 4 team, the Baylor Bears, defeat the Oklahoma State Cowboys on November 23, it is almost a given that OSU will switch spots with Baylor in next weeks BCS standings. OSU could hang 100 points on the Indiana Hoosiers this weekend, yet the undefeated Buckeyes will still lose a position in the BCS rankings. A major reason why teams keep leapfrogging the Buckeyes in the BCS standings is the lack of respect OSU gets in the USA Today coaches’ poll. The coaches’ poll makes up one-third of the BCS formula, and the coaches who vote in that poll currently have the Buckeyes at No. 3. While third might seem like a fair ranking for this OSU team on the surface, it’s not. When you dig a little deeper, it actually is almost a slap in the face to a Buckeye squad that hasn’t lost a game in more than 22 months. That’s because the same voters that saw fit to rank the Buckeyes at No. 2 behind the Alabama Crimson Tide heading into 2013 have shown no love toward OSU since early-September. If Baylor does move ahead the Buckeyes in the next coaches’ poll, it will be the third time the Buckeyes have lost ground in that poll this season. The Oregon Ducks and Florida State Seminoles each jumped OSU earlier in 2013. Of course, OSU head coach Urban Meyer hasn’t been too thrilled about the fact that his team could go undefeated and not get a shot at the national title, saying on November 18 that the BCS was flawed. Unfortunately, that’s just a harsh reality for a team that hasn’t gotten much respect all season long. Florida State is everyone’s No. 2 team, even though it plays in the ACC, which has been irrelevant for years and still is this season, for the most part. Baylor’s foes in the Big 12 are a little more respectable, but definitely not at the level of the Pac-12 or the SEC, yet voters are squeezing the Buckeyes out of national-title contention based on how weak the Big Ten is this year. Despite being cast off as an also-ran conference this year by most, the Big Ten still has four teams currently in the top 25 of the BCS, which is one more than the Big 12. The 14-team ACC, though, has a whopping two teams in the top 25 right now, yet this is the conference from which one of the likely teams in the BCS championship game will emerge…

Continue Reading: Despite Winning 22 Straight Games, Ohio State Football Stuck in Neutral (Yahoo Contributor Network)