COMMENTARY | This coming weekend is going to be a nerve-wracking one for followers of the Ohio State Buckeyes. No. 2 Ohio State faces the No. 10 Michigan State Spartans on December 7 in the Big Ten championship game. MSU is 11-1 so far this year, and will be provide the toughest test yet for the Buckeyes. The Spartans’ defense has been on an absolute tear recently, so OSU’s high-powered offense is going to have to be in top form if it expects to defeat MSU. A win over the Spartans should put OSU in its third BCS championship game in the last eight seasons. I say “should” because voters in the USA Today coaches’ poll and Harris poll — the two that matter in the BCS formula — have had a nasty habit of disrespecting OSU all season long, and that very well could be the case once again come December 8. Although OSU is on an FBS-best 24-game winning streak, the Buckeyes are treated more like a mid-major than a team from one of the most storied conferences in college football. Two times in 2013 the Buckeyes were leapfrogged in the coaches’ poll by other teams, despite their unblemished record. While one of the two teams that voters felt was better than OSU — Florida State — have more than proved their worth in 2013, the other team — Oregon — has long since been exposed as a fraud. The voting habits of pollsters in 2013 has to be on the minds of OSU faithful hoping their team does get burned in favor of the SEC champion. No. 3 Auburn and No. 5 Missouri, despite both having a loss, believe they deserve a shot at the national title if they take home the SEC crown. While I’m more than aware that the SEC is the alpha male of major college football, a one-loss team is never more deserving of a national title shot than an undefeated squad from a BCS conference. I personally do not think Missouri has any chance of overtaking a 13-0 OSU team in the polls, as the Tigers flew under the national radar for most of the year. Auburn, on the other hand, poses a huge threat to OSU’s tenuous grip on No. 2 in the BCS standings. With miraculous victories over the Georgia Bulldogs and Alabama Crimson Tide in their last two games, the Tigers are seemingly everyone’s darlings at this point.
Continue Reading: Shutting an Undefeated Ohio State Team Out of National Title Game in Favor of Auburn Would Be a Travesty (Yahoo Contributor Network)
