You know, I've been dying for you to come back so we can have another poke-fun season of NCAA football talk

(I left a post for you
here, figured you'd appreciate it.

)
Oh yeah how did Miami do against Wisconsin and the overrated Big 10 last year? Watching the U huddle around a heater like a bunch of pussies was quite pathetic. In Florida too. And the Big Ten last year in bowl games defeated the ACC champ and the Pac 10 champ.
Um, tOSU > Oregon...@ the Rose Bowl which is essentially a home game for the Pac10 (but moreso if it were USCw again)....but the ACC win? C'mon

Yeah, GT was good, ranked pretty even with the Iowa team that beat them by 10...@ the Orange Bowl (essentially home ground for ACC)...but the ACC is 2-10 in BCS games, that's a 0.167 winning percentage. Hardly something to beat your chest about, when they are 1-8 since 2000

). And yes, this is my weak assed attempt to pull attention away from a well earned Big10+2/tOSU win over a good Oregon team, and try to make people look at a win over the ACC as a cheap win....even though the GT team there was top 10 at the time. I'm lame, I know.
OSU if they can beat Miami (and we saw Miami against a Big 10 team last year), they will set themselves up nicely for a possible NC game. ...And Ohio State does play tough road games every other season, which is a lot more than most teams can say.
...
In fact they schedule an out of conference road game every other year. And I know Miami does too, so that's good for them. Take a look at Florida. when was the last time they even left the state of florida for a non conference game? That's sad.
You're right, they don't schedule strong OOC games in season, but for the ones they couldn't hide from, how'd they fare?
2009 Sugar Bowl (LA): UF 52 - CIN 24 WIN
2006 Fiesta Bowl (AZ): UF 51 - tOSU 14 WIN
I could stop there, but let's look deeper....
2004 Peach Bowl (GA): UF 10 - MIA 27 LOSS
2000 Peach Bowl (GA): UF 20 - MIA 37 LOSS
So, there are DAMN few OOC games played out of the state...at all. And as much as I want to say we seem to fare well when we do play OOC and out of state....those two MIA losses sting. I have to admit that as well.

The only partial argument I can try to offer is that a) it isn't our fault so many of the bowl games are played in our state, and b ) it isn't our fault we have two other teams in our state that are usually regarded as 'tough' OOC type games (FSU whom we have to play every year, state law; and MIA.....though USF is trying to be a decent #4).
Point to smotpoker.
Everyone thinks Kennick Stadium is some massive deafening place to play. It barely holds over 70,000 fans. The Buckeyes get way more than that for a spring game. (not that the fans are intimidating at a spring game, just saying 70,000 isn't all that much) And OSU hasn't lost there in who knows how many years. At least not the last 5. OSU has won the Big Ten Championship the last 5 years. Why would a year when they have all the key guys coming back be any different?
Sorry, I had to laugh at the image of 70k screaming fans for a spring game intimidating their freshmen...burning couches and flipping cars if the Scarlet beat the Gray by too many points
Let's rephrase the last bit of your statement however - when the rest of the conference is continued to be viewed as weak(-ish) to the point where tOSU has won the Championship the last 5 yrs running, why would their team with so many returning players be viewed any differently? To the point of losing at Iowa....check your books, your memory of the last 5 yrs is true, you haven't lost there...but you only played them there once (2006). The time before that (2004), you lost.
Still, in fairness, let's take a look at tOSU's OOC and out of state games:
2009 Rose Bowl vs Oregon 26-17 WIN!!
2009 @ Toledo 38-0 WIN .... wait, that's in Ohio, isn't it

2008 @ USC 35-3 LOSS
2008 Fiesta Bowl vs Texas 24-21 LOSS
2007 @ Washington 33-14 WIN
2007 BCS Nat'l Champ (LA) vs LSU 28-24 LOSS
2006 @ TX 24-7 WIN
2006 BCS Nat'l Champ (AZ) vs UF 41-14 LOSS
2005 Fiesta Bowl (AZ) vs ND 34-20 WIN
2004 @ NC State 22-14 WIN
2004 Alamo Bowl vs Ok St 33-7 WIN
.... I could go further, but I think your point stands....again. We all know the BCS woes tOSU has suffered....but that's a very slanted view (that I enjoy), but a full view shows they DO travel quite a bit, and DO fare reasonably well.
But I sure can't wait for the season. I am taking my newlywed wife to her first Ohio State game against Marshall for the season opener on 9/2. I am super stoked for it as I am sure it will be the greatest sporting event she's ever been too. The only other college football game she's been too as she is also an Indiana fan was Indiana-Iowa 2008 when it was extremely hot outside and her Hoosiers got blown out. She needs to have the real college football experience.
LOL....IND-IOWA is certainly not a 'real college football experience', so I hope she appreciates the step up of a home game for tOSU, even if it is against Marshall. Congrats on the wife. I was lucky, mine is a bigger football (college and pro) nut than most guys, but she's a fan of UF (she went there), and Virginia (she went there, but accepts it's hopeless), and ...uhg... Penn State (her brother went there, and the family flew out for their last Nat'l Championship (1986-87 Fiesta Bowl over MIA). Still, I know the good fortune of a man who's wife
tells him to get all the TV's out for watching football on the weekend, and loves to attend games - home or away.

Good luck with yours, and hopefully you don't have to trade a date at the Horseshoe with a date at 'Paint your own Pottery' or somesuch to keep things even
