Ohio State at Michigan

Every year this seems to be the biggest game of the year for both teams and perhaps the Big Ten conference as whole. Nearly every year the winner ends up going to the National Championship or at least the Rose Bowl. This time around, the game has lost some steam with Michigan having an off year and both teams losing last week to previously unranked opponents (Illinois for Ohio State and Wisconsin for Michigan). Neither team has real National Championship aspirations anymore but the winner is still guaranteed a Rose Bowl berth. This game is going to be competitive no matter what, but the real question is whether quarterback Chad Henne and running back Mike Hart will be healthy enough to make contributions. After a rough start, this team has been able to roll through opponents when they haven’t been dinged up. Ohio State, on the other hand, did not look as sharp as everyone expected against their first reasonably competent opponent. Michigan could provide much more of a threat than Illinois, especially because Henne and Hart have already played in this rivalry three times. Granted they lost on all three attempts, but one of the main reasons they and OT Jake Long returned was to get revenge on OSU. Furthermore, speculation over Michigan’s long time Head Coach, Lloyd Carr, potentially retiring has risen dramatically recently. If the rumors are true, there is no question that he would like to end his career on a high note. Beating OSU to end a recent cold streak in the series would fill that role nicely. Given the high pressure of this rivalry and the noise of the Big House, I’m thinking OSU and their inexperienced QB are going to be a little rattled. I give Michigan the edge, only on the grounds that Henne and Hart aren’t too banged up to play.

The Wash U Top 25 Poll

1. Oregon 8-1
2. LSU 8-1
3. Oklahoma 9-1
4. Missouri 9-1
5. West Virginia 8-1
6. Kansas 10-0
7. Arizona State 9-1
8. Georgia 8-2
9. USC 8-2
10. Ohio state 10-1
11. Florida 7-3
12. Virginia Tech 8-2
13. Texas 9-2
14. Virginia 9-2
15. Clemson 8-2
16. Hawaii 9-0
17. Boise State 9-1
18. Boston College 8-2
19. Tennessee 7-3
20. Illinois 8-3
21. Kentucky 7-3
22. Michigan 8-3
23. Cincinnati 8-2
24. Connecticut 8-2
25. Wisconsin 8-3

Explanation of rankings

Let’s start with #1 and #2. Most of my fellow sports writers have these two reversed based on the strength of the SEC. Yes, they are correct, the SEC is the toughest conference, but what they fail to observe that the PAC-10 is hands down the second strongest. Oregon has had many decisive victories over opponents while LSU has seemed to be well matched too often for comfort. #3 though #7 won’t cause too much controversy other then Kansas. The reason I have undefeated Kansas at #6 is not only due to their poor schedule. The one thing that drives me nuts about recent sports commentary and the belief that Kansas is “a legit contender” is that nobody talks about this team from last year. Last year, Kansas went 6-6 (with loses to Toledo and Baylor) and ended the season at the Fort Worth Bowl. Now I’m supposed to believe that one year removed their ready for a BCS Bowl, let alone the National Championship? No thanks. No worries here though, because something tells me Missouri and Oklahoma might play them a little bit better then Central Michigan or Southeastern Louisiana. Other then that I don’t think there are any other real surprises in here. Feel free to send in your comments.

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