Ohio State: The Little Team that could

Against all odds, the Ohio State Buckeyes have finally silenced the critics.  During the years of the BCS, the SEC dominated.  For whatever reason, year after year the teams of the south, primarily the southeast, swept title after title and won bowl game after bowl game.  Yes, in recent years there seemed to be a gradual shift, but the south was dominant.  But giving in to decades of cries, the college football program was changed and for the first time in college football history, we had an actual playoff system.

Into this new situation came the Buckeyes.  Long reviled by the sports media as an overblown has-been,  The days of Woody Hayes have long gone, and while the Bucks enjoyed some success under Jim Tressel, the later years were marred by overblown scandals built on minor transgressions, and poor performances in key bowl and championship games.

Then coach Tressel was forced to leave, and after a lost year, was replaced by former nemesis Urban Meyer, who himself had left the game due to health reasons.  After one undefeated season that didn't count due to sanctions from previous scandals, we lumbered through Meyer's second season, only to lose the key games of the year and lose them horribly.

Then after a summer of hoping for a solid year to rebuild, our Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback was injured before the season began.  And we were forced to turn to our backup quarterback,  Then against Michigan, he too was injured and out, only to be replaced by a third string quarterback that hadn't played the entire year.  We won, but faced Wisconsin and a Heisman candidate and one of the best runners in the nation.  We won.  We decimated.

Then it was number one Alabama, favorite of ESPN and the sports media, and overwhelming favorite.  The fluke against Wisconsin would fade and the Big Ten would once again fall under the dominate south.  We won.  We stunned.

But now, we were against what many felt should have been the number one team all year.  Oregan.  That was a team most teams feared to play.  They were fast.  They were a blur.  They shocked and awed.  Most assumed the best OSU could hope for was a good showing, and a great place in next years ratings.  And now?  Well, read for yourself.  It was a storybook season in a storied program.  It was teamwork and that magic that is football.  It was a good cap off to a great story.  And now it's time to go to bed.  Tomorrow we celebrate.