National Chumpion

I've said before that, in most years, the National Title game should just pit the SEC Champion against the second best team in the country. So it's hard for me to argue against LSU making the BCS Title game this year.

But Ohio State, not so much. Let's look at their schedule this year:

Sep 01: Youngstown State, 38 - 6 (W)
Hey, you beat your coach's old school. His old I-AA school. Youngstown State team nickname: The Penguins.

Sep 08: Akron, 20 - 2 (W)
You took down the 4-8 "Zips," whose season featured back-to-back-to-back losses to Temple, Buffalo and Bowling Green. Who set up this non-conference schedule? Was the goal to prove that you're the best team in Ohio? Then cue President Bush landing on an air craft carrier, because Mission Accomplished.

Sep 15: Washington, 33 - 14 (W)
Props for traveling to Seattle, but these guys lost to Hawaii. And pretty much the entire Pac-10.

Sep 22: Northwestern, 58 - 7 (W)
Somehow this is the most impressive win yet. Wait, Northwestern was 6-6 and lost to Duke? Oh, then maybe not.

Sep 29: Minnesota, 30 - 7 (W)
Minnesota - now THAT sounds like a real team. A real 1-11 team.

Oct 06: Purdue, 23 - 7 (W)
Ah, the Georgia tech of the Big 10. They finished 7-5 (assuming you count a win over Notre Dame as an actual victory). Ladies and gentlemen, we have something approaching a quality win.

Oct 13: Kent State, 48 - 3 (W)
Where is Kent State, you ask. Why, in Ohio, of course. I'm surprised OSU isn't scheduling local high schools yet. Maybe they should. Kent State was 3-9 this year, with wins over Iowa State, Delaware State and Ohio. Come to think of it, why isn't Ohio State playing Ohio? They could wax that Bobcat ass.

Oct 20: Michigan State, 24 - 17 (W)
I forget, was this game before or after Michigan State fired John L. Smith mid-season? Wait, that was last year. My bad.

Oct 27: Penn State, 37 - 17 (W)
This game was at Penn State, making it the biggest win on the schedule so far for the mighty kings of Ohio (just ask Kent State and Akron). The Nittany Lions finished 8-4. For comparison's sake, so did Auburn.

Nov. 3: Wisconsin, 38 - 17 (W)
Like the Penn State win, you can't really argue with this one. A solid 21-point win over a 9-3 team that has proven over the years that it can hang with SEC teams. And when that team is Auburn, they can even win. This is the Buckeyes only win over a current top 25 team, by the way. No, I am not making that up.

Nov. 10: Illinois, 21 - 28 (L)
You lost to Ron Zook? Well, I can't really throw that stone.

Nov 17: Michigan, 14 - 3 (W)
Seriously, I just don't care.

Enjoy it, Ohio State. Louisiana State is going to destroy you in New Orleans. Unless their best coach leaves for Nebraska this week and some insane gorilla is calling the shots for the Tigers.

Oh, darn.