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One of our writers will likely ruffle some feathers with four hot takes about college football and Ohio State.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about unpopular opinions. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all our “Unpopular Opinion” articles here.
One of the few things in life I am good at is having unpopular opinions. While I won’t turn 40 until next July, at this point I feel like I’m the Clint Eastwood GIF from Gran Torino where he is looking out from his porch with utter disgust.
Basically everything is awful, and more often than not I’m proven right. Luckily growing up as a Buffalo sports fan broke my brain at a young age, so I’ve come to accept and embrace my fate as an extreme pessimist. Now I’m just striving to be the best at being the worst.
At this point, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with all this. Today I’m going to dish out a few of my most unpopular opinions about college football and Ohio State. While you don’t have to like the opinions I’m about to give, there is going to come a time when you realize that I was right all along.
This doesn’t mean I’m going to stop loving and rooting for the Buckeyes, there just aren’t that many highs anymore.
Every year there are three objectives: Beat Michigan, win the Big Ten, and win a national title. The last three years have seen the Buckeyes fail to achieve the first objective, which has kept them from the second objective, and taken them out of the running for the third in two of the last three seasons. In the year they did make the College Football Playoff, Ohio State had eventual national champion Georgia on the ropes but blew a fourth-quarter lead to the Bulldogs.
Things could change this year with the introduction of the expanded playoff, as well as the expansion of the Big Ten. With the conference doing away with divisions, a loss to Michigan won’t necessarily eliminate the Buckeyes from competing for a Big Ten title. Who knows, we could actually get a rematch with the Wolverines the week after The Game if the rivals both sit on top of the Big Ten at the end of the regular season.
Even if Ohio State doesn’t make the Big Ten Championship Game, they’ll have more margin for error when it comes to making the playoff, since there will be 12 teams competing in the College Football Playoff.
What worries me is how the goalposts are moved with the expanded playoff. Is it a disappointment if Ohio State doesn’t earn a bye? Is the world ending if Ohio State can’t secure a home playoff game? What if they lose in a first-round game?
Imagine how prickly Christmas will be if Santa Claus delivers Ohio State fans a lump of coal before Dec. 25. Imagine how upset we were after the Cotton Bowl loss to Missouri and multiply that by eleventy bajillion.
Again, I’m not jumping ship and going to start rooting for another team, I’m just stating it can be rough at times to be a Buckeye fan because the bar is set so high. They say heavy is the head that lies the crown, it’s just Ohio State hasn’t been winning titles or beating Michigan enough lately for us to be living like the kings and queens we think we are.
So many Ohio State fans were elated when it was announced the Big Ten would be ending their partnership with ESPN. Be careful what you wish for.
With the departure of “WWE SmackDown!” on Friday nights, FOX is going to expand their college football coverage and start broadcasting Friday night games. Following the Sept. 13 game between Arizona and Kansas State, the next nine Friday night games on FOX’s schedule are Big Ten conference games.
This year, Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State weren’t included in the Friday night schedule, but you know it’s only a matter of time before the Buckeyes are told to play on Friday night.
Don’t like it? Too damn bad. Just look at the NFL, which is playing on every day of the week except Tuesday this season. You can argue how it is different since the NFL is a professional sports league, but college football isn’t far off. The players are getting paid and the television contracts are massive. It’s good business for FOX to capitalize on their investment and broadcast content they know people will watch.
It’s not like Ohio State hasn’t already played in a Friday night game, as they destroyed Northwestern on a Friday night in Evanston a few years ago. Some will argue that Friday night should be for high school football and if you are playing on Friday night you are at a disadvantage when it comes to recruiting. Maybe 20-30 years ago that might be the case but not these days since everything is available on the internet.
If I had to guess, I’d say the Buckeyes will be asked to play a Friday game once every other year. I know it’s hard to imagine right now but we will all find a way to survive when Ohio State is forced to strap on the pads on a Friday night.
I always get a laugh when I see somebody freaking out when it is announced that an Ohio State event is on Peacock. In a way, this goes back to the joy Buckeye fans had when the Big Ten was able to free themselves from the evil that is ESPN. Be careful what you wish for because you might have actually had it better than you thought.
Prior to last season I already had been subscribed to Peacock for a number of years. As a fan of WWE and the English Premier League, Peacock was a great value to me. Not only could I watch events like the Royal Rumble and WrestleMania for six dollars a month, but I also had access to tons of soccer. While I know the price will be increasing by a couple of bucks a month soon, it’s still less than $100 a year, so it’s not like you’re having to break the bank for it.
Really the only people I feel sad for when it comes to Ohio State events being on Peacock are bar and restaurant owners, since it could take away from some of their business as they don’t have a cost-effective option to air streaming games on multiple televisions. For everybody else, at least it could possibly give you a chance to talk to your parents more since you’ll have to walk them through how to get the Buckeye game on their television.
If we’re being honest, I’d much rather just kick Northwestern out of the Big Ten. But since we can’t do that, we are stuck with them playing at temporary stadiums while they rebuild Ryan Field.
On Nov. 16, Ohio State will travel to Chicago and take on the Wildcats at Wrigley Field. I know there are some people that love the idea of the Buckeyes playing at the home of the Chicago Cubs. I’m not one of those people.
So why do I hate that this is happening? When we saw Northwestern and Iowa play there last season, the field was awful and both teams were on the same sidelines. It’s all fun and games until someone gets injured for the rest of the season because of how bad the footing is.
Even though an injury because of the field could happen at any venue, there is more of a possibility of it happening at a stadium that isn’t really designated for football. Save shenanigans like this for bowl season like they do at Yankee Stadium or Fenway Park.
On the bright side, at least they figured out the dimensions so they can use both end zones!
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