A recent article caught my attention regarding how Ohio State should not be in this year's BCS Championship Game. One of the key points that the article made was how Ohio State's loss to LSU last year in the BCS Championship Game dropped Ohio State's overall bowl record to 0-9 against teams in the SEC.
While nobody can dispute the historical fact that Ohio State is 0-9 against SEC opponents in bowl games, I believe a couple of things should be pointed out for the sake of balance.
1. The majority of the bowl losses to the SEC occurred under John Cooper's tenure as Ohio State's head coach.
If you read below, you will see which SEC team defeated Ohio State, in which bowl game and year, and what the score was. While it is convenient for people around the country to bash Ohio State or Jim Tressel as ill-prepared to handle the mighty SEC, you can see Jim Tressel is only responsible for three of the nine losses.
Two of Coach Tressel's losses came in the BCS Championship Game. As an Ohio State fan, I completely believe I would rather be losing in the BCS Championship Game than not be in the game at all.
Another thing: No matter how bad Ohio State was defeated the last two seasons, neither game was as bad as what Oklahoma suffered to USC (55-19) in 2005 (a 36-point differential, compared to Ohio State's 27-point loss to Florida or 14-point loss to LSU).
Last time I checked, Oklahoma had lost their last four BCS Bowl Games—yet I fail to see too many articles supporting a ban of Oklahoma from BCS consideration.
1978 Sugar Bowl: Alabama 35, Ohio State 6 - Woody Hayes
1990 Hall Of Fame Bowl: Auburn 31, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper
1993 Citrus Bowl: Georgia 21, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper
1995 Citrus Bowl: Alabama 24, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper
1996 Citrus Bowl: Tennessee 20, Ohio State 14 - John Cooper
2001 Outback Bowl: South Carolina 24, Ohio State 7 - John Cooper
2002 Outback Bowl: South Carolina 31, Ohio State 28 - Jim Tressel
2007 BCS Championship: Florida 41, Ohio State 14 - Jim Tressel
2008 BCS Championship: LSU 38, Ohio State 24 - Jim Tressel
2. Florida fans should get on their hands and knees and thank the gods for UCLA in 2006.
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