Ohio State Buckeye Bowl Success Linked to ABC?

OK.  This is something I’ve thought about over the last couple of years.  There really is no scientific evidence or proof behind this, however, it IS something to think about.

Let’s reset.  The date was January 3, 2003.   Ohio State was playing in arguably one of the best bowl games in the history of college football.  Coming into the game, the Scarlet and Gray were the decided underdogs against the mighty, ferocious Miami Hurricanes.

 ABC had the coverage of this colossal showdown and I’ll never forget the color analysis by Keith Jackson and the ultimate “Ohio State/Cincinnati Bengal/anything from the state of Ohio-hater” Dan Foutz.  Ohio State won that contested match in double overtime, 31 to 24.

Fast forward to the next three seasons.

The 2003 season saw Ohio State once again in Tempe, Arizona participating in the Fiesta Bowl.  Although the opponent was different that year (Kansas State), the outcome was the same: an Ohio State victory, 35 to 28. That year, as the year before, the Fiesta Bowl was televised on ABC.  

The 2004 season saw the Buckeyes lose three straight in Big Ten play, but still make it to the illustrious Alamo Bowl where they completely dismantled the Cowboys of Oklahoma State, 33-7.  Although ABC, itself, did not cover this game, its sister company, ESPN, did. 

Following the Alamo Bowl, the 2005 season showed a glimpse into what a Troy Smith-led Ohio State football team could do.  The regular season ended with a 10-2 record, but it was good enough to land the Scarlet and Gray in the Fiesta Bowl once again. 

This time, the opponent was Brady Quinn and the vaunted Notre Dame Fighting Irish led by a much happier Charlie Weis.  Although the score appeared to be relatively close (34-20), the Buckeyes completely shredded Notre Dame on all sides of the ball giving them their third consecutive Fiesta Bowl victory.

And yes…you guessed it…ABC televised the event for us in crystal clear high definition.

But then, the unthinkable happened: ABC lost the BCS contract (except for the Rose Bowl).  The big bad boys of Fox Sports won a three year contract to televise the BCS Bowls, including the newest of them all: The Bowl Championship Game.  That year, Ohio State had a pretty dominating year on both sides of the ball, including a Heisman Trophy for Troy Smith.  

The Buckeyes came into the championship the clear favorite after knocking off then-No. 2, Michigan in one of the greatest college football games of all time.  In fact, many noted that that game was a championship-caliber matchup, in and of itself. 

Ohio State’s opponent in the championship, the Florida Gators, appeared to be the lesser of the two teams and was given very little chance of winning the game.  To beat it all, the championship game was to be played in none other than Tempe, Arizona, better referred to as the Ohio State West Campus (because of the success of the football team and how many fans traveled to Tempe).

That game could not have started better for the Buckeyes.  On the opening kickoff for Ohio State, Tedd Ginn promptly ran the ball back the entire length of the field, temporarily putting to rest this new “speed” issue we all heard so much about. 

Little did fans of the Scarlet and Gray know that that touchdown would be one of only two scored on a hungry Gator football team.  Whereas OSU’s offensive team had dominated opponents all through the season, they never could get it into gear, resulting in poor field position for the defense and a ton of points allowed. 

Ohio State lost that championship 41-14 and the Scarlet and Gray became black and blue from the media onslaught that followed.

The next two regular seasons seemed to be much of the same, with Ohio State basically running the table through the Big Ten conference and getting two more shots at BCS bowls. 

The 2007 National Championship game attracted the Buckeyes again as an opponent, but this time as an underdog against the powerful Bayou Bengals of LSU.  Although not quite as lopsided as the year before, it was still a convincing win by the Tigers (38-24) as another SEC team knocked off Ohio State on Fox Sports.  

Last season, again saw OSU in a BCS game.  Back in familiar territory, the Buckeyes took Colt McCoy and the Texas Longhorns down to the final seconds before losing respectfully, 24-21.

This New Year’s Day, January 1, 2010 will not only be the start of a new year, but a new decade.  The better news for Buckeye fans is that Ohio State clinched the outright Big Ten title and won a berth in the coveted Rose Bowl.

With the Rose Bowl always remaining loyal to ABC, it does make one wonder what the outcome this year might be.  What we do know for sure is that the television company who aired the former successes of the Buckeyes will have their trucks parked in the lot in Pasadena!