Ohio State Buckeyes vs. Miami Hurricanes: Why That Second Game Is So Big

Larry Burton (Syndicated Writer) As last year's season came to an end there were two things you could be sure of. You haven't seen the last of Alabama for a while and you better get ready to start thinking about Ohio State going back to a championship game.

Not only were they my early pick to play for it all next year but by the time others starting picking, it seemed to be the consensus of most of the top writers.

While I won't pretend to go into other's minds, the Ohio pick to be was based on many things, with one overriding word that kept coming into my mind, confidence.

Every year Ohio State is picked to finish in the top ten, but for years it has been far from a top team.

If you ask why, I think it's confidence, and I think it's the reason they will use it their advantage this year instead of it costing them silly losses to teams like Purdue and  Illinois and give them the confidence to play in tough games like Penn State and Iowa.

When Ohio State has a good season, as it did in 2006, it all started out with a quality win against a tough out of conference foe, and for fans who think OSU may play in a weak conference, their willingness to always schedule a tough out conference opponent each year silences the "easy schedule" debate.

In 2006 they took on and clobbered a good Texas team 24-7 and they didn't have but one close game until a 17-10 win against Illinois. They may have taken a beating in a game still to this day makes many Southern fans believe they all hype, a 41-14 drubbing by Florida in the championship game, but that early win propelled them into that championship game.

In 2007, the early game against a good out of conference team wound up being Washington, but that year, the Huskies were a nine loss team and it was hard to gain much confidence beating them.

Later that year, they lost a game they should have won against Illinois and was again thumped by another SEC team in the bowl game.

2008 saw them totally manhandled early by USC 35-3 and that season was filled with close wins over bad opponents a loss to Penn State and another bowl loss to yet another Southern team, this time Texas.

2009 saw a close early season game with USC end in a loss, but at least it was hard fought. The 18-15 loss hardly threw them into panic, and except for another freakish loss to really bad Purdue team five games later, they fought well the rest of the year.

Beating a tough Penn State, rated eleventh at the time and perhaps an even tougher Iowa, rated tenth at the time, gave them the confidence to swagger into the Rose Bowl and soundly defeat the number seven team in the nation, Oregon.

They are still riding that confidence high to start this season.

This could be the easiest schedule in some time for Ohio State as some usual rivals, like Penn State are rebuilding, and that early season out of conference game is against Miami (Florida) and not a USC at a peak.

This is not to say that Miami is not a quality opponent, as I fully expect them to finish in the top 20 this season, but it's not the tough game that they've faced in the past.

However, that win will give them the early season confidence to feel that all the pieces are finally in place for another legitimate title run and should inspire them to finish the regular season in fine shape to claim one of the two spots there.

With both an easier than usual schedule, confidence riding high coming into the season, a bevy of now experienced play makers at their disposal and one of the better coaches leading the Buckeyes, there is no reason not to expect them here.

Clearly the Miami game is just as important if not more so than the late season meeting with Iowa, which should determine more than just the Rose Bowl.

A stumble against Miami would doom the OSU season and open the door for more losses due to lack of confidence. A win would do just the opposite, except for the Hurricanes, as that might give them the confidence to make a BCS Bowl appearance of their own.

September 11th, 2010 is a date which may let the rest of the nation know what's in store for OSU this year and to me, that's why it's the most important game of the year, until bowl time that is.