Ohio State Football: Why the Buckeyes' Bowl Picture Has Suddenly Changed

After Ohio State finished up the season 11-1, it appears as if the Buckeyes are most likely bound for the Sugar Bowl.

But thanks to some crazy finishes in this previous week, the potential opponent pool for Ohio State has diminished greatly.

After LSU fell to Arkansas on Saturday, suddenly the Buckeyes could be facing Bobby Petrino's Razorbacks in New Orleans.

And in a tremendous form of irony, Ryan Mallett will start against an Ohio State team that he would normally face every season if he were still at Michigan.

This matchup would be a better look for Ohio State, because Arkansas does not feature the type of defense that would strike fear into anyone's heart—unlike LSU's group.

The biggest concern for Ohio State would be matching up against the Razorbacks' deep passing attack, because even though DBs Chimdi Chekwa and Devon Torrence are pretty good in coverage, the problem lies in their inexperience and thin depth at safety.

And Arkansas loves to fire the ball deep to WRs Greg Childs, Joe Adams and Jarius Wright.

The other problem is that the pass rush for Ohio State has mysteriously disappeared despite the talent on the defensive line.

As for other potential bowl opponents, Auburn's win at Alabama eliminated them from the Sugar Bowl, meaning it is truly title or bust for the Tigers.

This means that should South Carolina exact their revenge for losing at Auburn back on September 25, the Gamecocks will make their first ever BCS appearance against the Buckeyes.

For Steve Spurrier's group, they can pose a truly physical challenge to Ohio State, not only in the powerful running game of Marcus Lattimore, but also with a group of talented, tall receivers featuring WR Alshon Jeffery.

The strength of the Gamecock defense is in the secondary, anchored by DBs Stephon Gilmore and Chris Culliver, meaning WRs DeVier Posey and Dane Sanzenbacher will have to fight for every completion they get.

But the curious thing to watch in either of these matchups would be how Bobby Petrino or Spurrier would try to defend Terrelle Pryor, whether or not to blitz him or force him to be a one-dimensional player.

Pryor has become a much more complete player, showing greater poise and improvement in his passing, but at times still struggles with his decision-making.

However, none of these matchups truly matter if Ohio State does not make the BCS.

What makes this a question mark all of a sudden is that the three teams sharing the Big Ten title—Wisconsin, OSU and Michigan State—are Nos. 4, 6 and 7, respectively, in both polls.

The thing that should help OSU is that in the Coaches' Poll, Ohio State has a significant point edge over Michigan State, which could help in the BCS standings.

But should Ohio State get to the Sugar Bowl, which is most likely because they will have the first pick of the at-large teams, they will no doubt have a challenge on their hands from the SEC.

And for a team like Ohio State that needs to get that SEC monkey off its back, a win against a good team from that conference will do wonders for the psyche of the program and their fans going forward.

This article is featured on The BCS Blitz. Don't forget to follow me on Twitter @bielik_tim.