I am pretty sure that is what Ohio State president E. Gordon Gee meant when he told TCU fans that they didn't play a hard enough schedule and shouldn't be included in the hunt for the National Title.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the Ohio State president said, "Well, I don't know enough about the X's and O's of college football," said Gee, formerly the president at West Virginia, Colorado, Brown and Vanderbilt universities. "I do know, having been both a Southeastern Conference president and a Big Ten president, that it's like murderer's row every week for these schools. We do not play the Little Sisters of the Poor. We play very fine schools on any given day. So I think until a university runs through that gantlet that there's some reason to believe that they not be the best teams to [be] in the big ballgame."
I am trying to dissect which gauntlet he meant?
Ohio State played a brutal Non-Conference schedule of Marshall, Ohio and Eastern Michigan all at home. Of those three brutal games, only Ohio is above .500. Talk about a gauntlet.
To give Ohio State credit they did play Miami (FL) (then #12), but this game, again, was at home. Tough to call it a gauntlet when every game you get to choose, you choose to play at home.
In non-conference games TCU hosted then #24 Oregon State and bowl eligible Baylor. TCU also did take advantage of being a powerhouse by scheduling a home game against Tennessee Tech, but unlike Ohio State, TCU went on the road to face Southern Methodist (above .500).
So when we compare Non-Conference schedules, I think it clearly goes the way of the Horned Frogs.
According to Gee, he plays a "gauntlet schedule" so by that you'd assume they play ranked teams on a daily basis, right?
 |
| Not so fast my Friend! |
Let's start again with Ohio State. They have played 3 ranked teams, one at home, Miami (FL) and two on the road, Wisconsin and Iowa. Of these 3 games the Buckeyes are 2-1, losing only to the Badgers.
TCU? Well unlike Ohio State, TCU has played a top 10 team, Utah, and the aforementioned Oregon State. While they have also beaten Baylor and Air Force, who both have been ranked during the year.
Ohio State? Not so much. The rest of their schedule consisted of Big Ten cupcakes, Illinois, Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota, Penn State and, obviously, the final game this weekend against Michigan.
So what does it come down to? Gee was terribly mistaken when he made his comments, he clearly has little to no understanding of college football, other than he realizes that the Power Six, well doesn't quite have the "Power" it use to (although it does have a helluva lot of it).
So if you're TCU Athletic Director Chris Del Conte, what do you do?
"Anytime. Anyplace. Anywhere," Del Conte said. "Buckeyes against the Horned Frogs. Tee it up. Let's go."
Absolutely. Put your money where you just threw your mouth Ohio State. Put up or shut up.
For years I've watched the Rose Bowl Game on television every New Year's Day, one day hoping to be able to watch the game in person from legendary Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California. Being a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and having lived in Wisconsin all my life, I remember the excitement that the Rose Bowl generated when Wisconsin played in 1994, 1999, and 2000 under former head coach, and current AD, Barry Alvarez. This is of course "The Granddaddy of Them All" as former ABC announcer Keith Jackson so vividly would describe each year on the broadcast. However, in this era of the BCS, the 97th edition of the Rose Bowl Game would not have the traditional Big Ten vs. Pac-10 matchup as Pac-10 Champion, Oregon, is playing in Glendale, AZ for the National Championship. As such, and due to a little known addition to the most recent BCS contract with ESPN, the Rose Bowl was obligated to take the top non-AQ (Automatic Qualifying) school if it lost one of its traditional participants to the title game. Therefore, instead of the Rose Bowl taking Stanford to preserve the Big Ten/Pac-10 matchup, the Rose Bowl was forced to take the TCU Horned Frogs. I mean no disrespect to TCU in using the term forced, but I think without this clause, the Rose takes Stanford to preserve tradition and TCU ends up going to the Orange Bowl to play Virginia Tech. Due to this completely non-traditional matchup, and the fact that my alma mater was playing, I dropped the cash to buy a ticket and fly to California to watch the Granddaddy in person.
the people already on site for the game. The bowl committee does a great job of making game day an experience with a food court set up outside the stadium for patrons to buy some of the local area's best foods. Additionally, the alumni associations for each team hold gigantic parties in parking lots surrounding the stadium providing the perfect lead up to kick off. The aura of tradition and prestige just permeates the entire stadium site.
solid teams such as Air Force and Utah mixed in. I personally expected a shootout and in the first quarter, it appeared as though that was exactly what the fans and viewers were in for as no punts were required and the Horned Frogs scored 2 touchdowns to the Badgers' touchdown and a field goal.
plays by both teams in the 2nd half allowed the defenses to keep both offenses out of the endzone until late in the 4th quarter. Wisconsin forced a TCU punt with about 5 minutes to play and quickly matriculated the ball down the field behind a 40+ yd run by Clay as well as another 20+ yd run by Clay. Eventually, Ball capped the drive with a 4 yd TD run to the right corner of the endzone to cut the Frogs lead to 2 with about 2 minutes to play. Wisconsin called a 2 pt conversion play that resulted in a wide open Jacob Pedersen in the endzone, however, Carder managed to get his hands up just in time and knock the ball down for TCU to preserve the 2 point lead.
schools, as well as Boise State's win last year in the Fiesta Bowl over TCU. If these outcomes don't prove the need for a playoff to let everyone have the opportunity to play for a championship, I don't know what other kind of proof exists. As a University of Wisconsin alumnus, I would have preferred a Badger victory, however, TCU outplayed the Badgers for 55 minutes of this football game and proved they were the better team in the end. Congrats to TCU on its undefeated season and I hope this outcome further supports US Senator Orrin Hatch's case against the BCS to further FBS football via a playoff system.
Unlikely. 
Unless you're Art Rooney and someone puked all over your Pittsburgh Steelers. Seriously those things are Ugly, with a capital U. What is with that arm band? It looks like something that Allen Iverson should be wearing over in Turkey, not something I am seeing on the gridiron. And speaking of AI, maybe if he'd practiced a bit more he wouldn't be broke playing in Turkey, or maybe he would have scored more than two points last night. But really, here is the million dollar question, where was David Kahn? You can't tell me signing Iverson didn't cross his mind, seriously they need a few more point guards there and/or over paid high draft picks who can't play. Sorry Darko.
Fine back to the gridiron.