UC thinks it's Ohio's best team

[Jeb]

[quote]UC thinks it's Ohio's best team
By Joe Kay • The Associated Press • September 22, 2009


While Ohio State fans up in Columbus debate whether their team is the best in the Big Ten, folks down south are asking a much different question three games into the season: Who's the best team in Ohio?

Buckeyes? Or Bearcats?

In years past, it would have been a ludicrous question. But Cincinnati's impressive 3-0 record and Ohio State's spotty 2-1 start have left the two teams nearly dead-even in this week's Top 25 poll. Ohio State is No. 13, followed by Cincinnati.

• Is this Brian Kelly's best team ever?

Bearcats? Or Buckeyes?

“Hey, if we ever have to strap it on with them, we're going to win,” Cincinnati running back Isaiah Pead said Tuesday, not even flinching when the question was raised.

Head coach Brian Kelly coached at Grand Valley State in Michigan and Central Michigan before coming to Cincinnati, so he knows all about Ohio State's lore and how fans get wrapped up in the program's history. He also knows it stings when a Cincinnati player hears that a fan chose to watch Ohio State lose to Southern California 18-15 on Sept. 12 instead of watching the Bearcats win again on a different TV channel.

“I think as long as you're in the state of Ohio and you're not looked at as an equal or partner, you're going to play with a chip on your shoulder,” Kelly said Tuesday. “And I'm not saying we should be looked at as an equal or a partner. But our players sense and feel that every day by who they talk to and who they see at the mall and, 'Did you see the Ohio State-USC game?' 'Yeah, did you see our game?'

“So they're going to carry that (chip), and I'm certainly not going to tell them to change the way they think because as a coach, I kind of like that role that we have.”

Pead knows well that his opinion will be anathema to the Buckeye fans who inhabit every corner of the state. He grew up in Columbus, where he topped one of Ohio State's greatest players: Pead broke two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin's career rushing record at Eastmoor Academy, then had to choose between the two schools for college.

Buckeyes? Or Bearcats?

“I liked the situation they have here,” the sophomore running back said. “They were an up-and-coming team and I love the coaches. The coaches were nice, whereas the OSU coaches were, 'If you come here, you come here. If you don't, then that's fine, we'll get the next guy.' I felt these coaches, they cared about you.”

Not even a little lobbying by Griffin himself could sway Pead. Griffin was a frequent topic of conversation in Pead's home because his grandfather played little league baseball and high school football against him in Columbus. Pead grew up reading the yellowed newspaper clippings of those encounters.

“I know a lot,” Pead said. “Going to OSU games growing up, Archie would be there and I would talk to Archie.”

Now, Pead and the Bearcats are getting some clippings of their own.

The defending Big East champions beat Oregon State 28-18 on Saturday, ending the Beavers' streak of 26 straight victories against nonconference teams in Corvallis, a stretch that spanned 13 years. It was impressive enough to jump the Bearcats right behind Ohio State in the poll.

The Buckeyes struggled to beat Navy at home – they had to thwart a 2-point conversion try in the closing minutes – then lost to USC at home before rebounding with a 38-0 win over Toledo. Their struggles have dropped them from No. 6 in the preseason to one spot ahead of Cincinnati.

The last time another Ohio college was ranked ahead of Ohio State was Nov. 13, 2004, when Bowling Green was No. 25 and the Buckeyes were unranked.

The Bearcats and Buckeyes won't play again until 2012. That game was originally scheduled to be played at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, but the Buckeyes decided to invoke a contract clause and opt out of it. They agreed to play the 2012 game as long as it was in Columbus, as well as another game there in 2014.

The best team in Ohio this season?

“I would say Cincinnati,” Pead said.

With no game to decide it, the answer to the state's percolating football question remains a matter of opinion.
[/quote]
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009309220052

[Bengals1181]

I would hope the players feel like they can beat anyone.


They just may be.

[scharm]

Sounds like little brother syndrome.


LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'm GOOD TOO.

[Jeb]

[quote name='scharm' date='23 September 2009 - 10:10 AM' timestamp='1253711446' post='806510']
Sounds like little brother syndrome.


LOOK AT ME! LOOK AT ME! I'm GOOD TOO.
[/quote]

When little brother demands attention, ...he usually gets it.

[scharm]

[quote name='Jeb' date='23 September 2009 - 10:24 AM' timestamp='1253712249' post='806514']
When little brother demands attention, ...he usually gets it.
[/quote]

Supporters of the UC program struggle to handle success. Why make the story of your successful program just being better than OSU? I don't get it.

Kinda the same thing UC Basketball fans did with UK.

I got news for little brother, OSU is always going to be there. If if they are having a down season (by their standards) they will always be there. Just seems odd that big recognition comes to your program and among the first things mentioned is Big Brother.

IMO, just dumbs down your program.

[Jeb]

[quote name='scharm' date='24 September 2009 - 07:24 AM' timestamp='1253787890' post='806780']
Supporters of the UC program struggle to handle success. Why make the story of your successful program just being better than OSU? I don't get it.

Kinda the same thing UC Basketball fans did with UK.

I got news for little brother, OSU is always going to be there. If if they are having a down season (by their standards) they will always be there. Just seems odd that big recognition comes to your program and among the first things mentioned is Big Brother.

IMO, just dumbs down your program.
[/quote]

At first you don't see the point in it. It seems to be illogical since we aren't playing against one another this season. That was my first thought. But then again, when the writers are ignoring you and you have a chance at the NC game, ...you better stir up controversy somehow to get noticed by them now and not later. He worked on Gary Hart's campaign back in the day and so he knows the media.

It's not about the fanbase, ...its about the writers.

[gatorclaws]

I don't see the problem with the comparison. If UC wants to be taken seriously as a program and possibly build a stronger fan base, the first thing they need to do is get up to OSU's level. If you want to be seen as one of the best teams in the nation, a good first start is to be seen as the best team in your state.

It's being written about because people respect how good OSU has been. For UC to be mentioned in the same class this year is a huge step forward for them.Sounds like some of you OSU fans can't handle UC being good.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='gatorclaws' date='24 September 2009 - 04:40 PM' timestamp='1253821227' post='806900']
I don't see the problem with the comparison. If UC wants to be taken seriously as a program and possibly build a stronger fan base, the first thing they need to do is get up to OSU's level. If you want to be seen as one of the best teams in the nation, a good first start is to be seen as the best team in your state.

It's being written about because people respect how good OSU has been. For UC to be mentioned in the same class this year is a huge step forward for them.Sounds like some of you OSU fans can't handle UC being good.
[/quote]


I think I'm the only OSU fan in this thread, and I think its a good thing. There's more than enough talent in the state of Ohio for two powerhouses.


But I do agree with Scharm. UC (and their fans) shouldn't be worrying about whether they are better than OSU or not, just like I'm sure OSU doesn't lose sleep over UC rising the ranks. Just go out and play your game.

[scharm]

[quote name='Jeb' date='24 September 2009 - 01:46 PM' timestamp='1253810802' post='806856']
At first you don't see the point in it. It seems to be illogical since we aren't playing against one another this season. That was my first thought. But then again, when the writers are ignoring you and you have a chance at the NC game, ...you better stir up controversy somehow to get noticed by them now and not later. He worked on Gary Hart's campaign back in the day and so he knows the media.

It's not about the fanbase, ...its about the writers.
[/quote]

So basically it is little brother crying for attention? Ohio State is always going to be Ohio state. If you are UC supporter either by normal fan or writer it would be much better to define your success in areas you can control. If you want to grow your fanbase you might want to stir the rivalry stick at team you actually play and try to sell tickets for year in and year out.

You would think UC fans would know this after spending so much time consumed with UK basketball. Much better time if you made your obession about something that happens more frequently.

[Jeb]

[quote name='scharm' date='24 September 2009 - 06:04 PM' timestamp='1253826257' post='806915']
So basically it is little brother crying for attention? Ohio State is always going to be Ohio state. If you are UC supporter either by normal fan or writer it would be much better to define your success in areas you can control. If you want to grow your fanbase you might want to stir the rivalry stick at team you actually play and try to sell tickets for year in and year out.

You would think UC fans would know this after spending so much time consumed with UK basketball. Much better time if you made your obession about something that happens more frequently.
[/quote]

Your welcome ...

[quote]Buckeyes ride dominant defensive effort to second straight shutout
Associated Press

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Two years ago, Illinois frustrated top-ranked Ohio State in a stunning upset at Ohio Stadium.

The Buckeyes' defense never gave Juice Williams and the Illini a chance to even start dreaming of another victory in their return to the Horseshoe.

Dan Herron slogged through a downpour for two touchdowns on Saturday and No. 13 Ohio State collected a second straight shutout for the first time in 13 years, beating the mistake-prone Illini 30-0.

"We want a mentality that we want to get to the ball, have at least five or six guys at the minimum there," defensive lineman Doug Worthington said. "And we did a good job doing that today."

With most of the game played in a soaking rain, the Buckeyes (3-1, 1-0 Big Ten) relied on their defense and running game -- failing to complete a pass in the opening half -- to steamroll the Illini (1-2, 0-1).

"We wanted to lead with the run and mix in the pass had it been a beautiful day," Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said. "But you know that didn't make sense with the circumstances. It was hard to throw the ball but I think it was even harder to catch it."

And it was even harder to catch the Buckeyes when they ran.

Brandon Saine rushed for 81 yards on 13 carries and Herron had 75 on 14 attempts -- scoring on runs of 4 and 2 yards -- and the defense did the rest.

"I was just running through wide-open holes," Saine marveled. "Come on -- anyone could go through those holes."

Williams, who engineered that 28-21 upset of Ohio State in 2007, and the offense was held to 170 yards.

"It's like a nightmare," Williams said of the offensive woes. "A nightmare from which you can't wake up."

Even when the Illini were able to move the ball, they frequently were stopped by penalties (eight for 71 yards) or turnovers (interceptions by Lawrence Wilson, Jermale Hines and Brian Rolle).

Ohio State's Terrelle Pryor misfired on both of his pass attempts in the first half but the Buckeyes still led 13-0. He ended up completing 8 of 13 passes for 82 yards with a touchdown, tossing a 3-yard TD toss to Dane Sanzenbacher long after the outcome had been decided with 1:18 left. Pryor also rushed for 59 yards on 11 attempts.

Aaron Pettrey kicked field goals of 50, 46 and 27 yards.

There were bad feelings between the teams early on. Before warmups Ohio State's players massed atop the school logo at the 50 and traded taunts with the Illini, who ran right up to the Buckeyes. Coaches kept them separated and no punches were thrown. Two years ago, after the Illini had ruined the Buckeyes' unbeaten season on their home field, a fight broke out in the center of the field when Buckeyes players thought the Illini were stomping on their Block O logo.

Ohio State, which beat Toledo 38-0 a week ago, had not posted consecutive shutouts since the second-ranked Buckeyes beat Minnesota 45-0 and Illinois 48-0 late in the 1996 season.

The Illini were in a helpful mood. Facemask and late-hit penalties extended an Ohio State drive that finished with Herron skirting left end for a 13-0 lead.

A 27-yard Illinois punt put the Buckeyes in business at the Illini 39 early in the third quarter and they covered that distance in five plays with Herron again punching it in.

"I'm more tired of saying it than you are of hearing it, but obviously we didn't play once again the way we are capable," Illini coach Ron Zook said. "Everyone's written us off and that's fine. I would too if I was in your shoes."

Talk about nightmares: The Illini have lost their Big Ten opener 15 of the last 16 years.

Despite an 18-15 loss to Southern California two weeks earlier, the Buckeyes vowed that they're back in the national title picture.

"We showed that we're ready to bounce back after that loss to SC and we're always looking forward, always trying to better ourselves," linebacker Austin Spitler said. "Each week we've taken a step in the right direction and this is just another week."[/quote]

...don't tell me Kelly didn't help light a fire under your team.

[Bengals1181]

[quote name='Jeb' date='27 September 2009 - 03:51 AM' timestamp='1254034276' post='807391']
Your welcome ...


[b]
...don't tell me Kelly didn't help light a fire under your team.[/b]
[/quote]


lmao. Holy shit, did I really just read that?


If its one thing I've learned about Tressel, its that he doesn't give a damn what anyone else outside of his program thinks, for better or for worse.

[Jeb]

[quote name='Bengals1181' date='27 September 2009 - 12:18 PM' timestamp='1254064718' post='807447']
lmao. Holy shit, did I really just read that?


If its one thing I've learned about Tressel, its that he doesn't give a damn what anyone else outside of his program thinks, for better or for worse.
[/quote]

Tressel, ...no. The players, ...yes! It made good BB material.

[Jeb]

[quote]jose jalapeno (cincy)

Mark, assume both teams win out. Who deserves a higher perch in the BCS pecking order - an undefeated Cincy or a 1-loss Ohio State? Ohio State's schedule is far tougher than Cincinnati's, and in the extremely far-fetched scenario that the #2 slot in the BCS rankings comes down to those two teams, I think tOSU would deserve it more.

Mark Schlabach
(2:25 PM)

Jose, I'm not so sure Ohio State's schedule is so much better than Cincinnati that the Buckeyes would deserve it over an undefeated UC team. They did beat Oregon State and Fresno State during non-conference play, and would have beaten a few good Big East teams. The Big Ten isn't that much better than the Big East this year, either.[/quote]

http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/28537

Its working, ...Kelly's got the writers paying attention now.

[ThurmanMunster]

[quote name='Jeb' date='28 September 2009 - 06:27 PM' timestamp='1254176869' post='808834']
http://espn.go.com/sportsnation/chat/_/id/28537

Its working, ...Kelly's got the writers paying attention now.
[/quote]

before penn state lost i would have said the big 10 has the edge but after they got beat by purdue i am thinkin both conferences are pretty similar this year. oregon state was definitely a good team and fresno state is a good team that has had a really hard schedule. the south florida win over florida state was big help too. it should be a VERY interesting BCS run to say the least for a lot of teams.

[Go Tory Go!]

In today's release of the Ramsey Top Ten, OSU is at 10 and UC is at 7...

It remains to be seen what kind of effect this will have on the BCS standings.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53JGEMhLfYA[/media]

[scharm]

[quote name='Jeb' date='27 September 2009 - 03:51 AM' timestamp='1254034276' post='807391']
Your welcome ...



...don't tell me Kelly didn't help light a fire under your team.
[/quote]

I don't give a shit about OSU. UC fans don't know how to handle sucuess and ultimately it damages what could be great rivalries in that conference, IMO.

Why make out to be about OSU? A team that they are not going to play. Off the top of my head you've got 3 teams within driving distance that make for excellent rival games. Something UC supporters should focus their energy on vs. OSU.

PBS or Nippert should be rocking every year when WVU, UL, Pitt come to town.

Learn your lesson. Look at all the time UC basketball fans spent talking smack to UK. For what? UK is always going to be UK. OSU is alwasy going to be OSU. Big East is a BCS conference supporter of UC football program should spent their time building up that rivalry.

Yeah, little brother always thinks Big Brother actually cares.

[Jeb]

[quote name='scharm' date='02 October 2009 - 09:10 AM' timestamp='1254485442' post='810129']
I don't give a shit about OSU. UC fans don't know how to handle sucuess and ultimately it damages what could be great rivalries in that conference, IMO.

Why make out to be about OSU? A team that they are not going to play. Off the top of my head you've got 3 teams within driving distance that make for excellent rival games. Something UC supporters should focus their energy on vs. OSU.

PBS or Nippert should be rocking every year when WVU, UL, Pitt come to town.

Learn your lesson. Look at all the time UC basketball fans spent talking smack to UK. For what? UK is always going to be UK. OSU is alwasy going to be OSU. Big East is a BCS conference supporter of UC football program should spent their time building up that rivalry.

Yeah, little brother always thinks Big Brother actually cares.
[/quote]

1) Its a PR stunt.

2) What team are you a fan of?

[scharm]

[quote name='Jeb' date='02 October 2009 - 12:10 PM' timestamp='1254496239' post='810173']
1) Its a PR stunt.

2) What team are you a fan of?
[/quote]

If it's a PR stunt that kinda justifies my point of UC sounding like little brother screaming for attention.


2. Kentucky Wildcats.

[Jeb]

[quote name='scharm' date='02 October 2009 - 04:13 PM' timestamp='1254510833' post='810241']
If it's a PR stunt that kinda justifies my point of UC sounding like little brother screaming for attention.


2. Kentucky Wildcats.
[/quote]

Oooohh, ...that's why you keep bringing up UK and basketball fans.

The fans are irrelevant to the article. The article was meant to get the attention of the writers, ...he achieved that goal. It worked.

Winning will get us a larger fan base. Everyone (including coach Kelly) knows that. His job, now that he has the writers attention, is to win.

Let me put it to you this way. I scoured the websites looking for national articles about us prior to this article. It was slim pickings at best. We were being treated like an ugly step-child. Coach threw these writers some red meat on a slow news day with this claim he made. They ate it up and are writing about us now.

[scharm]

[quote name='Jeb' date='02 October 2009 - 04:22 PM' timestamp='1254511325' post='810243']
Oooohh, ...that's why you keep bringing up UK and basketball fans.

The fans are irrelevant to the article. The article was meant to get the attention of the writers, ...he achieved that goal. It worked.

Winning will get us a larger fan base. Everyone (including coach Kelly) knows that. His job, now that he has the writers attention, is to win.

Let me put it to you this way. I scoured the websites looking for national articles about us prior to this article. It was slim pickings at best. We were being treated like an ugly step-child. Coach threw these writers some red meat on a slow news day with this claim he made. They ate it up and are writing about us now.
[/quote]

Yeah that's why I claimed it was "little brother" type move. Yeah I know why he did. I don't agree with it. Exactly why I keep bringing up UK/UC basketball. The passion for that program (UC) appeared to be largely based on another program that was never going to play UC unless fate had them matched NCAA. Now since that match came and gone the passion for the program fell clearly along with the record.

Just a missed opportunity by the supporters of the program fans and media to actually build something that will last. UK basketball will always be there for them to hate envy or whatever it was. OSU football will always be there just the same. However, don't make the same mistake. Don't make it just about being better than OSU. Eventually as we all know the Kelly era is going to end at UC at some point. Build something that your fans can actually grasp and take root as the next coach begins the next chapter and you still can envy/hate OSU.

They've got all these driveable rivalries just sitting there that could be great experiences for UC fans. Build them up. Don't focus on OSU and make OSU the KING or big brother.

[Jamie_B]

Well....

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings

[Khatmandude]

[quote name='Jamie_B' date='06 October 2009 - 03:55 PM' timestamp='1254849959' post='812324']
Well....

http://espn.go.com/college-football/rankings
[/quote]


I didn't see George Mason on that list......

[Jamie_B]

[quote name='IKOTA' date='13 October 2009 - 12:52 PM' timestamp='1255449170' post='815742']
I didn't see George Mason on that list......
[/quote]


George Mason doesnt have a football team.

[ThurmanMunster]

[quote name='Jamie_B' date='13 October 2009 - 03:04 PM' timestamp='1255460663' post='815832']
George Mason doesnt have a football team.
[/quote]

pansies.

[-GoBengals-]

[quote name='Jamie_B' date='13 October 2009 - 03:04 PM' timestamp='1255460663' post='815832']
George Mason doesnt have a football team.
[/quote]

most girls schools dont