Football

John Tsarouchas

It hasn’t been a great bowl season for the Big Ten. Wisconsin lost to Florida State, Northwestern played well but fell to Missouri, Michigan State lost to Georgia, and Penn State lost to USC. The only Big Ten team with a win is Iowa. The Hawkeyes blasted an anemic South Carolina squad with a solid performance from Shonn Greene in the Outback Bowl. It was a good win for the Hawks, and a win most around Big Ten football expected.

The only team left that can do something about the Big Ten’s slumping reputation is the Buckeyes–the team whose consecutive national title game collapses started the most recent wave of Big Ten disrespect.

Monday in the Fiesta Bowl, the Bucks will battle Texas, a team that feels it deserved a place in both the Big 12 championship game and the national championship game.

The thing that troubles me the most–not many of the die-hard Bucks fans I know are even excited about the match-up with the Longhorns. I know a lot of OSU fans, and not one is showing any of that Big Ten-Buckeye-Bravado long-associated with the Bucknuts.

Most around the nation expect OSU to falter again in the national spotlight, but a W for the Bucks in the Fiesta Bowl would do wonders for OSU’s and the Big Ten’s national reputation.

If you’re short on reasons to believe to Bucks can pull the upset, here a few.

1) Terrelle Pryor — that kind of athletic ability can always be the difference-maker.

2) Beanie Wells — Texas has a very talented defensive line, but they’ve spent most of the year chasing down Big 12 quarterbacks. They haven’t seen a power back like Wells. If Wells can find some room early and the Bucks can stay balanced, they can keep Colt & Co. off the field.

3) Defense — Ohio State has a defense riddled with NFL talent, if coaching puts them in the right place at the right time, there’s big-play ability on that side of the ball.

For what it’s worth, I’m not an OSU fan, but I am a Big Ten fan. I rarely wish success on the Buckeyes, but I’ll be pulling for them in the Fiesta Bowl. The Big Ten really isn’t as bad as people think it might be. A win for OSU over a phenomenal Texas team would give the conference something to hang it’s collective hat on.

I can’t believe I’m writing this, but…

Go Bucks!