Can Ohio State Redeem Itself?

Last year at this time the Buckeyes were embarrassed by the Florida Gators in the BCS Title game for all the world to see. The way they were manhandled by the Gators physically, and burned athletically did nothing but add fuel to the fire that the Big Ten just can't compete with college football's top conferences like the SEC.

So here we are again a year later, with the Buckeyes prepared to try again for a national championship, against yet another SEC opponent, the LSU Tigers.

Can the Buckeyes redeem themselves and the Big Ten tonight? With Michigan's victory over Florida in the Capital One Bowl, a Buckeyes win would be a nice cap to a bowl season that's been pretty unkind to the Big Ten.

I really have no idea if the Buckeyes can pull this one out or not, but there are more than a few reasons to think they can.

I can start off by reminding you that in the history of the BCS and the title game, the underdog has won every year. According to Bodog, the Buckeyes are currently four point underdogs.

Then there's the fact that this has been a college football season in which we should expect the unexpected. The Appalachian States of the world are beating Michigan, and the Stanfords upset the USCs. So Ohio State beating LSU couldn't be that big of a shocker, could it?

The most important reason why the Buckeyes could come away with a victory tonight is also the most basic of reasons: LSU isn't that good. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Tigers suck or anything, but they have lost two games this season. It's not like they're unbeatable, and this LSU team is not as good as last year's Florida team.

When you break these two teams down by position, you actually find that the Buckeyes are very evenly matched with LSU, and even have an advantage in some areas.

Where this game will be settled though is where all big games are settled, in the trenches.

The key to tonight's game will be the Ohio State offensive line going against Glenn Dorsey and the LSU defensive line. If Ohio State can control the line of scrimmage when they have the ball, they will win this game. If Dorsey and the boys control it, the Buckeyes have no chance.

I'm not going to go too in depth here because I have other things I want to get to today, and frankly it's hard to figure out how each team is going to respond tonight after having such long layoffs.

I will make a prediction though, and it shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody that I'm siding with the Big Ten yet again.

Ohio State 24 LSU 20

Foul Balls

The Illini Still Suck - They did it again. The Illini lost their third straight home game on Sunday afternoon, this time to the Penn State Nittany Lions. I knew that the Illini weren't going to be the same team we've all grown accustomed to seeing this season, but I had no idea things were going to get this bad.

Three straight home losses?

It used to take this team three years to lose three games at Assembly Hall, and they sure as hell weren't losing any games to Penn State. (Or Miami of Ohio and Tennessee State for that matter.) Considering their next two games are on the road against Indiana and Michigan State it's pretty clear that this team is going to start out it's conference schedule 0-4, and at this point the NIT is a pipe dream, let alone the NCAA's.

Clemens Fires Back - I already went over my feelings on Roger Clemens on Friday, and I didn't even see the 60 Minutes interview, so I've nothing new to add to the subject. (If I wanted to watch the interview, I could go here.)

Still, one of the big things I've always maintained when a player claims their innocence when it comes to steroids is "If you're so innocent, why don't you sue those bastards for defamation and defend yourself?"

Well, guess what Roger's doing!

Roger Clemens beat Brian McNamee to court, filing a defamation suit against the former trainer who claimed to have injected him with performance-enhancing drugs. McNamee's attorney, Earl Ward, told ESPN's T.J. Quinn on Monday that McNamee is determined to file a counter lawsuit against Clemens. Ward said he spoke to McNamee on Monday morning and Clemens' statements in Sunday's "60 Minutes" interview are "a total lie."

No countersuit has been filed yet.

Clemens filed the suit Sunday night in Harris County District Court in Texas, listing 15 alleged statements McNamee made to the baseball drug investigator George Mitchell. Clemens claimed the statements were "untrue and defamatory."

Of course, this does absolutely nothing to make me think Clemens is innocent in this matter, but at least he's really trying to appear as though he is.