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.

I-L-L! WHY GOD WHY!?

Okay, so I'd spent the last few weeks trying to convince myself that the Illini had a realistic shot at beating USC. I was doing a good job of it too, because the closer it got to gametime, the more I actually started to believe it.

Then about 5 minutes into the game, I realized that it just wasn't going to happen.

Let's be honest here, at the moment USC is probably the best team in the country. Before the season started everyone had them as the #1 team in the land, including myself, but thanks to a bunch of injuries the Trojans never fulfilled their expectations. The Trojans team the Illini lost to yesterday was the healthy version, and in case you couldn't tell, they're pretty good.

Also, if yesterday was the first time all season you watched the Illini, I promise you they aren't really that bad. I swear. There was absolutely no question about it, though, the Illini were completely outmanned and outclassed against USC.

As if the talent disparity wasn't enough, Illinois couldn't catch a break either.

Knock the hell out of a Trojan receiver and jar the ball loose? It only floats ten yards down field into the arms of Joe McKnight.

USC snaps the ball over their punter's head? He just picks it up and gets off a 45 yard punt anyway.

John David Booty overthrows Joe McKnight on a bubble screen? The ball just rolls and then bounces up into McKnight's arms and he scampers down the sideline for 65 yards.

Then when the Illini did move the ball down the field they would just shoot themselves in the foot with a turnover.

Still, despite the ass kicking the Illini received on Tuesday, there are still some positives that can be taken from this game. Now that Illinois has faced a great program like USC, they know how they stack up against the country's best. The problem with that though is it's now pretty apparent that Juice Williams may not be a very good quarterback.

Though it's hard to pin the blame all on Juice, as an offensive line that had been spectacular all season looked confused and hopeless against USC's front seven.

Obviously the star of the game for Illinois was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, Rashard Mendenhall. Unfortunately, Rashard's huge day (17 carries, 155 yards, 1 touchdown) all but assures he's going to skip out on his senior season and enter the NFL draft where he'll be a first round pick. (Definitely still available at #14 where a certain team who needs help at running back will be.) I'm pretty scared as to what the loss of Mendenhall may do to an Illinois team that took such a huge step forward this season.

It's no secret that Rashard was the key to Illinois' offense all year, but the Rose Bowl only drove the point home emphatically. Mendenhall makes everybody else on that offense better because he's so good, and because he commands so much attention.

Without Rashard around next season, do you think defenses will live in fear of Juice?

But I don't want to dwell on the negative that comes from an embarrassing loss. This was still a very successful season for the Illini, one in which they exceeded everybody's expectations, including their own. They laid the groundwork for what hopefully will be a continuing trend of improvement in Champaign.

Of course, I thought the same thing after Illinois got to the Sugar Bowl in 2002, and the five years between then and yesterday's Rose Bowl weren't exactly much fun to watch.

Foul Balls

Lloyd Carr Should Have Retired Every Year - After four straight years of Michigan getting it's ass kicked in a bowl game, the Wolverines came out and surprised a lot of people by beating Florida in the Capital One Bowl.

Of course, the motivation came from the fact that it would be Lloyd Carr's last game as head coach in Ann Arbor before Rich Rodriguez takes over the program next week.

"It's extremely meaningful on a personal level," Carr said. "But the reason it's meaningful is because I can be in that locker room with the guys that did it. Our coaches put together a great game plan, our players executed. Of course, we were big so-called underdogs.

"To come up with that kind of effort and to find a way to win means that we have some memories that we're all going to be able to celebrate for years to come."

It's not very often you'll find me rooting for Michigan, or being grateful to Big Blue, but I'd like to thank them for yesterday's performance. With the way Illinois got pasted in the Rose Bowl, Indiana got worked by Oklahoma State, Wisconsin losing to Tennessee, and the fact that Ohio State will probably get killed by LSU, somebody in the Big Ten had to step up this bowl season.

So, thanks. I guess.

Brian Urlacher's Back Is Fine - The last few weeks of the season for the Bears were frustrating for me to watch. Over their final two games they looked like the team that went to the Super Bowl last season, and I couldn't help but wonder where the hell they'd been all season.

It held especially true for Brian Urlacher. In December Brian played like the #54 we're all used to seeing, racking up sacks, making interceptions, and just flying all over the field from sideline to sideline. If nothing else, it made me optimistic that his back troubles were finally starting to heal, and that maybe in 2008 Brian will get back to his old form.

Well, I can't predict the future, but Brian wants everyone to know his back will be fine.

"My back got blown way out of proportion," Urlacher said Monday before leaving Halas Hall. "It's fine. I won't need any surgery.

"If you look at the way I played the last few weeks, obviously it got a little bit better as the season went on. Early on, I didn't make as many plays as I should have. It didn't have anything to do with my back. I just didn't play well. That's all there is to it."

Of course, even though his back may be better next season, there's no telling how the absence of Lance Briggs will affect Brian's play.

Holy Crap: Illinois Is Going To The Rose Bowl

Okay, so it’s been a few days since we last met. I’m all moved into the new place now, and I have my internet back.

I have to tell you though, I missed out on a lot the last few days. I’d heard the news, courtesy of Panger, on Sunday night that Illinois was going to the Rose Bowl. At first I thought Panger was just messing with my head, but I saw it today on the internet, so it has to be true.

I’ll fully admit, I’m shocked that this has happened. I’m incredibly happy, but I’m shocked. Of course, I was just as shocked that West Virginia lost to Pitt on Saturday.

I figured that once Ohio State got bumped up to the title game that the Rose Bowl was going to take Georgia. Right now the two “it” teams in college football are USC and Georgia, so I thought that matchup would be too appealing for the Rose Bowl, and that they’d buck tradition for once. Luckily the BCS is such a mess this season thanks to parity in college football that crazy things like this can happen.

Think about this for a second. Illinois went 2-10 last season. Now they’ll be playing in the Rose Bowl for the first time since 1983. I expected the Illini to turn things around a bit this season, as you can see in my season preview, but I don’t think anybody expected this kind of a turnaround so fast.

I’m about ready to start my “Ron Zook For Jesus” campaign. Speaking of the Zooker, not even he thought any of this was possible.

''I told coach Guenther, if we weren't in the Rose Bowl at the end of three years,'' Zook said, ''he could get rid of me.''

Kidding aside, Zook said, ''I would have asked you what you'd been smoking,'' if anyone had suggested at training camp in Rantoul in August that this season would end in Pasadena.

''I'm so proud of our seniors,'' Zook said. ''They've never been to a bowl game. And now they're going to play in the 'granddaddy of them all.'''

The question now becomes, do the Illini have any shot in hell at beating USC? At first glance, I’d say no. I know USC lost to Stanford earlier this season-the same Stanford that lost to Notre Dame, just so you get an idea how “good” they are-but they did so without their starting quarterback. They’ve also had key injuries all season long, and hadn’t been healthy all season until their last few games.

Now that the Trojans are healthy, they look like the team everybody thought they’d be at the beginning of the season.

That being said, if the Trojans are going to play a team from the Big Ten, Illinois is probably the Big Ten’s best option.

We know USC would rip Michigan a new one because they did last year, and we saw how Ohio State handles big athletic teams last year in the title game against Florida.

Illinois on the other hand has the type of high powered rushing attack that could give USC’s defense fits. Juice Williams started developing into a real quarterback the last few weeks of the Big Ten season, instead of the running quarterback he had been all season.

Now whether or not the Illini defense is going to be able to keep the Trojan offense from putting up points, I’m not so sure. Still, the game is still a month away so I’ll have plenty of time to try and figure it out before then. So for now, I’ll just be happy that the Illini are finally getting the respect I’ve felt they deserved all season long.

As for the rest of the BCS, I really do feel bad for Missouri. I know they didn’t look very good against Oklahoma in the Big 12 title game, but they have a legitimate beef. After all, they’ve beaten both Illinois and Kansas this season, yet the Tigers didn’t get a BCS berth.

Illinois, meanwhile, is in the Rose Bowl, and Kansas is going to the playing Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl. It doesn’t make much sense, but then again, when has the BCS ever made any real sense?

As for the title game of Ohio State and LSU, I can’t really argue against it because Ohio State is the best one loss team in the country, and LSU is the best 2 loss team. I fear that the Tigers are going to treat the Buckeyes much the way the Gators did last season, but it’s not my fault the BCS overvalued the Big Ten this season.

Foul Balls

So When Is The NFL Draft? - As for the Bears loss on Sunday, what can I really say? It hurt. Bad. Still, the Bears didn’t really deserve to win the game anyway.

The offense was able to move the ball down the field pretty consistently in the first half, but they kept bogging down in the red zone and settling for field goals.
Then there was the drop by Devin Hester, that if the catchbeen made, the Bears take a 14-0 lead and cruise to victory from there.

I couldn’t help but feel nervous after the Bears scored on their opening possession though, despite how good they looked. I haven’t had a chance to do the research completely, but generally when the Bears score early, they lose.

A few weeks ago against Seattle the Bears scored on their first drive for the first time this season, and lost. In Super Bowl XLI Hester returned the opening kick for a touchdown, and the Bears lost.

Notice the trend?

The good news is that this loss will finally kill any real talk of playoff chances because even though the Bears are only a game back record wise, there is a whole pile of teams between them and the Cardinals right now.

White Sox Clinch World Series Berth – The winter meetings began yesterday, and Kenny Williams has already gotten to work. After trading Jon Garland to Anaheim for Orlando Cabrera, and losing out on Torii Hunter (whom I’m still not convinced the Sox ever really wanted anyway), Kenny knew what he had to do.

The Sox were only one player away from getting back to the World Series in 2008, and Kenny went and got him yesterday.

The Chicago White Sox added depth to their inexperienced outfield Monday, acquiring Carlos Quentin from the Arizona Diamondbacks for minor league first baseman Chris Carter.

That’s right! We got Carlos Quentin!

Quentin is a lifetime .230 hitter in 138 Major League games with 14 home runs and 63 RBI as an Arizona Diamondback.

What’s the point in even playing out the 2008 season? Just give us our trophy now.
Meanwhile, we’ll let the rest of the league try and go after those crappy pitchers like Johan Santana, Dan Haren, and now Erik Bedard. Who needs those guys when you have Gavin Floyd?

The Patriots Barely Survive – New England’s bid to go undefeated nearly came to an end in Baltimore last night. Just one week after struggling at home against the Eagles, the Ravens gave the Patriots quite a scare on Monday.

The Patriots needed a last minute drive, which was helped by a few Ravens holding calls on 4th downs, to overcome a 24-20 deficit. Then with 44 seconds left, Tom Brady found Jabar Gaffney for an 8-yard touchdown to give the Patriots the win.
Of course, I didn’t actually watch the game because I didn’t have cable last night. So who knows? Maybe I just made all of that up.

Even though the Patriots are still 12-0 after last night’s win, the air of invincibility is gone. For the second week in a row they’ve struggled against sub-.500 teams, and they still have no running game.

Passing all the time may work when the weather is nice, but as we get later in the season, it can get you into trouble. Just ask Tom Brady who completed only 18 of his 38 passes. With a date against the Steelers looming next week, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pats bid to go undefeated ends next week.

The Bulls Fall Short - The Basketball Diaries will return tomorrow because since I didn't have cable, I couldn't actually watch any games yesterday.

Just know that the Bulls poor shooting in the first half doomed them like usual, and they lost to Dallas 103-98. They're now 4-11, but on the bright side, they've won two of their last three!

The Illini's BCS Hopes Are Improving

While I was watching college football this past weekend, I was rooting for upsets. I wanted LSU to lose to Arkansas, and I wanted Missouri to beat Kansas. Yeah, I know Missouri's win wasn't technically an upset, but I just didn't want Kansas to stay undefeated.

I wasn't doing it because I'm a huge fan of chaos or anything, though I'll admit it's fun to watch, I was doing it because I want Illinois to get to a BCS game.

And as of now, everything's falling into place. According to the Chicago Tribune's Teddy Greenstein, the Illini now have a 75% chance of playing in a BCS game.

Those figures come from Jerry Palm, the collegeBCS.com analyst who first talked up Illinois' BCS chances two weeks ago. He now believes the Illini have a 75 percent chance to crack college football's holy grail of bowls—and that might even be understating it.

So far everything that has needed to happen has been happening. The next step would be the a loss by Missouri against Oklahoma in the Big 12 Title game this Saturday. A Missouri loss would bump Ohio State back up into the title game against West Virginia-well if West Virginia doesn't lose at home to Pitt anyway-leaving a spot open in the Rose Bowl.

Here's where things get a bit weird though. You'd think that the Rose Bowl would like to replace Ohio State with Illinois to keep the traditional Pac-10/Big Ten matchup going. After all, the Rose Bowl was the only bowl who initially had a problem with the title game rotating between BCS bowls the last few years. They didn't want to lose the tradition of the game.

With that being said though, if they can't have Ohio State, the Rose Bowl wouldn't mind a USC/Georgia matchup. Here's what Mitch Dorger, the CEO of the Rose Bowl had to say about the Bulldogs.

"They are on our mind," Dorger said of the Bulldogs. "They are not the only team that is on our mind, but we are cognizant of the great football they have been playing, and we are cognizant of the tradition and the enthusiasm of the fans.

"They would provide a matchup that would have a lot of people talking," he said

Even if the Rose Bowl does buck tradition and select Georgia, it wouldn't end the Illini's chances of getting into a BCS game. The Fiesta Bowl could end up being their destination. For that to happen, Missouri would have to beat Oklahoma this Saturday. That would ensure the Buckeyes go to Pasadena. Then the Fiesta Bowl would get first pick of at large teams because they will have lost Big 12 champ Missouri to the title game. The Orange Bowl would pick next because they will have lost Big East champ West Virginia to the title game as well.

Odds are the Fiesta would take Kansas, and the Orange Bowl would take Georgia. After those two though, the Fiesta gets to pick again, and their options would be Illinois, Arizona State and Hawaii.

It's doubtful that the Fiesta Bowl would choose Hawaii after taking Boise State last season because even though Boise's win over Oklahoma last year was one of the greatest games ever, it got killed in the ratings.

They may also be partial to Arizona State, but remember, these bowl games are about bringing in tourists and outside revenue. The in-state Sun Devils wouldn't accomplish that, leaving the Illini as the Fiesta's most logical choice.

So just because Illinois isn't playing this weekend, it doesn't mean they don't have a lot on the line as everybody else finishes up their season. And keep in mind, even if the Illini are snubbed by the BCS after all this, they'll still end up in the Capital One Bowl against Florida. Which would be an excellent consolation prize.

Foul Balls

Sean Taylor is Dead - Redskins safety Sean Taylor died this morning, a day after being shot in the leg by an intruder into his home early Monday morning.

The 24-year-old player died at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he had been airlifted after the shooting early Monday, family friend Richard Sharpstein said. Sharpstein said Taylor's father informed him of the death at about 5:30 a.m.

"His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me," said Sharpstein, Taylor's former lawyer. "It's a tremendously sad and unnecessary event. He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans."

Taylor was shot in the femural artery, which is not exactly the best place in the world to get shot.

While this is obviously tragic for the Taylor family and the Redskins, I'm interested in what was really going on here. I don't think Taylor was shot by somebody who was just breaking into his house to rob him. I think somebody broke into his house with plans of killing him.

Last weekend somebody broke into the house, and according to police, there wasn't anything stolen. Instead there was a knife left on Taylor's bed. Also, and I'm not an experienced burglar, but when you break into somebody's house and the people wake up, you get out of the house. The "burglar" made his way up to Taylor's bedroom, burst in, and shot him.

It just doesn't seem quite right, and I think in the coming weeks there's going to be more information as to what really was going on.

Cedric Benson Is Done For the Year - It's not exactly shocking news to anybody who saw Benson's injury on Sunday. Cedric Benson is out for the rest of the season, and will need surgery on his left leg.

On Monday, Smith said Benson is scheduled to undergo season-ending surgery after injuring his lower left leg and ankle in the second quarter of Sunday's victory over the Denver Broncos. Benson was carted off the field and couldn't put pressure on the foot. He emerged later on crutches, wearing a protective boot.

Benson is the fourth player the Bears have lost for the season thanks to injury this season.

I know some people are happy about this because it means Adrian Peterson will finally have a chance to carry the load, but I'm not one of those people. I haven't exactly been quiet about my distaste for Cedric this season, but I also don't understand why people were so excited by Peterson on Sunday.

Yeah, he scored a touchdown, but he only gained 45 yards on 17 carries after taking over for Benson. That's only an average of 2.6 yards per carry, which is a half yard worse than what Benson has done all season.

Joe Novak Retires - He doesn't get as much attention because of where he coaches, but Northern Illinois head coach Joe Novak has retired after 12 seasons as head coach of the Huskies.

"People have always said you'll know when it's time and I promise you, I know it's time," Novak said at a news conference. "Selfishly, it's time for my wife and I. It's been a great, great ride but it's time."

Novak's record at NIU was only 63-75, but it's important to remember the Huskies lost 23 straight games at the beginning of Novak's tenure. That's the condition the school's program was in before Novak took over, and he completely turned it around.

The Huskies were ranked as high as #12 in the AP poll back in 2003 after wins over ranked Maryland and Alabama. In 2004 he led the school to it's first bowl game in 21 years as the Huskies beat Troy in the Silicon Valley Bowl.

The Huskies were only 2-10 this season after losing most of their key players to graduation, but it ended a streak of seven straight winning seasons. Novak is going to be missed in DeKalb.