As a lifelong Ohio State fan, it was very gratifying to see the Buckeyes handle Alabama and whip up on Oregon. Urban Meyer brought the SEC to the Big 10: big players with speed.
O-H-I-O!!!
Tressel had plenty of speed as well, as Ohio State always has. Urban brought more of a spread offense. As a born and bred Ohio guy, recruiting has never been an issue, especially when John Cooper was there. While the Big 10 has been a down a bit, you could bank on the fact that Ohio State is a force and with Harbaugh at Michigan, Franklin at PSU, D'Antonio at MSU and Chryst at WISC, the Big 10 will recruit well and compete.
I agree with most of what you say Oscar. Tressel's guys had speed, but it was behind the SEC in the 2006 & 2007 title game beatdowns. Those games vs. Fla & LSU exposed the divide between the Big 10 & SEC at the time.
And while John Cooper could recruit, he was - far and away - the worst game coach OSU has had in my lifetime. There were so many years his teams had way more talent and he ended up losing to teams that had no business winning. He couldn't beat Michigan or win a bowl game. If memory serves me correctly, the '93 and definitely the '98 teams were glaring examples of how Cooper lost these games. If Tressel, Bruce, or Meyer had been coaching those teams, they would have at least 2 more national championship trophies.
I think it's great that the Big 10 is getting more competitive. It's better for college football. Michigan is an historic program and they have been an abomination since Carr retired. I think Harbaugh will restore them to prominence, but I doubt he stays there for than 5 years. I get the feeling he'll move back to the NFL and tire of recruiting.
