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CHICAGO -- Tired of scarlet and gray in the national championship game? You might not be alone. Ohio State's poor showings in the past two BCS title games could have reached critical mass with the pollsters.
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| 'We expect that (outside doubt),' James Laurinaitis says. (Getty Images) |
Asked if his team would get the benefit of the doubt from voters if they are in position to play for the championship again, Boeckman said, "If it comes down to it, probably not because of where we've been in the past."
Ohio State was blown out by Florida in the 2007 BCS championship game 41-14. While the score was closer last year in New Orleans against LSU (38-24), the Buckeyes trailed 31-10 six minutes into the third quarter.
That hasn't helped the perception of Ohio State.
"Nobody ever remembers the losers," defensive back Malcolm Jenkins said. "The four national championships before, I couldn't name the losers of any of those games. There really isn't any credit in getting there."
"We didn't finish," Boeckman said. "Losing two games -- prime-time big games -- we didn't get over the hump. To earn that respect, we have to win that big one."
The top two teams in the final BCS standings at the end of the regular season play in the BCS title game. Those are determined by combining the results of the two human polls (Harris and coaches') with six computer indexes. Ohio State would likely be affected most by the Harris poll, which is composed of approximately 120 members -- mostly of media and former coaches, players and administrators.
"That's a good question," said 2007 Harris voter Ray Melick, a Birmingham News columnist. " You've got to give them (Ohio State) credit. ... At the same time are you tired of seeing Ohio State get beat in the championship (that) bad? It's not fair."
Neither voting roster for the Harris nor coaches poll for 2008 has been released. Six of the Big Ten's 11 coaches had votes last season -- Tressel, Illinois' Ron Zook, Wisconsin's Bret Bielema, Michigan State's Mark Dantonio, Indiana's Bill Lynch and Michigan's Lloyd Carr. Rich Rodriguez also had a vote at West Virginia.
The Bucks went undefeated in the regular season in 2006 before losing to Florida. Shortly thereafter, recruiting analyst Tom Lemming suggested the Big Ten had fallen behind the SEC in recruiting. Right or wrong, the strength of the Big Ten became a point of discussion that lasted throughout last season. Ohio State finished atop the polls on Dec. 2 despite losing its final home game three weeks earlier to Illinois. At the end of the regular season, only one team had a better record (Hawaii was 12-0, Kansas was 11-1). But Jim Tressel's team went through the season without facing an AP top 20 team (ranked at game time) for the first time since 1936.
Then, another meltdown against another SEC tormentor.
Ohio State, already No. 1 in the CBSSports.com preseason top 25, is expected to start the season in the top five of most major polls. The question lingers: If Ohio State is close to the top during the first week of December, will the voting public basically say, Let's give someone else a chance?
"We expect that (outside doubt)," linebacker James Laurinaitis said. "That's why a lot of people put a huge emphasis on the USC game to give Ohio State credibility."
That Sept. 13 game in Los Angeles is seen as the biggest non-conference game of the season.
"That game at USC is going to determine where our season is going to go," Boeckman said.
Ohio State could lose that game, finish 12-1 and still be in the mix. It would be hard for pollsters to ignore an Ohio State team that had won its third consecutive outright Big Ten title. Wouldn't it?
"If you go unbeaten through the Big Ten season, you should be there," Laurinaitis said.
BCS guru Jerry Palm doubts whether a widespread poll bias could occur.
"Voters care about things like margin of victory, week to week kind of stuff," he said. "It will take a very unique situation to even be able to conclude that Ohio State is being punished for the last two years."