Sports Then and Now

Jim Tressel's Gatorade bath following the Sugar Bowl will be his last as head coach at Ohio State.

Given the embarrassing black eye that he has bestowed upon one of the proudest universities in big-time college football I guess it is ultimately no surprise to learn that Jim Tressel has coached his last game at Ohio State, but with the Buckeyes now squarely in the sights of NCAA investigators it is still unclear if this move will significantly reduce the inevitable penalties the school now appears to be facing.

From the president to the staff to the fans, Ohio State has long been among the national leaders in football arrogance. When the president said last fall that schools such as Boise State and TCU didn’t belong on the same field as the Buckeyes, the Buckeye Nation shook their heads in agreement.

But what made Ohio State so proud and they believed justified their cockiness wasn’t just their great record on the field, but also the pride in knowing that they accomplished their success the right way. While other programs were regularly answering NCAA inquiries, the Buckeyes ran what seemed like a clean program and were under the leadership of a coach who wrote books about integrity and doing things the right way.

But then last December the walls started to come down on this great facade.

Just days before facing Arkansas in the Sugar Bowl, news came out that five players, including star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, had violated NCAA rules by selling rings and other memorabilia for cash and reduced prices on tattoos.

At the time the story seemed very contained and only became more than a minor story when the NCAA suspended the players for the first five games of the 2011 season, but let them play in the bowl game.

Critics of Ohio State cried foul, but it was obvious the power and influence Ohio State had over the BCS and NCAA. Read the rest of this entry →

Typically, the Hawkeyes seldom score a victory against the Buckeyes.

It is that time in the college football season when hope may have begun to fade for those teams whose ambitions exceeded their ability to deliver—whose luck has run out.

Often, it is hard not to relive those accumulated missed tackles, extra points and dropped passes.

This inclination might allow disappointment to saturate a team’s outlook in the one or two remaining games because winning now seems not to make a difference.

A single victory cannot take you to that pinnacle you imagined in your future at the beginning of the season.

This is a state of mind that a good coaching staff immediately nips in the bud because every time a college football team walks out on the field, the players make a statement about themselves, their program and the school.

Ending well is every bit as important as beginning well. Kirk Ferentz and staff will bring that point home.

As to the charge of being a “spoiler,” winning games is the goal each and every game during the entire season. Iowa has as much to play for against Ohio State as they did against Northwestern.

Each week the team that wins, is a spoiler.

So being called one now is redundant. Every contest this weekend will celebrate some spoiler’s victory at the end of the game.

The goal to win is exactly what will inspire the Iowa Hawkeyes to upend the Ohio State Buckeyes in Week 12.

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With a year of experience Terrelle Pryor could emerge as one of the top players in the Big Ten.

Overview: Once recognized annually as one of the strongest conference in college football, the Big Ten has taken a reputation hit in recent years with the poor showing of its top teams in bowl games. Last season the conference was 1-6 in bowl games with only Iowa pulling out a victory. Ohio State and Penn State start the season ranked in the top 10, but the conference must have some strong early non-conference victories if they hope to have a squad seriously considered for the BCS Championship Game.
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