Buckeye Speed

Allow me to make a few points leading up to the National Championship game on Monday night:

Can we please stop with the term “SEC Speed”? It’s like the analysts think every team in the south has been injected with horse tranquilizers that makes them speed demons or something. Don’t get me wrong the Gators are fast as hell, but lets be honest here, despite playing in the SEC, Florida hasn’t seen anything like what they’re about to witness on Monday night.

I read a great point on Swerb’s Blurbs the other day that I think needs repeating (by the way, Swerb’s Blurbs is the best website if you’re a duel Cleveland/Ohio State fan, and you’re doing yourself a disservice if you don’t read it…just letting you know). Anyway, in High School, Maurice Wells was the runner-up for Florida’s Mr. Football Award as a junior and the winner of the award as a senior. So for those who think that the talent in the south is so much better and faster than the talent in Ohio, then why is Wells the Buckeye’s 3rd string running back behind two kids from Akron?

The Buckeyes have had a bullseye on their back since they started the year #1 and have performed at the highest level on the biggest stages all year long. They seem loose and ready to play, while the Gators have looked uptight and bitter all week long (I think this plays in our favor).

How much do you really know about any of the teams in the SEC? They don’t play anyone outside of their own Conference and each team is exactly the same. Trying to analyze a team from the SEC is like trying to dissect the family tree of a back-woods West Virginian (basically they keep it all in the family, everyone bangs everyone and eventually they all look the same). Florida’s out of conference schedule was against Southern Miss, UCF, Western Carolina, and Florida State (who they play every year). Now a few of the teams (like Arkansas, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt) scheduled tough games, but all-in-all the SEC is so difficult to get through undefeated that teams can’t afford to play anyone tough out-of-conference. My point is this; when I see a stat like, Florida ranks 6th in the nation in rushing defense, how reliable can that be? Other than Arkansas (who ranks near the top thanks to Heisman trophy runner up Darren McFadden), no SEC team ranks higher than 37th in the nation in rushing offense. So who knows if the SEC is overrated or underrated.

Looking at the Bowl games, the Big Ten is 2-0 in head-to-head match-ups with the SEC, with Wisconsin beating runner-up Arkansas in the Capital One Bowl and Penn State (9-3) outlasting Tennessee (9-3) in the Outback Bowl. LSU looked like a championship-caliber team, they dominated an overrated and over-hyped Notre Dame team (seriously, can we get over the Charlie Weis is a genius thing, please? The guy is a cartoon character). But Florida dominated that LSU team at home in October, so that's saying something. Florida’s only loss came on the road at Auburn, who beat Nebraska in the Cotton Bowl (17-14).

Don’t underestimate Urban Meyer. The guy has never lost a Bowl Game or a Conference Championship game.

Michigan still sucks.

Ohio State has never beaten a SEC team in a bowl game – they are 0-7 (most recently, twice to South Carolina in the Outback Bowl).

I can’t imagine Troy Smith losing his last college game.

Finally, here’s my prediction for Monday's game. Any time, you pit the best of the SEC and the best of the Big 10 in a National Championship setting you’re going to get a great game. However, there are 2 things that give the Buckeyes the advantage. The Gators have a great coach in Urban Meyer, but we have a better one in Jim Tressel. The Gators have great Quarterbacks in Chris Leak and Tim Teabow, but we have a better one in Troy Smith. That’s what it takes to win big games and that’s what it takes to win championships. In the end, “Buckeye Speed” will be too much for the Gators and Ohio State will be your 2006 National Champions.

Final score: Ohio State 31, Florida 21.

GO BUCKS!

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