Before Mo Williams returned to Cleveland, he and LeBron had to bury the hatchet
October 1, 2015The Bat Flip Heard ‘Round Baseball
October 1, 2015Now that The Ohio State University has concluded the non-conference portion of its schedule, fans eagerly anticipate the gauntlet that is Big Ten play. However, before we surge into October, I want to take a look back at this season’s non-conference games and examine a quiet absence over the first quartet of contests. Namely, where were the other Ohio schools?
Earlier this year, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delany announced the conference’s new scheduling rules. Beginning in 2016, all schools are required to play nine conference games, at least one Power Five opponent, and will no longer schedule games with FCS programs. These new regulations are welcome to anyone who has ever wondered, “Why is Florida A&M in Ohio Stadium?” The new structure aims to punch up the Big Ten’s collective resume with an eye toward the College Football Playoff. So with only three non-conference games to coordinate moving forward, I think the time has come to rekindle a few intra-state rivalries.
Since emerging as a national power under Woody Hayes, Ohio State’s non-conference schedule evolved from multiple Ohio schools to larger, juicier fare. The time has come, however, to return to the team’s roots and battle other Buckeye State residents. Currently Ohio State’s future schedules are at least partially set through 2019. In the next four seasons, Ohio State will battle two other Ohio schools with the possibility of a third in 2018.
09/03/2016: vs. Bowling Green
09/22/2018: TBA
09/07/2019: vs. Cincinnati
All-Ohio games create a familiarity and impact that other opponents cannot replicate — looking at you, Northern Illinois. Athletes and families alike have brothers, sisters, cousins, and in-laws who matriculated from different schools in-state. My parents, Akron alums, would love to see the Buckeyes in the Rubber City even if the scarlet and gray supporters outnumber those in blue and gold. Bragging rights among co-workers, neighbors, friends, and relatives add an extra element to the game. Most importantly, Ohio State may be heavy favorites in these games, but one cannot assume an easy victory.
The caliber of Ohio schools continues to climb. Earlier this year, the Toledo Rockets defeated a ranked Arkansas team in Fayetteville. Bowling Green is 2-0 in Big Ten play with a pair of road triumphs over Maryland and Purdue. The potential even exists for the Buckeyes to hit the road and challenge a sister school outside Columbus. Earlier this year, Michigan State journeyed west to play mid-major Western Michigan. A capacity crowd of both Spartans and Broncos created a unique environment in Kalamazoo; plus, all money stayed in the state.
Top shelf programs such as OSU often pay smaller schools to play them early in the non-conference slate. Per an AP report, in 2014 the university paid $850,000 to Kent State and $888,246 to Cincinnati just to spend a Saturday afternoon playing football in Columbus. A rising tide would raise all ships, and keeping that payout within state lines benefits all Ohio institutions. The slimmest chance of an Ohio State loss would tantalize all the students who yearn to escape their maligned “Little Brother” status. Even if it ends lopsided, all small schools would want to take a shot at the top dog to see how they measure up. Be warned: If you come at the king, you best not miss.
Below is the all-time matchup record for Ohio State versus Ohio’s seven Division I FBS schools:
Historically, Ohio State played most of its nineteenth century games against in-state opponents. Ohio Wesleyan, Otterbein, Oberlin, and Case Western have all defeated the Buckeyes before. However, since these schools no longer field a D-I program we are excluding them for the purposes of this analysis. Fun fact: the Buckeyes’ first road game outside the state came during its sixth overall season on November 16, 1895, when OSU lost to Central Kentucky 18-0.
Ohio State has not lost a game to an in-state foe since Oberlin defeated them 7-6 on October 8, 1921. The teams battled that afternoon at Ohio Field on the corner of High Street and Woodruff Avenue. Ohio Stadium opened the following season and since 1922 the only Ohio team that has won within its confines puts buckeye leaves on its helmets. Now who wouldn’t want to take a shot at that record?
College football scheduling is no doubt a stressful profession. I have the utmost respect for the coordination and work universities put into the college football season and creating interesting matchups. The amount of planning impresses as well; Ohio State’s non-conference slate for 2022 (!) is already set. Still, as an alum, I would humbly ask that Ohio State at least explore the possibility of adding more Ohio schools. We all live in the Buckeye State, but plenty of students would love to make it the Zip/Falcon/Bearcat/Golden Flash/RedHawk/Bobcat/Rocket State for at least a day.
12 Comments
For brand and recruiting exposure, it helps OSU to play out of area in TV markets where they can get a lot of viewership. I think they like a mix of in state and out of state. When football pays for a ton of other programs though, it comes down to finding the balance of opponent and $$ to pay them for a beatdown.
Also, there’s a lot of schools that don’t want that game. Some people crap on Bama for some of their slate but there’s many schools that don’t want part of that game.
Greetings, Mr. Barnes, it is I, the Word Nerd, here to figuratively crack a ruler over your knuckles and bring down the grammer hammer — or, for those of you who delight in defiling the language, Da Gramma Hamma.
Mr. Barnes, please come to attention for some ritual humiliation. Thank you.
Mr. Barnes, one does not run the gauntlet, one throws down the gauntlet. What one runs is the gantlet.
Now before you protest that your error is an acceptable use of the word gauntlet or that it represents some so-called “alternative spelling,” let me dispel that notion right now. There has been an insidious acquiescence among the lazy and ill-informed to the idea that a misuse of the language becomes acceptable simply because it is repeated. This is akin to saying that the more one spits on the sidewalk, the more acceptable it becomes.
Mr. Barnes, if one wishes to prosper as a vocational or professional writer, one must not fall into the morass of rampant public sloth and ignorance, but indeed must soar above it.
At MSU, it’s more than just an away game at WMU — it’s the Celebrate the State program. We play three home and one away at Eastern, Western, and Central Michigans over a 7(?) year period. They get new record crowds at their stadia, we get three guaranteed home games against good D1 schools. Plus, being local, we get good crowds joining us at our tailgates in East Lansing. I honestly think that all flagship state schools should have a similar program when good in-state options exist. OSU should be playing in Cincinnati, Athens, Toledo, Bowling Green, and Kent — and, in turn, they get some good opponents to fill up the Shoe.
Ooo! Are we nitpicking? Excellent!
Mr. Barnes, Ohio State has never played Case Western. Not only is that not the preferred nomenclature of Ohio’s academic juggernaut (that would be either Case Western Reserve or simply CWRU), but CWRU did not exist until the 1967 federation of THE Case Institute of Technology and THE Western Reserve University. Both teams played Ohio State, and the Western Reserve University will forever have a winning record against the Buckeyes (and it was more than just one game).
Bonus fact! In a game against Western Reserve Unversity, John Sigrist sustained terminal injuries. He remains, to this date, the only OSU football player to die from injuries sustained during a game.
dang , MrC … breakin’-out the vocabulary !!!
kudos to the MAC & the toledo rockets !! … the rockets do a nice job filling-up their stadium , but only get approx. 30,000 – 35,000 people packed-in there at the glass bowl. the other MAC schools probably a lot less. from a money standpoint , why would the buckeyes want to come to toledo or play at any of the other MAC schools ??
Hi, tigersbrowns2.
If you ever spew the utterance “dang” in my direction again, I shall take up my gold-plated edition of The Oxford Dictionary for Snobs and use it to fustigate upon your low brow until you weep for clemency.
to be fair, the history of linguistics or etymology disagrees with you on one point: “a misuse of the language becomes acceptable simply because it is repeated” is actually true. there are plenty of words that started out as other words but morphed into what you know today as vernacular through incorrect usage.
I love the history of the word, “assasin”:
Assassin
n. Murderer, generally somewhat professional; esp. one who murders a prominent figure.
During the time of the Crusades the members of a certain secret Muslim sect engaged people to terrorise their Christian enemies by performing murders as a religious duty. These acts were carried out under the influence of hashish, and so the killers became known as hashshashin, meaning eaters or smokers of hashish. Hashshashin evolved into the word assassin.
I’d like to see more games scheduled against Cincinnati. Although that 2002 game was a bit stressful. I believe that was the closest we came to losing other than Purdue that whole year prior to the National Championship game.
I’m not as sure about the MAC teams. Seems like you may get more national “OSU fattening up on Kent State” level of derision when you schedule those teams. Whereas the ‘Nati has a bit higher of a profile. Could make that last bit of difference when the Star Chamber meets to decide who the chosen four are at the end of the year.
“There has been an insidious acquiescence among the lazy and ill-informed to the idea that a misuse of the language becomes acceptable simply because it is repeated.”
No other example irks me more than the rampant use (including by professional news organizations) of “lead” when “led” is intended. It literally makes my head explode.
LMFAO !!! … err , i mean , laugh my vellicating posterior off !!
This sort of poses the wrong question. The question really isn’t “who wouldn’t want to take a shot at OSU?”. Every in-state program wants to take a shot at OSU. They have absolutely everything to gain and nothing to lose. The real question is “what incentive does OSU have to let other in-state programs take a shot at them?”. This isn’t to say that OSU shouldn’t do it – particularly now that an out-of-conference loss does not necessarily preclude playoff appearance, but it is a legitimate barrier. For all of the reasons cited connecting OSU to the THE OTHER Ohio state (and private) universities, the risk of OSU playing these guys is so much greater than the risk of playing the other schools from up north, from Illinois, etc.