O-H-I-O

What an improbable, unpredictable and enjoyable season college football gave us.  The new playoff system worked perfectly (unless you're a TCU fan...), giving us a true national champion, crowned last night.

While not technically a bowl game, I somehow forced myself to watch one more game.

#4 Ohio State vs. #2 Oregon

Any time a team turns the ball over four times, they'll likely lose but these Buckeyes were charmed, on their third quarterback, overcoming an early season loss at home and getting better with each game, mostly.  They earned and deserved the trophy, simple as that.

It took a couple Oregon drives for the Ohio State defense to adjust and all but shut down the Ducks offense except for that one long pass play for a score in the the 3rd quarter.  This felt like a "downhill" game for most of the night.  Like the Buckeyes were running downhill on both sides of the ball while Oregon struggled to get anything going, running uphill most of the game.

A truly masterful job of coaching and preparing his team by Urban Meyer and his staff.  Oregon looked dazed by the speed and size of the Bucks defense.

I watched the whole game, of course - there's no more college football until Labor Day weekend.

Ohio State 42  Oregon 20

Take Aways

*I picked on Ohio State a lot for the loss to Virginia Tech and felt they should not have jumped TCU.  Obviously that was wrong.  Looking back on what they overcame, the loss to Virginia Tech isn't that hard to imagine, but having Penn State take the Buckeyes to overtime is.   Penn State was lousy - it really was the only game that could have derailed the Ohio State season. 

*Hard not to think Urban Meyer is the best coach in college football.  Just a tremendous job overcoming losing two quarterbacks this season.

*It will be really interesting to see what happens with the three quarterback situation at Ohio State in the off season.  My guess is Braxton Miller transfers because he can play immediately after missing all of this season.  Lots of schools will be interested - Wisconsin, Auburn, Oregon, Florida State all come to mind right away, probably a lot more. Even if that does happen, Meyer will still have to do with a possible QB situation with two guys who both can obviously play.

*Michigan State was the only team to play both of these squads, the Spartans only two losses.  Not a bad season for Sparty, especially since MSU put up 37 points on that same Ohio State defense.

*Top two teams to start next season - Ohio State, TCU, in that order.

What did I eat:  A Costco frozen pizza doctored with pepperoni and peppers.

My pick:  Oregon.  As previously mentioned, I did win my bowl picks pool with a record of 27-12.

Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed my ramblings.  I'll see you back here in December.