By Bill Smith
Why would
OSU be on the list? Some say it is the
fact that since 2002 we have been in 4 national championship games in the two
major college sports—football and basketball.
Like it or not fans of other colleges resent that kind of success. Those sports teams that are successful year
after year are always disliked by fans of other teams. That is why the Yankees and Pats are on the
list with OSU.
Another
possibility is that we have lost the last two football championship games. The
theory is that even though we play teams like Texas,
the Big 10 has been down over the last couple of years and wins against Indiana, etc. are not
justification for a ticket to the big game.
But that does not explain it.
There was
some resentment over the “The” being added to the school's name. That resentment was increased by the fact
that the university had to go to court to defend it against Ohio University
et. al. Those that object say that it
indicates a level of arrogance that is unacceptable in college sports. If you wonder how others feel about the ‘The’,
watch any pro game where the players introduce themselves. Even now players from other schools will
include an emphasized ‘The’ with their team names. While that doesn't help, it doesn't explain
the ranking either.
The real
answer is the BCS. Given the history of
the BCS process, any team that went to the big game in football 3 times in six
years would be subject to the same lack of respect the BCS has earned. The formula for deciding the most critical
issue of the college football season has been “tweaked” 5 times in the last 7
years. The process was so unpopular that
the AP poll pulled out of the calculation all together. The recent refusal to implement even the plus
1 concept to add credibility was dismissed out of hand. Fans just don't like the BCS or anything or
any team associated with it. And with
their dislike for the BCS comes dislike for OSU.
I guess I
would rather be the fan of a team that was disliked because it won than liked
because it was a lovable loser. Everyone
likes the Cubs!
Bill Smith is a former coach of several
semi-pro teams and has scouted talent.
He is a senior writer for http://BrutusReport.com and has published
several novels on http://ebooks-library.com/index.cfm