Q:
West Virginia or Ohio State? Who deserves to get one of the BCS
Championship spots?
A:
If I had to pick which team is better, I'd say Ohio State from top to
bottom, although I'm not sure West Virginia's spread wouldn't do to the
Buckeye D what Juice Williams and the Illinois attack did. However, when
it's about who would deserve to take one of the spots for the national
title, assuming Missouri beats Oklahoma, I'd put in West Virginia.
The strength of schedule difference is negligible, with Ohio State
clocking in at 46th and West Virginia at 48th. I don't like that the
Buckeyes lost at home late in the year when it had everything on the
line and only two games to go before getting to the BCS championship.
College football doesn't have a playoff, but that Illinois game served
as one.
West Virginia's loss to South Florida doesn't look all that great in
hindsight, but try to remember what a hot team that was at the time.
That was a beartrap of a game in Tampa, with a sold out crown in a
nationally televised night game and an electric atmosphere. With Pat
White hurt, the Mountaineers still almost pulled off the win.
My big problem with WVU is the lack of a signature wow win. Ohio State
beat Michigan and Wisconsin. West Virginia barely got by Cincinnati.
Beating Maryland and Mississippi State is nice, but that's not exactly
whacking LSU and USC. Even so, if I'm splitting hairs, I'd put Pat White
and the boys in.
Q:
West Virginia or Ohio State? Who deserves to get one of the BCS
Championship spots?
A: What makes this such a terrific question is that it’s so sneaky
tough to answer. Take emotion out of the equation, and go ahead and try
to find tangible separation between the Mountaineers and the Buckeyes.
It’s harder to locate than you think. Both schools have one loss by
less than 10 points to a 9-3 team, and have yet to deliver a defining
win over a top-notch opponent. In and out of conference, both schools’
schedules have been relatively cushy. Let me first admit that the fan
in me would much rather see West Virginia in the title game than Ohio
State. New blood, jaw-dropping offensive talent, and a potential match
up with Missouri that would create more fireworks than the folks at
Grucci. Plus, I hate the fact that the Buckeyes ascent toward New
Orleans has come after playing their final regular season game. That
said, after taking an unbiased look at both teams’ bodies of work, Ohio
State deserves the bid by the slightest of margins. Yeah, it’s a
down year for the conference, but navigating the Big Ten is still
tougher than getting through the Big East, which had Connecticut as its
runner-up this season. Here’s an attempt at science behind the
decision: Against teams ranked in the top 45 of the BCS, both programs
are 4-1 with very similar losses. The debate can be boiled down to
which school’s four quality wins are more impressive. Ohio State has
beaten Wisconsin, Michigan, Penn State, and Michigan State. West
Virginia has taken down Cincinnati, Connecticut, Rutgers, and
Mississippi State. Edge Buckeyes…barely and begrudgingly
John
Harris
Q:
West Virginia or Ohio State? Who deserves to get one of the BCS
Championship spots?
A: When you start to compare Ohio State
and West Virginia, as it relates to one of the BCS National championship
game slots, it’s like comparing Count Chocula and Cocoa Pebbles, not
much difference – a chocolately good breakfast no matter how you slice
it, right?
However, this argument
is a bit more clear-cut to me than deciding my chocolate cereal of
choice. I think that West Virginia deserves that spot over Ohio State
and over any other one loss team. The Mountaineers had one loss on the
road in a tough environment early in the season, while Ohio State lost
at home in November. Does it matter when a team loses? Heck, yes. In
this system that we have, it sure does. The Big East is better overall
this season than the Big Ten; that doesn’t always indicate that the
champion from that conference should be in the game, but here, it does
help bolster the argument.
Plus, I want to
see if anyone can stop a fully healthy West Virginia offense on turf
indoors under perfect conditions.
Michael Bradley
Q: West Virginia or Ohio State? Who
deserves to get one of the BCS Championship spots?
Neither West Virginia nor Ohio
State can be considered a truly legitimate national title hopeful,
thanks in large part to the schedules they have played and the relative
weakness of their respective conferences. And, given that Missouri will
lose to Oklahoma next Saturday, the two schools will likely be playing
for the "national title." But, you want one, and I'll go with Ohio
State, because the Buckeyes are a more balanced team.
West Virginia's offense is great because of its ground potential and the
surprise element of the quick pass. But if the Mountaineers ever had to
throw on a consistent basis, they would be cooked. OSU's Todd Boeckman
isn't a star QB, but he is more than serviceable and has some solid
targets at his disposal. When it comes to defense, the Buckeyes have the
edge as well, in just about every area. West Virginia has some talent on
that side of the ball, but the Buckeye front seven is dominant.
So, it's the Buckeyes. And since there will be an OSU-WVU matchup in New
Orleans, consider this an early prediction on the game's outcome.
Q:
West Virginia or Ohio State? Who deserves to get one of the BCS
Championship spots?
A: Once again--as was the
case with LSU and Oregon--the only mature, adult, responsible way to
decide this debate is to play a game. Period.
Pretending to know which team is more deserving is naive at best,
willfully ignorant at worst. Both West Virginia and Ohio State
played garbage non-conference schedules, and they both played in
particularly bad conferences (with the SEC and Pac-10 having subpar
years, but years that were still better than the Big Ten, Big East
and ACC; the Big XII is a hard conference to get a handle on).
Who's more deserving? There's no good or fair answer.
Now that that point has been hammered home, my editor demands an
answer anyway.
If you put a gun to my head and formally demand one team only, I'd
say Ohio State. The Buckeyes loss came to a better team (even though
it happened at home), and relative to the potential of both teams
entering the season, Ohio State generally played much closer to its
overall capabilities. West Virginia has more skill position talent
than OSU, but the Mountaineers simply committed too many turnovers
in too many games to be viewed as more deserving than the Buckeyes
of a berth in the Big Easy. WVU left too many points on the field,
while Ohio State has played in accordance with its personality under
Jim Tressel.
This isn't fair. This isn't a legitimate debate (and moreover, it
won't matter--WVU leads OSU in the BCS standings). But for what it's
worth, if you forced me to give you one team, I'd tell you that the
Buckeyes were just a shade more deserving than the Mountaineers.
