Buckeye Game Day - Orange Bowl Edition

Buckeyes take on a very good Clemson team tonight in Miami.. Clemson is a 2.5 point favorite over the Bucks. If Ohio State's questionable defense can make a few plays Ohio State will be in good shape. The Buckeyes should score well over 30 in this one with Braxton and Carlos Hyde doing a lot of damage. Also look for the tight ends to be a big factor.

With Noah Spence suspended and Bradley Roby out with an injury it will be time for some unsung guys to step up and earn their scholarships. Look for Shazier to have a monster game in his Buckeye finale. I also look for Kenny Guiton to do something special in this game.

I think Urban pulls out all the stops and the Buckeyes play just enough defense to win a shootout 45-35.

Clemson has won the only other meeting 17-15 in the 1978 Gator Bowl in what was Woody Hayes last game.

Brutal Buckeye

I really don't think fans of other schools understand what being a Buckeye Fan truly is all about. The Season long highs followed mostly by, more often than not, vicious, nasty falls from the summit. UK fans have no clue. Neither do Notre Dame, Alabama, USC, or any other "Big Time" program. This isn't just in our one dominant program it happens to the Bucks in every sport. Personally I blame a little know secret, something that has been hidden away in the recesses of Buckeye fandom for a very long time. Brutus Buckeye has an evil twin. When he makes it to a game Ohio loses and more often than not it is in a "big" game. And much like these brothers

he kidnaps the good Brutus and causes agony and havoc for OSU fans. Every so often the evil twin manages to break out of the cell inside Ohio Stadium where he is kept locked away and creates chaos and mayhem for the Buckeyes. His name you ask? Brutal Buckeye. Think of him from a weird alternate, bizzaro type world.

Here are the Top (or Bottom depending on how you look at it) 10 Brutal Buckeye losses in my lifetime.

10. March 25, 1961 in Kansas City. Basketball. The undefeated, and defending National Champion Buckeyes lost 70-65 to Cincinnati in the Championship game. OSU was led by Jerry Lucas, John Havilcek and Larry Siegfried. Ohio State finished the season 27-1.

09. March 24, 1962 in Louisville. For the third straight year OSU was in the Championship Game. And for the second straight year they lost to Cincinnati, this time by the final score of 71-59. It was a great run for Lucas and Hondo. Bucks finished 26-2 capping a three year run of three straight Championship game appearances, 1 National Championship and a 3 year record of 78-6. They lost only to Utah, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin and Cincinnati (twice) during that span.

08. November 22, 1969 in Ann Arbor. Football. The defending National Champion Buckeyes came in undefeated and ranked number 1. New Michigan coach led the school up north to a 24-12 upset victory, probably costing OSU another National Championship.

07. January 1, 1971 in the Rose Bowl. Football. 27-17 loss to Stanford and Jim Plunkett and Randy Vataha. The Buckeyes end their three year run with 1 National Championship and a record of 28-2, losing only to Michigan and Stanford.

06. April 3, 1993 in Atlanta. Women's Basketball. Cheryl Swopes and Texas Tech beat the Lady Bucks 84-82 for the National Championship. Ohio State was led by Katie Smith and Averill Roberts. They finished the season 28-4.

05. June 12, 1965 in Omaha. Baseball. Ohio State dropped a 2-1 heart breaker to Arizona State, Sal Bando and Rick Monday in the NCAA title game. The Bucks would win it all the next season and have a two year record of 57-19-1.

04. April 2, 1998 in Boston. Hockey. The Cinderella Bucks lost to Boston College 5-2 to deprive the world of an OSU-UM NCAA Hockey championship game. Glass slipper shattered!

03. November 7, 1998 in Columbus. Football. Brutal reared his ugly head in the rain as the Number 1 Bucks lost to Michigan State 28-24. Oh the humanity of it all

02.April 2, 2007 in Atlanta. Basketball. The young stud Buckeyes lost to Florida 84-75 in the National Championship Game.

01. Probably, to me last night's basketball game. Dis-Honorable mention to several Rose Bowl loses to USC.

As you can see there are no shortage of games where Brutal has made an appearance and ruined a Buckeye season. You could easily do top ten lists for both football and men's basketball but I wanted to show everyone that Brutal is an equal opportunity spoiler of Ohio State Seasons.

What a sad day for Tressel

The coach and the university have imposed a $250,000 fine and two game suspension in the wake of revelations that Tressel indeed had prior knowledge of tattoogate. It is unknown at this time if the NCAA will impose other sanctions against the coach or University.