It’s well known that college students don’t generally think about school while they are on winter break. The only time they really think about their school is if there is a big sports game on during winter break and they are interested in watching it and their school winning. Generally that is also true for Ohio State students, however this year it is quite opposite. While Ohio State students aren’t thinking about school work, they are thinking about basketball and football.

Ohio States Men’s Basketball team is currently ranked number 2 in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Top 25 polls. This is a huge success for Ohio State. Granted while on winter break OSU won’t be playing any ranked teams during the start of winter break, a loss could easily bump them down in the polls and this is not something Ohio State students want to happen. A current junior at OSU, Sarah Ceo, commented “I will be spending the first half of my winter break in California and I plan on cheering on the Buckeyes from the West Coast,” when asked if she would be watching Ohio State’s men’s basketball team play over winter break.

Ohio State students are excited for the football team for another reason. It’s publically known now for some time that Urban Meyer is the new head coach for Ohio State’s football team, and that Luke Fickell’s last game will be the Gator Bowl in which OSU will be playing against Florida – whom Meyer used to coach. Students are sad that it will be Fickell’s last game, but they know that Urban Meyer will be a great head coach come next season.

While Ohio State did not finish the regular season as a ranked team, the game against Florida is predicted to be a good game, but not because of the teams themselves. Ohio State students are saying that it will be a good game because Florida knows that OSU has their former coach and that Florida will want to defeat OSU to “prove” that they are the “better” team. It’s known that Ohio State also wants to win the game, because let’s face it who wants to lose a game? Many students will be making the trip down to Florida in the beginning of 2012 for the Gator Bowl in hopes to see Ohio State win its last game with Luck Fickell as the head coach.

With the recent hiring of Urban Meyer at Ohio State, many Buckeye fans are elated at the apparent forgone conclusion of a BCS title and a return to the top of NCAA football.   While there is no doubt that the 47 year old coach has an incredible win percentage, the highest ever through the 2009 season, a deeper dive into the statistics should be enough to have Bucky a little worried.

 1.  Urban Meyer doesn’t stay in a position long – True, in this age of coaching carousels, it’s hard to keep your job long enough to have even a water fountain named after you but with Urban, the problem is one of what professional career coaches call “job hopping.”  Dating back to his high school coaching days, he is yet to stay with a program more than 6 years (which he did only once) and his average tenure as a head coach (Bowling Green, Utah & Florida)  is 3 years.  In all 3 of these positions, Meyer was able to turn average programs into winners but he has always had one distinct advantage…

 2.  Urban Meyer walks into positions ripe for winning. – Lack of game film, a substandard conference and general national ignorance of the Bowling Green program during Meyer’s tenure make it hard to do an in depth analysis of his performance at Bowling Green.  It appears his signature wins were over a middle of the pack Missouri team in 2001 and 2002.  Meyer was handed a talent laden Utah program in 2003, complete with a Heisman finalist quarterback and emerging NFL star in a (sic) down Mountain West Conference.  In similar fashion, Urban took over for one the greatest “Best Recruiter / Worst Coach” dichotomies of all time in Ron Zook at Florida.  With a locker room full of more talent than that of the Dallas Cowboy’s cheerleaders, had Meyer only filled out the roster card and left each game at kickoff, he’d likely enjoyed 10 win seasons.  Picking up a commitment from lifelong Gator fan Tim Tebow within 18 months of his start date didn’t hurt as long as he could keep the 5 star, Parade All American quarterback Chris Leak happy about it.

 3.  Meyer’s use of the spread offense is unparalleled…it’s also old news – If there is one thing to be jaw droppingly impressed about with Urban Meyer, it’s his use and perfection of the spread offense.  Athleticism alone did not win national titles, his offensive genius had allot to do with it.  With that said, it’s no longer novel and he’s no longer in the “speed state” of Florida.  While he will certainly recruit top talent at OSU (a team that was a full step slower than his Gators) running a spread in the Big 10 will be exciting until they meet the majority of the power teams of the South or a high level West Coast team. Furthermore, the majority of BCS level teams see a spread offense no less than once every 3 games.  While he may run it to perfection, the surprise factor will definitely be gone. 

4.  Meyer has a mess to clean up – Meyer has never had to assume leadership of a team facing NCAA  compliance issues and history is not on his side.  The more egregious the programs sins, the longer it typically takes to recover.  While I certainly don’t compare the current OSU situation with SMU or even current day Miami or USC in regards to severity of rule breaking, self imposed sanctions plus those from the NCAA will make the ramp up time a little slower than the fast paced coach would prefer.  I’m sure someone much smarter than I in mathematics could find a formula for the average number of years it takes to be ranked in the top 5 in coloration to number of scholarships lost.  Don’t Stanford fans read college football blogs?  They should be able to write this program between homework and their next Steve Jobs / iTunes / iPhoto tribute slideshow for their Mark Zuckerburg owned Facebook page.

 I certainly hope my Buckeye readers do not misinterpret this as “hating” on Urban Meyer.  Much like Tim Tebow in the NFL, you may like him or hate him but you have to admit that all he does is win.  My only request is that those same readers take a look at the facts I’ve laid out, ponder them and let the next few years determine his legacy.  While many college football fans are ready to put Meyer among the greatest of all time, I reserve judgment and admit pessimism as to his future success.  I classify the “infamous coaches in NCAA history” into 3 categories.  The most impressive are those that dominated for a great deal of time until the game passed them by. (Bear Bryant, Tom Osbourne, Bobby Bowden, Nick Saban is almost there) The 1B class ,if you will, are coaches that rose, struggled perhaps and then were able to recover to a degree but not at the same level.  These are still great coaches but they all had shorter runs of success followed by less than ideal exits. (Lou Holtz, Steve Spurier, Jimmy Johnson)  The last class would be coaches that so many fell in love with and heralded as the next great leader until they were exposed as being at “the right place and time.”  (Phillip Fullmer, Rich Rodriguez, Pete Carrol, Nick Saban until he came back to Alabama)  I would currently put Urban Meyer in the 1B category and see his next 5 years as the pivot point into one of the other classes.  If he goes on to greatness at OSU, I’ll be first in line to carve him into the NCAA coach Mt Rushmore.  However, if things do not turn out well and the championships don’t come after he’s had the chance to rebuild, don’t say I didn’t warn you…especially if he quits in 3 years…

Week 7 –

-recap of last weeks games, lopsided top 10 wins

-Ohio State president says WHAT?

-Garcia gone in South Carolina

-Week 7 previews

Week 6 of the college football season is in the books, and once again, CSF brings you a complete recap of the week that was.  Check out our breakdown of five key bits of info you can’t do without as we continue through the 2011 college football season.

No Florida Schools in the Top 25: Florida State was supposed to be the bell cow of the ACC and the state of Florida in 2011, but after suffering their third straight loss to Wake Forest last weekend, the ‘Noles are out of the top 25.  Much hype was surrounding the Florida Gators, but back to back games against Alabama and LSU would be enough to drop anyone.  The Gators were hammered 41-11 by LSU, and the second-straight loss was too much to keep them in the rankings as well.  Miami, USF and UCF have all been mentioned in the top 25 at different points this season, but all have lost critical games this season, and all are on the outside of the polls looking in.

Red River Blowout: Many (including myself) thought Texas was way overrated coming into this game–the Longhorns were ranked as the #11 team in the nation, but very few predicted the kind of beat down the Sooners would deliver last weekend.  The OU defense outscored Texas in this one, accounting for three touchdowns.  The fast-paced OU offense did their damage as well, on their way to a 55-17 blowout victory for Oklahoma.

Michigan off to the quietest 6-0 start in history: The dominance of Wisconsin and the implosion of Ohio State have been the main topics of discussion this season in the Big Ten.  That has overshadowed a fantastic start by first year head coach Brady Hoke’s perfect start in 2011.  Hoke has done a lot with very little, especially on the defensive side of the ball, but the Wolverines aren’t getting much love.  A win at rival Michigan State this weekend would not only make the Wolverines bowl eligible in mid-October, it would also serve as notice to the college football world that, while Michigan is still not a top 10 team, Hoke has cleaned up Rich Rod’s mess much faster than anyone could have imagined.

Mark Richt gets 100th win: After starting the 2011 season with a loss against Boise State and a heart-breaker at home to South Carolina in week 2, the Bulldogs won their third straight game last weekend at Tennessee.  The win was head coach Mark Richt’s 100th as a head coach in Athens.  Richt, who came into this season on the hot seat, has Georgia playing better than any team in the SEC East.  A win against rival Florida on October 29th could buy him an extra year and vault the Dawgs into an SEC Championship Game.

In a stunning revelation, Ohio State is the “poster child” of compliance:  I was under the impression that massive suspensions of key players, the untimely departure of a hall of fame coach amid controversy, inappropriate dealings with boosters and free tattoos and gifts from a known Columbus drug dealer were signs that an athletic program wasn’t keeping very good tabs on its student-athletes.  Fortunately, for people like me, who were completely misunderstanding the situation at OSU, their president Gordon Gee took the liberty of clearing up that slight misconception.  Gee informed the Ohio State faculty last week that OSU is the “poster child” of compliance.  In the wake of that announcement, Charlie Sheen is expected to announce that he is the poster child of child care, Lindsay Lohan is expected to announce that she is the poster child of sobriety, and Carrot Top is expected to claim he is the poster child of comedy.