Now I know why I don’t do predictions during the regular season- and why it’s a good thing I don’t bet on college football. Yours Truly doesn’t exactly have Nostradamus looking to his laurels after the first two weeks of bowl games.  My prediction record currently rests at a dismal 13-15 with some glaring gaffes. Picking Michigan State to beat Alabama wasn’t exactly my finest hour. But I have had a better bowl season than the Big Ten, so I’ve got that going for me.

Now seven games remain in the college football season, with the capper being the matchup between Auburn and Oregon in the BCS Championship. One game remains for Ohio State as well; the Sugar Bowl against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

It’s one last chance at a victory for fourteen teams, one last chance at a crystal football for two teams, and one last chance at predictive redemption for Yours Truly. Exactly half of the twenty-eight bowl games played thus far have ended in margins of sixteen points or more. It’s been a season of blowouts. Hopefully we’ll see some competitive football in this final week, a Buckeye victory… and some decent picks for the resident Swami.

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The Ohio State Buckeyes (14-0) closed out 2010 with a convincing 85-67 victory over the struggling Indiana Hoosiers on New Year’s Eve. In Ohio State’s Big Ten opener, the Buckeyes caught fire from behind the arch and tied an Assembly Hall record for most three’s by a visiting team after connecting on 13 of their 19 attempts. Buford and Diebler each hit five 3-pointers while Lighty connected on two and freshman Jordan Sibert added one. With the Hoosiers focusing their zone on trying to limit Ohio State’s inside game, the Buckeyes torched Indiana on the perimeter. Buford was surprised by the numbers after the game, "I didn't know we shot that well. That's pretty good," Buford said. "When they were in a zone, we were rotating the ball, and then they couldn't get to the shooters and we were just knocking them down."

Buford should not have been surprised by Ohio State’s performance. The junior swingman was a huge factor from the outset, scoring the first eight points for the Buckeyes. Buford connected on his first five shots, three of which were three's, in a stretch where Ohio State built a double digit lead. Overall, the Buckeyes shot a blistering 79% from the field in the first half and went into intermission with a 46-33 lead.

The second half was much of the same for the Buckeyes as they continued to pour it on from behind the arch. After connecting on seven 3-pointers in the first half, Ohio State added six more in the first 12 minutes of the second. With Sullinger lurking on the low post, Indiana stuck with their defensive strategy, even though they were giving up open look after open look. Indiana head coach Tom Crean talked about the difficulty of guarding Ohio State after the game, “They're such a dominant team and they're so good at so many positions that you just can't let guys do things that they don't normally do in games.” He later added, “These guys can beat you from three, they can beat you from the pull-up game, they can beat you at the rim and you've got to get up and you've got to establish more will and grit and resolve to that.”

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New Year’s Day is the traditional final day of the college football season. Unfortunately, it isn’t that way anymore. The advent of the BCS and the expansion of the bowl field stretched the season more than a week beyond the first day of the year, an uncomfortable situation that turns this wonderful sport into a visitor that overstays his welcome. With the NFL Playoffs and the college basketball conference season underway and the NBA season heating up (at least in cities other than Cleveland) it’s tough to stay interested in college football, autumn’s sport, in the second week of January. But, these are the times in which we live.

Fortunately there is still a nice slate of games to be played on New Year’s Day, from noon to night, and here they are. So sit back on the sofa, nurse that hangover and take in the action as twelve teams duel in six New Year’s Day bowl games.   

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The Ohio State Buckeyes (13-0) closed out their non-conference schedule with a bang last night as they blasted the Tennessee-Martin Skyhawks 100-40.

Tennessee-Martin might be the worst team on Ohio State’s schedule, but the 60 point margin of victory was an impressive achievement for a Buckeye team that seems to be hitting its stride as they enter Big Ten play. The balance on Ohio State’s offense makes this team one of the most dangerous in the country as the Buckeyes had five players score double-digit point totals against the Skyhawks. This comes just four days after six different Buckeyes reached double-digits in their win over Oakland last Thursday.

Buford highlighted a handful of dazzling performances put on by the Buckeyes as he scored 23 points on 9-11 shooting while adding five rebounds and four assists. The majority of his damage was done early as he scored 16 points, four rebounds and three assists by halftime. If he hadn’t been benched midway through the second half (as a result of the blowout), he may have put up 30. Buckeyes head coach Thad Matta came away pleased with Buford’s play, “Will gets stronger as the season goes on. As a coach, you always like to see guys who put in that kind of work have a good outcome.”

To round it off, Sullinger had 18 points and 11 rebounds (his sixth double-double of the season), Deshaun Thomas had 20 points and 9 rebounds off the bench and both Lighty and Lauderdale added 10. The Buckeyes combined to shoot 58% from the field (41-70) and assisted on 26 of their 41 made baskets. The scoring output gave Ohio State just their second 100 point game of the season. The first came in the season opener against North Carolina A&T, when they scored a season high 102.

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