- Friday, January 3, 2014

- Sun Life Stadium - Miami Gardens, FL

- The Orange Bowl - Clemson vs Ohio State

- 8:30 p.m. ET

- TV: ESPN -

The Bowl Championship Series continues its curtain call Friday night in Miami as the 10-2 Clemson Tigers face off against the 12-1 Ohio State Buckeyes in the Orange Bowl Game. Urban  Meyer and his Buckeyes were a play or two away from a Monday night date instead, but now find themselves in a pretty fair consolation prize. They landed a coveted BCS game berth, with the prime-time spotlight all to themselves Friday night...not to mention a nice trip to Florida.

Playing the second most important bowl game involving a Big Ten team was not what this Ohio State group had in mind after winning 24 straight games over two years, but it does give us our first chance to see how Meyer and his charges come back after a loss. Michigan State’s Rose Bowl victory relieves somewhat the burden Ohio State so often carries into the bowl season...that of proving the respectability of the Big Ten football brand.

In this the last year of the BCS system, Ohio State will wind up with more appearances than any other school. This is the 10th BCS game for the Buckeyes, (Oklahoma is second with nine) and they carry a 6-3 mark into this Orange Bowl matchup, including a 1-2 mark in championship games. The Bucks will be trying to achieve the unprecedented BCS “Slam”, having previously won BCS games in the Rose, Sugar and Fiesta Bowls.

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Ohio State’s 24-game winning streak came to an end against the Michigan State Spartans in the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday night, and along with it went their national title aspirations and a little bit of the Urban Meyer mystique. The Buckeyes dug themselves out of an early 17-0 hole to take a 3rd quarter lead of 24-17, but in the end were done in by the inability of their defense to slow down the Spartans’ passing attack. Michigan State came back in the 4th quarter with the game’s final 14 points to earn a 34-24 victory and their first Rose Bowl trip since 1988.

After they fell behind 27-24 early in the 4th quarter, the Buckeyes twice failed to capitalize on great field position following a failed onside kick and a blocked punt. The most prolific offense in Ohio State history did not register a first down in the final quarter, as the Spartans’ defense stepped up when it mattered. A jarring hit broke up a 3rd down catch by OSU receiver Evan Spencer to force a punt on their first possession of the quarter, and then MSU linebacker Denicos Allen stopped Braxton Miller on a 4th and 2 run at the MSU 40, with under six minutes to play.

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 - Saturday, December 7, 2013

- Lucas Oil Stadium - Indianapolis, IN

-The Big Ten Championship Game

- Ohio State (12-0) vs Michigan State (11-1)

- 8:00 p.m. ET

- TV: FOX -

The third annual Big Ten Championship Game will match the undefeated and 2nd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes and the 11-1 Michigan State Spartans on Saturday night in Indianapolis. Both teams are trying to earn a January trip to Pasadena, but they have different dates circled on the calendar.

Winning the conference championship trophy would almost assuredly earn Mark Dantonio’s Spartans an invitation to the Rose Bowl classic on New Year’s Day. Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes on the other hand, are eying a chance to play on the same field five days later, when the national championship will be decided on January 6th. But first things first. As of two years ago, there is no such thing as winning “a share” of the Big Ten title, and both coaches are treating this game as far more than one more hurdle on the way to a bowl game.

The Big Ten’s showcase event had the bad timing to debut in 2011, that aberration of a season for the team that had won six straight conference titles coming into that year. Ohio State was rocked by scandal, culminating in a coaching change and a 6-7 record. Last year, a 12-0 OSU team that was clearly the league’s best was banned from postseason play, forcing the Big Ten to admit a five-loss team into its marquee game.

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Urban Meyer called it “an instant classic.”  Brady Hoke said “We played the game to win.”  In the end, it was Hoke’s call to go for the win in regulation rather than send The Game into overtime that proved decisive in Ohio State’s 42-41 victory Saturday in Ann Arbor. Buckeye safety Tyvis Powell stepped in front of Devin Gardner’s pass on a two-point conversion attempt at the goal line with 30 seconds to play, his interception preserving a perfect 12-0 regular season for the Buckeyes, and their 9th win in the last 10 meetings with their rivals to the north.

Ohio State had secured a berth in the Big Ten title game even before this one kicked off, but as usual, emotions were running high, and a 2nd quarter brawl marred the spectacle, resulting in the ejections of two OSU players and one from Michigan. Freshman back Dontre Wilson and senior guard Marcus Hall threw punches in the melee, and backup Wolverines linebacker Royce Jenkins-Stone was tossed for ripping off Wilson’s helmet, among other violations.

When the last-minute onsides kick attempt by the Wolverines failed, and victory was assured, the Buckeyes knew their hopes for a shot at the national championship were still alive. Three hours later, when No. 1 Alabama fell to Auburn, the erstwhile No. 3 Buckeyes found themselves in the driver’s seat for a berth in the January 6th title game. After all the angst about multiple unbeatens and who’s jumping whom, the moral of the story turns out to be...win all your games, and the rest will take care of itself.

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