College football thoughts, Part I

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

It may seem a little early to talk about college football, but it’s really not. I picked up a copy of Phil Steele’s 2018 College Football Preview a few days ago and have been browsing through it since then, hence today’s (and tomorrow’s) thoughts on collegiate football.

Urban Meyer and the Ohio State Buckeyes

Even though Ohio State’s season won’t begin until September, it’s no surprise that OSU is expected to be one of the top teams in college football again, and why not? They have plenty of returning experience and boast depth that only a small handful of major colleges can meet or exceed, plus the Buckeyes have Urban Meyer. In seven years at Ohio State, Meyer is 73-8. That’s a staggering number.

One big question mark for the Buckeyes is at quarterback. Despite taking a lot of heat, J.T. Barrett IV won a lot of games and set a number of school records, but he exhausted his eligibility and is now a member of the New Orleans Saints.

Dwayne Haskins has been named as the new starter, at least heading into fall practices. I’m hardly one to question Meyer, but it seems that his offenses have done better with a mobile quarterback, Haskins has a big arm, but is hardly considered mobile. Yes, there was Cardale Jones, but his legacy is three games, albeit it three very big games.

Who knows, with a different style of quarterback and a bevy of talented wide receivers and running backs, maybe we’ll see a more dynamic, downfield passing attack this season. Time will tell.

Ohio State’s schedule

The big games are September 15 against TCU in Arlington, at Penn State September 29, at Michigan State November 10 and home against Michigan November 24. I’m also going to throw in October 20 at Purdue (don’t laugh, OSU always seems to have trouble at Ross-Aide Stadium) and November 3 against Nebraska. The Cornhuskers are probably a year or two away from making real noise, but they very well may give the Buckeyes a battle this season.

Yes, the schedule includes what should be some easy games, but there are five or six that could be real challenges.

Conference title games and the CFB playoff

I’ll get this out of the way – I’m not a fan of conference title games, which are done strictly for TV ratings and revenue. Once in a while you’ll see an upset, but it seems like more often than not it’s a mismatch. Regardless, that’s the system we have and it’s not going to change as long as money is involved.

As far as the playoff, it’s entering it’s fifth season. As expected, there has been plenty of grumbling that it’s not fair, needs to be expanded, etc. College football fans are tough to please. The old bowl system rarely matched No. 1 vs No 2. Changes in the 1990’s brought about the BCS, which fans grumbled about. That system had flaws, but probably got it right the majority of the time.

The playoff was introduced in 2014, but many fans claim it’s flawed too, especially fans whose school didn’t get in. Will the playoff be expanded at some point? Of course, it’s just a matter of time. But regardless if it’s expanded to six or eight teams, fans will claim their school was unfairly excluded.

Self-proclaimed national champions?

On a related subject, the University of Central Florida went undefeated and capped off a perfect 2017 season with a Peach Bowl victory over Auburn. However, the Golden Knights were denied a spot in the College Football Playoff, so after beating Auburn, the school declared itself as the national champion, had a championship banner made, along with national champion rings.

Sorry, but in some ways, that makes the school look a little silly. No doubt it was a great season, and going undefeated is extremely difficult to do. While arguments can be made for and against them not being in the playoff (politics, strength of schedule etc.) the fact is they didn’t win the national title through the current recognized system.

It’s just my opinion, but being a self-proclaimed national champion seems to ever so slightly tarnish an otherwise outstanding season.

If you have any thoughts you’d like to share with me, agree or disagree, feel free to email me at sports@thevwindependent.com.

Tomorrow: more on the CFB Playoff, bowl games, schedules, the old school triple option, Michigan and more.