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(NOTE: due to a technical change on the server, this article by The Coach shows a "published" date of December 17 rather than the actual date it was published, Dec. 6.)

As I sat at my computer composing my thoughts for this article I raised my hands and wiggled my fingers and was just about to drop them to the keyboard when my darling wife snuggled up behind me and, oh so softly, whispered in my ear, "If you start this with one more rant about Jim Tressel losing his job and Gene Smith still having his, I will put my hand right through your chest and rip your heart out. Then I will take it out back and step on it. And then I will feed it to the squirrels one piece at a time." She started to leave but stopped and turned and put her face one inch from mine and looked me straight in the eyes and said, "It's a new year, Get.....over.....it."

Soooooooooooooooo, that was a hell of a week we just had, wasn't it?

The week started with the announcement of Urban Meyer taking over as head coach at Ohio State. Sometimes the stars just line up like a Van Gogh painting. We just happened to have a crappy year and Pope Urban just happened to have taken a year off. If you were looking for the perfect coach on paper to coach The Buckeyes, he's the guy.

You want a guy with Ohio roots. He was born in Toledo and raised in Ashtabula and graduated from St. John's. He was actually drafted by the Atlanta Braves as a shortstop in the 13th round and played minor league baseball for two years while attending Cincinnati AND playing defensive back for the Bearcats. After earning a Bachelors Degree in Psychology at Cincinnati he attended Ohio State and got his first coaching experience under The Earle of Bruce as a Graduate Assistant. He then spent 11 years as an assistant coach at Illinois State, Colorado State and Notre Dame before returning home to Ohio to take over the Bowling Green head coaching job which he held for two years. It was probably the greatest turnaround in the history of MAC football and he was voted MAC Coach of the Year. So a guy with Ohio roots? Check.

You would want a guy that is going to be there a while and wants to build and sustain a long time program. He is 47. He said the only job he would have left ESPN for was Ohio State.

You want a proven winner. He has won everywhere he has been. He went to a dismal Bowling Green and went 8-4 and 9-3. He went to Utah and his first year they were 10-2 and he was voted conference Coach of the Year. In his second year, 2004, they went 11-0 and were the first sub division team to get a BCS bid and defeated Pitt to end the year a perfect 12-0. That took him to Florida which led him to a 63-14 record in the SEC and two National Championships. So yeah, the guy can coach. Check.

You want a guy that can recruit. I've heard a lot of things about Urban Meyer over the last twenty years but the one thing I have heard again and again is that he is the best recruiter in the country. I guess we are about to find out how true that statement is. I know he has a bunch of top kids coming in for a visit that weren't even talking to us so, check.

You want a guy that will run a clean program and graduate his players. Well, he just spent six years in the SEC so this one is far from a check just yet. There's everybody else's way and there is the SEC way. Somebody will need to sit down with him and go over the NCAA rules and regulations VERY carefully to remind him that he is back in the Big Ten where they self regulate and self impose instead of telling the NCAA to &%#* off. And he has the all-time self imposer of self imposers for an AD so, ooops, better shut up.

And then the week continued with the absolute beat down of Duke. Going into the game I thought we had a chance because it was at home and although Coach K is a mythical basketball god, Thad Michael Matta ain't so bad either. But 22 points? Who beats Duke by 22 points? I don't care where you are or what the circumstances are or who was playing in what tournament last week or who had the cupcakes and who had the meat, nobody beats Duke by 22. Ever. As a matter of fact, the Big Ten cleaned the ACC in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge by winning 8 of 12 games. What's that all about? And then we beat up another cupcake called Texas PanAm (but did it without Sullinger) to give Matta his 300th win. They next travel to Kansas to face the Jayhawks on their home court where coach Snyder is 132-7. And the final good news for the week was the Ohio State women's 17th ranked basketball team that traveled to #18 Oklahoma and beat them on their home court 69-63 to go 7-0 on the season. All in all, not a bad week.

THAT WHICH WAS:

Auburn came out flinging the ball like they were Houston or Stanford and that lasted about a quarter and then Nick The Snake Saban got pissed and lowered the hammer. And, in case you hadn't noticed, in the SEC, if there is a team that has a chance to play for the mythical national championship game, well, the refs just kind of take a different look at things. There is no way either Alabama or LSU was going to lose this weekend. The closer the score the more obvious the lean. It just wasn't so obvious this year.

Baylor branded Texas' Bevo to the tune of 48-24. Y'all can take your own TV station and put it where the sun don't shine.

Boise St. opened the season with a win over Georgia and went 11-1 but took a 1 point loss at TCU which cost them a BCS bowl. That got the Mormons mad. Gosh darn it, dog nab it any way. Shoot.

Cincinnati ended a fine 9-3 year with a 35-27 win over UConn.

Clem's-son was just cruising along and then dropped two in a row to NC ST. and S. Carolina. That must have upset the boy because he took it out on Virginia Tech 38-0.

LSU beat Georgia 42-10. Georgia had the first 10 to get every one in the country excited but soon faded like an autographed O. J. Simpson jersey.

The Oregon Ducks beat the UCLA pretty boys in pastel 49-31 to put them out of their misery and help them get rid of Rick Neuheisel.

The Wisconsin Buggers got even with the Michigan Spittoons for that bounce off of the chest hail Mary thing by edging them out of the Big Ten Championship 42-39 for a trip to the Rose Bowl. Hey Buggers, don't get used to it.

Mount Union beat the Little Giants of Wabash College 20-8 to get into the semifinals of the Div. III playoffs. This is Mount's unbelievable 17th straight trip to the semifinals.

THAT WHICH WILL BE:

There are 35 bowl games this year which is about 15 to many but there will be some good ones. I'll probably watch them all but these are the ones that I will actually pay some attention to between Christmas cookies and beer:

Boise St. VS. Arizona St. I'll watch this because I always watch Boise State. They're fun to watch.

Kansas St. and Arkansas. Kansas St. has had a hell of a year going 9-3 with a great offense. It will be fun to see how they match up against the SEC.

Clem's-son and West By God Virginia should be a pretty fun shoot out.

$Notre Dame takes on Florida State. It ain't Lou Holtz and Bobby Bowden but it's still the Nole's and the Domers, ya gotta watch it. Oh. and don't miss Leprejaun.

Georgia and Michigan State is a good match up. If ever a Big Ten team should beat an SEC team, here tis.

meeeshitagin plays Virginia Tech. Man, talk about a team that got the bounces this year. They opened with Western Michigan and then they caught $ND early and got them at home and squeaked by them 35-31. Then their next four games were Eastern Mich., San Diego State, Minniso-so, and Northwestern. They had EIGHT home games and caught Ohio State and Nebraska at home. And due to rotation didn't have to play either Penn State or Wisconsin. They didn't even play their conference champion and ended up in a BCS bowl game. Oh, and they get to play Virginia Tech in the bowl. God, do we need a play off.

South Carolina and Nebraska. Another Big Ten/SEC match up that should prove interesting. Crazy Steve Spurrier on one side and babbling Bo Pelini on the other.

Oklahoma State and Stanford. Wow. Should end up 55-54. What a game this should be with two of the best offenses in the country going toe to toe.

Oregon and Wisconsin should be fun too. The spread against the power. 150 different uniform combinations against the same old bland red and white Wisconsin. I read where $Notre Dame's quarterback, Dayne Crist, who was beat out in the fourth game, is looking to graduate in December to transfer to another school for his fifth year of eligibility. Wisconsin is pretty good at renting quarterbacks for a year.

Penn State and Houston. The best passing offense in the country against the one of the best defenses in the country. Penn State has been working on a "secret" defense for this game and they are pretty good at keeping secrets in Happy Valley.

Ohio State and Florida. Two 6-6 teams that have no business in a bowl game but there is money to be made and there are actually people out there that would rather spend $150 for a ticket than donate that money to support the folks occupying Wall Street. I know, it's bizarre, what with winter coming and all, life should be fairer. The bowl hopes to make this game about Urban Meyer. Florida feels betrayed because he left them and now he is in Ohio. Hey, do you remember a guy named LeBron?

LSU VS. Alabama. Oh boy, this is what I was hoping for. A rematch of a game that had 9 field goals (5 made) and had to be decided in overtime. Alabama didn't even win their conference and they get to play for a National Championship. We need an eight team playoff. Everybody else can still play in all of those other hokey bowls but the top eight play it off like every other sport in college at every level.

The Coach

Tags: alabama crimson tide, duke basketball, florida gators football, lsu tigers football, ohio state basketball, ohio state football, thad matta, urban meyer