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That's tough. JT left the pretty big shoes to fill in. 9-1 vs TSUN? 7 straight win vs TSUN?

If UFM can go 9-1 vs TSUN, then he has succeed in equaling JT. But if UFM went 10-0, then UFM bettered JT.

That is very difficult to do.

In all honesty, I kind of hope not. The last decade was phenomenal, and the Buckeyes for the most part were able to win all of the games they were supposed to win. The Conference Championships, the BCS appearances, etc. were all special. However, I hope Urban is faced with a much tougher B1G across the board. I think OSU suffered in the national picture because the B1G did not challenge us. We were able to take good, not great, OSU teams and use Tresselball to squeak out victories. It let us keep mediocre assistants around for far too long, because the league wasn't good enough to make it essential for them to be replaced with better coaches. And it let us take more regional players just so they wouldn't go to the B1G competition, but didn't force us to go national to get the best and be competitive with the elite programs.

JT had a remarkable tenure here, but was aided by a somewhat down era in the B1G. I want the Buckeyes battle tested at the end of the year. I want them to get dinged here and there to learn and spur growth to be great when it matters. I want the B1G to be feared from coast to coast.

Urban Meyer is the superior coach in all regards - from recruiting, to development, to motivation, to schematics, to game management, to executive management and staff recruitment. At least that's my opinion. Yours may differ.

But he will not improve on Tressel's record. He will have to face a Big Ten that is significantly better and deeper than Tressel did.

Michigan? Michigan has been a JOKE through the last decade - the end of Carr's reign and the whole RichRod fiasco. Nobldy can seriously evaluate Tressel's record against Michigan and come to any conclusion other than TTUN has been at its historic worst. Hoke is a legitimate coach, Mattison is an elite DC and recruiter, and the Wolverines will be a more serious competitor than they have been lately.

Penn State? This is a crap shoot. They could suffer a fatal core melt-down over the Sandusky thing and never recover in my lifetime. But if they don't, the passing of the ineffectual and stiffling JoePa and his merry band of inbreds will only improve the program. Its possible (can't say how "likely") that PSU will return to credibility again now that they appear to have righted the ship and made a potentially good head coaching hire.

MIchigan State? Under Dantonio they have been better than they have ever been, and they are continuing to improve.

Wisconsin? Hard to predict, with the majority of Bielema's staff highjacked to Pitt. For now, I will give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they will remain an elite team.

Illinois? Will have better talent, consistency, and game management under Beckman.

Nebraska? How many times did Tressel coach against Nebraska? I can't remember.

Purdue and Minnesota? Could improve, we'll see.

Iowa? Slumping.

Indiana? Who?

Urban Effing Meyer is going to have to face a more talented and better performing conference - at least I hope so, as the Big Ten has NEVER had so much negative attention paid to its overall quality of play before in its entire history. Tressel was a very good coach, but benefited greatly by being at the right place at the right time...

(Hey Zona - you beat me to it...I need to learn how to type faster!)

In all honesty, I don't think we will go 9-1 against Mich with Urban. Michigan was complete garbage for atleast 3 of those yrs with rich rod. I don't think Hoke is by any means the best coach, but he can recruit very well and understands this rivalry and the importance of it to both fanbases.

I think if urban gets to 3 NC, he is not going 1-2 and getting boat raced in both losses. Both of those losses were an embarrassment and we Slipped into that game against LSU because of teams ahead of us in Bcs standings losing in the final game.

I understand we we were 5-4 in Bcs games, but the only one (obvi besides BCS championship vs Miami) that seemed that impressive was the rose bowl win against Oregon.
-We beat notre dame(never win bowl games)
-played not to lose in 2nd half against Arkansas who could have scooped up a blocked punt to win that game( and give me a heart attack in the superdome)
-should have beaten Texas in fiesta bowl but had some awful defense set up on the last play

I also remember getting iniliated against USC and losing at home to a freshman quarterback (i know it was Matt Barkley, but there was no excuse for losing that game)

I think Urban will win 2 NC's, and I don't think that is too lofty of expectations. He is getting to play in the B1G, which is obviously an easier conference to get through then the SEC. He is getting wonderful recruits, has a quarterback that seems to be ready made for his system, and has a defense with young stars in the making. I think we will be in the NC in 2013 or 2014 seasons. Urban is an excellent big game coach, his bowl game and rivalry game records speak for themselves.

So if u ask me, I don't think he will have that remarkable record that tressel had against Michigan, but with everything else I think he exceeds tressels records. I also think if he wins two NC's then that trumps everything, and he will be considered greater because of that.

Let me add that I loved having tressel as a coach, but I think Urban is superior in many ways. The future is bright at OSU

I too recognize tress at 106- 22 and 9-1 against ttun.

I doubt urban surpasses that however I think meyer will win 2 NT's instead of 1 so either way we'll be extremely happy with what he'll do.

It depends how you measure success. If he goes 5-5 vs Michigan but wins 2 National Championships did he pass Tressel?

I would surmise that a 5-5 record against scUM and 2 NCs would mean we cycle through 12-0, 8-4, 12-0, 8-4, etc. By that standard, I do not think it would be considered as successful. I expect a down year here and there, but the Michigan program isn't set up TODAY to match up with the Buckeyes, and Urban is just getting started. It would take something ugly for them to catch up with us, let alone be even for the next decade.

I think, that Urban will be pushed to beat or match Tress's records...I think buckguy71, you hit a key with"recuriting". If Meyer can continue to bring in his "kind of guys", develope them around his offensive plan, and defensive schemes, he could have an intresting run at the records of Tressel.
While we can call the Michigan teams trash that Tressel beat, it still was Michigan and they played us home and away in a big rival setting game. Hats off to Tressel for that record!

I AM a Tress fan and an Urban Meyer fan. The thing that we are forgetting is that the added B10 championship game will make the BCS title game just a bit tougher to obtain. Id take a +.500 vs Michigan U, a +.500 bcs bowl record and a National Title. color me happy at that point.