Around the 'Shoe

I honestly WANT Michigan to win. God that hurt to say. But in my opinion I am looking at the conference overall and we really need our teams to start stepping up in these out of conference matchups. Plus it will only make The Game that much better.

I root for michigan every game but ours so we can ruin their season

i root for ohio state. i dont care about the big ten. unlike a lot of sec fans, im not "mr. rootforyourconference." the fact remains that in the end the image of the big ten has little to no effect on the product of ohio state. roll tide

I think scUM stays close in the first half. Bama lays the wood to them in the second.

I got my master's at Alabama. I made a lot of friends there, rooted for the Tide in every game I was there except one, the 1987 Kickoff Classic. So I have a dog in this fight, so to speak, and yet I am I was an Ohio State grad first and a Buckeye fan through and through and as much as I "hate" scUM, I have come to "hate" the SEC's arrogance even more. A bigger part of me says it's in Ohio State's best interests to root for TTUN to win. I realize beating the defending NCs will legitimize scUM's "comeback" and fuel their own inflated arrogance. But like sofla, who don't agree with often, I'd love to see two 11-0 B1G teams tee it up on 11/24 and have us ruin their aspirations for an undefeated season just like we did in 2006 and send them reeling into the B1G CG with a heartbreaking loss and then see their hopes for an NC berth quashed by an 11-1 Wisconsin team. The fact is we have to play scUM no matter what and I'd love OSU to be the party crasher that bursts their balloon. But if they lose to Alabama, which I think they will, I'll be OK with that outcome because we can still saddle them with a couple bookend losses.

Earlier in the year, I was determined to root for Alabama, less out of loyalty to an alma mater and more because I want to see scUM get its comeuppance and be put in their place. But at the end of the day, I am a Buckeye fan and, unlike Razor--who's opinion I understand and respect but would also challenge by saying SEC fans were ridiculing us just as much--that makes me by extension a B1G fan. A strong B1G works in our favor, especially in OOC games where our conference's reputation is on the line. Rooting for our B1G brethren to lose every game works against us; the B1G will become the new WAC and we'll be Boise State and look how hard they have to fight for respectability and still don't get it because of their SOS. We can't do all the heavy lifting. And as much as it's amusing to watch scM lose to Appy State or Minnesota to ND State, privately, I cringe. We will be judged as much by the company we keep as the teams we beat. It's like sex: you're not just sleeping with that person but everyone they slept with.

And I'll root for Purdue, scUM and MSU when they play ND. There isn't a school I "hate" more than Notre Dame--and that includes scUM--even though I grew up an ND fan. If you want to read a great article about how insignificant ND's become, read Rick Reilly's attached "Demoting Notre Dame."

I actually think UM could stay with Bama and possibly win...I don't think they will but wouldn't be surprised...It will be close IMO only if Denard limits his TO's.

I think UM will keep it close for a while but Bama will pull away. They have too much talent an better depth.

+1 because I couldn't give 10. Dead on!

Hah thanks bud. +1

I know not everyone will agree with what I've said, and I understand folks like Iowa's point of view, but I just can't root for some of those squads who spewed the venom the way they did (and some still continue to do it, just look at the MSU thread on page 1). I hope Boise St clobbers MSU next Thursday night. (Probably not without Kellen Moore, but would love to see MSU lose at home to them)

I consider myself a long term thinker in this situation. In my mind, OSU has to be the team to take down the SEC. The only way we can do this is by winning a championship against a SEC team, and ideally Alabama. The win against Arkansas was a tasty appetizer, but not the main course. The championship game will be all the more exciting if its OSU-AL, a Meyer-Saban showdown. The significance of the moment will be diminished in my mind if Michigan beats AL first. We have to be the ones to do it. As a result, I hope AL beats UM for the next two years, we beat UM for the next two years and we beat AL in the 2014 BCS Championship. After that, I hope every B10 team beats every SEC team until the end of time. Call me a dreamer, but that's how I'd love the future to play out.

Agree!

With the coming of a playoff for the NC, who cares what other teams in our conference do, as long as tOSU wins! Just win baby, WIN!

According to the NCAA, we never played AR. Oh waite, I was there! OR maybe it was a dream....