O-Verrated

Wow, at least we didn't have to wait for the National Championship Game for this to happen and at least it wasn't by yet another SEC team. This time, it only took until the third week of the college football season to figure out Ohio State was the most overrated team in all of college football. In 2006, Ohio State rolled through a cupcake schedule that featured only two ranked teams, Texas without Vince Young and a Michigan team on the downside. Then when it came down for the Buckeyes to play a team that had actually earned its way to the National Championship Game, the Florida Gators, Ohio State was trounced 41-14.

In 2007, the Buckeyes kept singing the praises of a new year and a fresh start. Ohio State had a slightly harder schedule, played four ranked teams, however each was ranked 19th or lower when the Buckeyes played them. Ohio State lost one game that season, a 28-21 loss to unranked Illinois in their second to last game of the year. Somehow, the Buckeyes still found a way to sneak into the National Title Game once again. They promised a close game and even a win, yet the LSU Tigers dominated them by a score of 38-24.

This season, Ohio State scheduled a game at the Los Angeles Colisseum to face the mighty and top ranked USC Trojans to make sure they wouldn't get wiped out in the National Championship Game again. After being demolished from all angles by the Trojans by a score of 35-3, the Buckeyes dropped from 5th ranked to 13th, a generous ranking considering how poorly the Buckeyes played. On defense, USC quarterback Mark Sanchez threw for 4 touchdowns on a 17 for 28 day, along with his 172 yards passing. Trojan running backs ran for 164 yards on 32 carries, 105 of which came from Joe McKnight on just 12 carries.

On offense, Ohio State struggled in every facet of the game. Quarterback Todd Boeckmann was 14 of 21, but for just 84 yards, 0 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Ohio State ran the ball 34 times for just 71 yards, a 2.1 average. One could make an argument that Ohio State was at a disadvantage because star running back Beanie Wells didn't play because of injury. However, a "top-flight" program should be able to be able to plug a capable backup in to do a decent job. Ohio State, despite its billing as a top-flight program, was unable to bring in an effective running back in place of Wells, cementing itself as a second-tier program.

THE Ohio State Buckeyes, as they refer to themselves as, are THE most overrated team in America. The number 5 team in the nation should have been able to at least put up a fight against USC last week, but the truth is Ohio State was not worth its ranking for yet the third year in a row. At least it didn't take until the final game of the year this season for us to figure it out. By shredding the Buckeye defense and manipulating Ohio State's offense, USC embarrased Ohio State and showed America just how bad Ohio State really is. It's too bad they got so much attention and credit in the first place.