The mess in Columbus changes the Big Ten landscape. The OSU football program is expected to be penalized harshly by the NCAA with sanctions likely to include severe reductions in scholarships and bans on bowl games.
The Buckeyes will be knocked off their throne as King of the Hill in the conference. Ohio State will be better than your average Big Ten team in coming years, but it’s difficult to imagine the Buckeyes being among the elite of college football.
That reality can be spun a couple of ways. Ohio State’s fall is bad for a league that could only boast about the Buckeyes as a national superpower. Talking about the passion and talent in the program Mona said, “There was almost a southern culture to it.”
Ohio State’s demise will create more parity in the Big Ten. The Buckeyes will lose some games to teams that in the past were put in the win column before the season started.
Two of the programs that look ready to feast on the Buckeyes’ misfortune are Michigan and Nebraska. The Buckeye haters in Ann Arbor will be partying all summer about the Ohio State scandal. On the field, if new head man Brady Hoke can coach and find a defense, the Wolverines will soon be avenging those losses to the Buckeyes. And perhaps in a big way.
Nebraska, winner of five national championships since 1970, begins its first football season ever as a Big Ten member later this summer. “This is incredible timing for Nebraska,” Mona said. “They have to be in rejoice mode.”
The Cornhuskers, who are drawing a whisper or two about a possible 2011 national title, can now move right to the top of the Big Ten football pile. Ohio State, Wisconsin and other programs might not like it but that’s reality based on history and a loaded 2011 roster that includes dynamic playmaking quarterback Taylor Martinez and a stud defense.
With the Gophers playing in the Legends Division, and Ohio State a member of the Leaders Division, the two schools will meet infrequently. The Gophers’ media guide lists schedules through 2014 but no games between Minnesota and OSU.
Ohio State has won 43 games, Minnesota seven in the rivalry that began in 1921. The bully from Columbus might be scary good again before the next game rolls around.