Ohio State is on the move. Within the span of one year they have procured their own television network, dominated the Big Ten in two sports, and added three students bringing their statewide enrollment up to 1,000,000 (I just made that one up). Ohio State is big time. Rumor has it that the free enterprise that is tOSU is not stopping there. Now they are even putting together their own clothing line hoping to carve a niche in the world of “sweat” clothing. Printed on the front of shorts, t-shirts, and sweatshirts the message is printed very clearly. The first line reads THE Ohio State University, and underneath in all caps PROPERTY OF THE SEC is prominently displayed.
They expect to sell thousands in Athens, Knoxville, Birmingham, Columbia not to mention the millions that will fly off of the shelves in Baton Rouge and Gainesville. Heck, they might even sell a few in Michigan. The only market that concerns them is in their hometown of Columbus, where they will only market the gear that has Big Ten Champs, or my personal favorite the 2007 National Champions of the Big Ten.
Along with the new venture Jim Delany, the Big Ten commissioner is considering a letter of apology to the SEC. One year after he blasted the SEC conference for recruiting “dumb†athletes (in a letter that was ignored by the Rainbow Coalition) the LSU Tigers were easily the smartest team on the field last night. In a game where tOSU had to play perfectly to win, they littered the stadium with one stupid penalty after another practically handing the Sears trophy to the boys from Red Stick.
As the Big Ten strives to take over the American airwaves, they will soon learn that victory in the big one is more important than owning your own TV network. Don’t let the relevance that LSU is the first two-loss BCS champion escape the picture here. Due to the performance of the Gators last year, and the Tigers this year, for the first time in my lifetime the SEC is now widely considered to be the dominant conference in college football despite the fact that the Big Ten has more media clout.
The precedent set by the voters has to have every coach in the SEC grinning from ear to ear. Gone are the days that you have to dominate the conference. LSU was the number 2 team in the country because of the accolades of the league. ( Note to Phil Fulmer. While it may be impossible to win all twelve games in your schedule, if you can avoid getting blown out, you don’t have to be perfect to play for all of the marbles.)
Though it may sound like it, this is not intended to be a rah rah article for the SEC. Sure, recent success in the BCS championship game puts less pressure on Fulmer and other SEC coaches when it comes to overall records, but in the world of recruiting it is not helping one bit. In that regard the LSU and Florida national championship victories are a double-edged sword.
Regaining a spot atop the SEC is not going to be an easy task. It will take a tremendous amount of planning and work. One offensive coordinator and one very special recruiting class doesn’t automatically produce a champion. Next year, after Mike Slive reads the formal apology from Delany at SEC media days, Phil Fulmer will take the podium. He will say that he has confidence in his staff, that they have been watching film and working like heck to make turn this bunch of Vols into championship caliber team. I just hope that he means it. Until next time Go Vols!