Rest Easy, SEC Fans; Your Conference Will Be OK
Wednesday, January 5, 2011 at 1:06AM 
By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
Don't look now, but that Ohio State team that can't win on the big stage just won its second straight BCS bowl game.
The Buckeyes held on to beat SEC West runner-up Arkansas in a thrilling Sugar Bowl Tuesday night in New Orleans, 31-26.
OSU, long a target of SEC bloggers and that hurtful-words forum known as Twitter, raced to a 28-7 lead over the high-octane Razorbacks, then held on despite a Helter Skelter finish.
SEC fans will spin it this way: Ohio State almost choked the game away, the Buckeyes suited up a bunch of NCAA violators, they got lucky because Arkansas' receivers kept dropping passes, the Big Ten still sucks.
Ohio State fans won't spin it this way: The SEC sucks.
They won't say that because it's not true, and also because that tiresome superior-conference argument is mostly debated in the South. No one denies that the SEC is better than the Big Ten, but Tuesday night in the Crescent City, it was just one team playing another team. And one team was better. No one was chanting "Big Ten ... Big Ten ... Big Ten" afterward.
For those Ohio State fans who do enjoy a good debate, which is to say most of them I know, they'll say the only reason Arkansas came back in the second half was because OSU defensive players were dropping like flies. Until then, the Buckeyes had Ryan Mallett and company all figured out before halftime.
And while the Buckeyes did try to give the game away late, they were poised enough and good enough to regroup after a nearly tragic blocked punt deep in their own territory with 69 seconds left. Ohio State made the final critical play when Solomon Thomas — yes, you know that name — intercepted NFL-ready Ryan Mallett to end a potential game-winning threat two plays after that special-teams gaffe.
What does all this add up to? According to my calculations:
+ Ohio State has won two straight BCS bowl games
+ Ohio State beat a very good Arkansas team, regardless of its conference affiliation
+ Ohio State held that dangerous Razorbacks offense to just two touchdowns
+ Ohio State will finish ranked in the Top 5 once again
+ Ohio State finished 12-1
+ Ohio State is still the last team to have beaten Oregon
And just for kicks:
+ Ohio State has played in a record nine BCS bowl games
+ Ohio State is 6-3 in those BCS bowl games
+ Ohio State has won six straight Big Ten championships
That is hardly the resume of a team that sucks, so enough with the vinegar, SEC fans. Sure the Big Ten had a terrible New Year's Day, especially against teams from your league. But on one night, one team from the Big Ten was better than one team from the SEC. It's not much bigger than that, so rest easy.
Arkansas, Big Ten, Ohio State, SEC, Sugar Bowl
Reader Comments (3)
Fire Tressel!
How in the world can you even accept this team's existence. Those players had no business being on the field. I wonder if Terrelle drove his loaner SUV home from the game? Congrats OSU. Just like your national championship, this victory, too, is a sham.
It happens everywhere just depends on who the NCAA wants to bust.