Ohio State - Oklahoma: Does anyone on this board pull for the Buckeyes?

Submitted by KennyHiggins on

I'm sure there will be a few that say that this early in the season all B1G victories against Top 10 opponents are positive for CFP positioning in November.  Not once in 50+ years have I ever pulled for OSU.  That won't change Saturday.  Love to see them fail, lose some recruiting battles, have some RB controversies, etc.  

jtmc33

September 7th, 2017 at 3:44 PM ^

"Pull for them" is a bit strong, but, I generally want all B1G teams to win their out of conference games and bowls.

However, I probably will pull for WMU on Saturday.

PopeLando

September 7th, 2017 at 4:21 PM ^

If it was against an SEC team, then I might agree, because SEC fans and SEC media slappies deserve sadness.

Against non-SEC foes, Ohio State can die in the withering fires of Big 12 offense.

(Realistically though, the infamous Big 12 defense shortcomings means that I will bet heavily on Ohio State to win... sad face...)

mi93

September 7th, 2017 at 4:55 PM ^

And who do you favor in the ND-Georgia game?  ("rival" vs SEC)

I'm interested in a good game (and Saturday night has many potential good ones).  If OSU wins, great for the B1G.  If not, c'est la vie.

And I think I'd rather the Irish beat the SEC.

Lakeyale13

September 7th, 2017 at 4:40 PM ^

Having lived in the South for the last 25 years I have seen the insanity of SEC fans.  For example, South Carolina Gamecock fans strut around as if they won the National Championship when Alabama wins because they are members of the same conference.  Thus, I have come to despise rooting blindly for ones Conference.  

 

In general, I cant imagine ever rooting for Michigan State or Ohio State.  Other Big Ten teams I am indifferent.  

wolverine1987

September 7th, 2017 at 6:02 PM ^

I will never understand hating OSU or any B10 team and not wanting them to win when it is a fact that the higher profile the conference is, the better it is for us. For example, if we don't win the conference title we can still make the playoff IF the perception is our conference is top notch. It is absolutely self-defeating to want conference opponents to lose their non-M games. 

TrueBlue2003

September 7th, 2017 at 6:31 PM ^

and in the cases of OSU and MSU, we compete for too many recruits to root for them in most cases.  With those two teams, them winning games and thus helping the profile of the conference doesn't help us as much as it hurts us by making them more attractive to recuits that we go head-to-head for.  With all other conference teams, the former outweighs the latter and I generally root for them in non-conference games.

That does apply a bit more for MSU though because we recruit more in-state guys head-to-head.  There is a reason their two periods of success (60s and 2010s) came at a time when we were down.  This is why one should almost never want MSU to win (the only exception would be if a win by MSU, like say against PSU, directly put us in the conf title game).

With Urban being at OSU, they aren't going to lose enough to become an unattractive place for recruits so whether they lose one or two or three games in a season isn't going to impact recruiting much for them.

Thus, I think a win for them Saturday helps Michigan more than a loss because it would mean that if we lose The Game, there is still a chance we could be in the CFP at 11-1, and if we lose to PSU or Wisconsin, beat OSU and win the conference but have the same number of losses as an Oklahoma team vying for a CFP spot, it would help us to have beaten the team they lost to.

So while I am phsycially incapable of "rooting" for OSU, TL;DR, a win by them will displease me the lesser of two possible outcomes in that game, assuming the meteor strike option is functionally impossible.

rainingmaize

September 7th, 2017 at 3:47 PM ^

I just got my masters from Oklahoma where I also was a graduate assistant in their athletic department. Considering my OU roots and my Michigan fandom, fuck the Buckeyes. 

rob f

September 7th, 2017 at 8:39 PM ^

That bit of knowledge would have been nice about 30 years ago, when I had several nuns in the family I could have wagered on games.

Too late now, tho---the only one still alive (my great aunt) turned 100 this past spring and besudes, she's so wonderful and beloved that wouldn't ever consider wagering her, even if I did still bet through a bookie like I used to.

281wolverine

September 7th, 2017 at 7:20 PM ^

But come on dude... you remember beating Luke Fickell's Suckeyes?  Tell me that's just as satisfying later this year when we beat Meyer and he's throwing tantrums and pouting on the sideline.  Not all OSU teams are created equal.  I definitely enjoy beating the supposedly better ones more.  something about it is simply sweeter to know we destroyed their season ala '95.

GoWings2008

September 8th, 2017 at 2:46 PM ^

I don't remember them taking any less pleasure when beating UM with RRod at the helm or a downtrodden Hoke led team.  They still count them in the "last 12 year" record against us regardless of what's going on in Michigan's world.  Beating your rival is beating your rival.  

Oscar

September 8th, 2017 at 3:58 PM ^

Since I've been interested in college football, I can't think of a worse loss to OSU than 2006 (even more so since I think we would have beaten Florida). If that loss is equal to you as any RichRod loss, then you are the strangest Michigan fan that I know of.

The Maizer

September 7th, 2017 at 4:14 PM ^

I think the more likely scenario than the effect on the committee's selection is that it's very plausible for UM, OSU, and PSU to all have conference losses to each other in a three way tie for the top of the division. Out of conference losses come into play for the tiebreakers, so that's why I'd like them to lose.

Edit: Also I like it when they don't get to be happy.

FauxMo

September 7th, 2017 at 3:47 PM ^

Never, ever. As I have said to others in the past, if it was OSU vs. a team with Hitler at QB, Stalin at RB, Pol Pot at WR, Genghis Khan at TE, Kim Jong Un at LT, and so forth, OSU's opponent (I think "The Dicktators" has a nice ring) would be getting my support... 

FauxMo

September 7th, 2017 at 4:45 PM ^

He was a great leader to his people...who killed, oh, 40 to 50 million not-his-people? He also raped so many women that something like 10% of Asians alive today are related to him. So yeah, I'm gonna go ahead and keep him in that menagerie of monsters... 

FYI, Hitler was really nice to dogs, but he's still a monster. ;-) 

Bo Nederlander

September 7th, 2017 at 8:29 PM ^

If you're going to go with the "what he did to his enemies" argument, then you should also throw Alexander The Great in the there too. 

He once tied a healer up, that was said to be unable to save his lover, to two bent trees by his arms, let the trees go, and ripped his arms from his torso effectively exploding him. 

SpikeFan2016

September 7th, 2017 at 7:12 PM ^

This is simply not true, even if you don't care about the conference (which you should). 

 

Ohio State beating MSU in 2015 would've been great for us. 

 

If Michigan falls in Happy Valley this year, we NEED OSU to beat PSU one week later in Columbus.