I want Michigan but think Ohio St will win a closing scoring game i.e 27-23. Michigan has a great D but can they stop Smith & Co? They stopped Notre Dame's Mighty Quinn, so, anything is possible. Who do you all want to win? Who do you think will win? Why?
Buckeyes for life! Being a Buckeye guy, I of course want them to win, should be a hell of a game, regardless of who wins this, the winner is the National champion, unless it comes down to these two again which probably will never happen because of the bias several other teams receive(NOTRE DAME!)
It's really hard to break down this game...I think it comes down to two key matchups, although there are so many great one on one matchups that will be seen throughout this game. Everyone is going to be saying that Michigan's defense needs to contain Troy Smith and Ted Ginn. I think that containing Antonio Pittman is more important. Pittman has been the best offensive producer for this team in the past month. Smith's numbers are average at best, but he was the Heisman hype at the start of the year and he's still getting it. I'm not saying that he's not a great player, but I don't think he's been as imipressive as some have said he has been. If Michigan can stuff Pittman, which I think they can with Prescott Burgess, David Harris and Alan Branch, then I think they can pull out a victory. The other matchup is Ohio St. stopping the big play to Mario Manningham. I honestly think that Michigan will have an easier time getting to Manningham than Ohio St. will have getting Pittman going. The Buckeyes don't have any elite defenders in the secondary and are yet to be challenged by a great passing attack. Michigan's passing attack is lethal with a healthy Manningham in the mix. Steve Breaston was freed up last week because of Manningham's presence. I think Michigan will try to get an early lead in the game and if they do, then Ohio St. could have a hard time catching up against Michigan's defense. I'm picking Michigan in a low scoring affair...17-10.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pack Attack)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ohio State will win this game in a walk.</div> A walk? As in an easy win? You're going to be so far off on this...These teams matchup too well for this to be a terrible game. What have you seen in Ohio St. to make you think they'll dominate Michigan? What have you seen in Michigan to make you think they don't stand a chance?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>A walk? As in an easy win? You're going to be so far off on this...These teams matchup too well for this to be a terrible game. What have you seen in Ohio St. to make you think they'll dominate Michigan? What have you seen in Michigan to make you think they don't stand a chance?</div> Michigan has beaten one ranked team this year...a very, very overrated Notre Dame team that happened to be ranked #2 at the time and which hasn't played anyone overly tough. This same Michigan team almost laid a big egg against Ball State. Ohio State, on the other hand, has beaten three ranked teams and has utterly destroyed every team they've played, with the exception of their minor snafu against Illinois. This game won't even be close. Ohio State wins big.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pack Attack)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ohio State will win this game in a walk.</div> Michigan wins in a walk
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pack Attack)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>A walk? As in an easy win? You're going to be so far off on this...These teams matchup too well for this to be a terrible game. What have you seen in Ohio St. to make you think they'll dominate Michigan? What have you seen in Michigan to make you think they don't stand a chance?</div> Michigan has beaten one ranked team this year...a very, very overrated Notre Dame team that happened to be ranked #2 at the time and which hasn't played anyone overly tough. This same Michigan team almost laid a big egg against Ball State. Ohio State, on the other hand, has beaten three ranked teams and has utterly destroyed every team they've played, with the exception of their minor snafu against Illinois. This game won't even be close. Ohio State wins big.</div> You underrate Notre Dame too much. They are still one of the best offensive teams in the country and Michigan shut them down. Their defense has shut down everyone they have played. Their offense has been the worry. If Illinois was a snafu for OSU then Ball St. was just a snafu for Michigan. I don't know why everyone made a big deal about that game being sooooo close. Michigan was behind in the 1st quarter, but took a double-digit lead in the 2nd quarter and the closest Ball St. got was 12 points. That's still two scores the last time I checked. They had problems offensively without Manningham, but guess who's back. Guess who doesn't have anyone who can cover him? Also, judge a team's past schedule by what the teams they played early on became down the line. Iowa obviously wasn't a top 25 team. Penn St. obviously wasn't either. And I've been preaching that Texas wasn't a top 10 team since the start of the season. Wisconsin is a genuine top 10 team. So looking at the team's both have played in the past with how the team is ranked now and Ohio St. has played only one top 25 team and Michigan has played two top 10 teams.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (blackadder)</div><div class='quotemain'>Can we go 1 NCAA football thread w/o mentioning how great Notre Dame allegedly is?</div> Hate em all you want...you can't say they suck either. Is their defense elite? No...not even close. But they have one of the best offensive attacks in the country. That can't be denied...Yes they get pushed by the media too much...but I think it's obvious that they are one of the top 10 teams in the country.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BearsFan1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pack Attack)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ohio State will win this game in a walk.</div> Michigan wins in a walk</div> Its more likely that OSU wins a blowout IMO. I doubt the difference is more than TD. Henne has been living in the shadow of Smith and another QB who plays his home games in the Midwest. It would not surprise me if he put up massive numbers.
Ohio State wins because they were my to win it all. Seriously I think the Buckeyes win and I think they can win by about 10. I see a close game for 3 quarters but then I think Ohio State pulls away in the early 4th and wins something like 31-21. Troy Smith has always been at his best against Michigan so that trend should continue. I also think Teddy Ginn Jr. is good for one big play a game where as Michigan just doesn't have that on offense. Hart is very steady but Pittman can put up just as good as numbers. Plus factor in Ohio State will be at home. Though Michigan?s front 7 will be the toughest Ohio State has seen all year and the toughest Troy Smith has seen in his career.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (porky88)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ohio State wins because they were my to win it all. Seriously I think the Buckeyes win and I think they can win by about 10. I see a close game for 3 quarters but then I think Ohio State pulls away in the early 4th and wins something like 31-21. Troy Smith has always been at his best against Michigan so that trend should continue. I also think Teddy Ginn Jr. is good for one big play a game where as Michigan just doesn't have that on offense. Hart is very steady but Pittman can put up just as good as numbers. Plus factor in Ohio State will be at home. Though Michigan?s front 7 will be the toughest Ohio State has seen all year and the toughest Troy Smith has seen in his career.</div> A healthy Manningham, which he now is, is good for at least one big play a game....
DBs are the only part of Michigan's team I call somewhat better than Ohio State's, just because of how young we are on D, the Defensive Backfield especially. Their Front 7 is amazing, but so Is Ohio States, Dead even there. The offenses are very similar, Smith is the more dimensional QB, but Henne is good as hell, the Receiving cores are very even, and Runningbacks as well. Should be the game of the year. I still think the Buckeyes will take it though!
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Its more likely that OSU wins a blowout IMO. I doubt the difference is more than TD.</div> Thank you. We can point and laugh after this is over... What will be even funnier, though, is after OSU exposes Michigan for the frauds they are is how Michigani is magically still #2 after the curb stomping. It's all about the rematch....
The thing is If Notre Dame Beats USC, Im willing to bet money on them being factored into the title game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pack Attack)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Its more likely that OSU wins a blowout IMO. I doubt the difference is more than TD.</div> Thank you. We can point and laugh after this is over... What will be even funnier, though, is after OSU exposes Michigan for the frauds they are is how Michigani is magically still #2 after the curb stomping. It's all about the rematch....</div> Why would he be pointing and laughing with you? He just said he doesn't think the difference will be more than a TD....
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cubuffsman78)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (porky88)</div><div class='quotemain'>Ohio State wins because they were my to win it all. Seriously I think the Buckeyes win and I think they can win by about 10. I see a close game for 3 quarters but then I think Ohio State pulls away in the early 4th and wins something like 31-21. Troy Smith has always been at his best against Michigan so that trend should continue. I also think Teddy Ginn Jr. is good for one big play a game where as Michigan just doesn't have that on offense. Hart is very steady but Pittman can put up just as good as numbers. Plus factor in Ohio State will be at home. Though Michigan?s front 7 will be the toughest Ohio State has seen all year and the toughest Troy Smith has seen in his career.</div> A healthy Manningham, which he now is, is good for at least one big play a game....</div> He's not quite that game changer that Ginn is though. I agree when healthy he gives Michigan a great deep threat but Ginn can do it on reverses, special teams, deep, and take a screen and go the distance. I think in a game like this an athlete like Ginn can make the difference. I used to think he was way overrated. I've come down on that a bit but this is the game I need to see for myself to think he's going to be anything better than Dante Hall in the NFL. For some reason I have that hunch he comes through. This is great. Big Ten Football at it?s best. Doesn?t get much better than this.
