What to Expect

Oregon comes into the game as the media darling, even getting coverage by TMZ. The media loves the potent west coast offense and the team benefits off heavy financing and promotion by Nike. If you thought OSU was under the control of Nike, then you haven't seen Oregon. OSU is missing some key players on special teams with Pettrey not kicking and Small not returning kicks. The loss of Small and Carter at receiver will take away some targets, but it shouldn't shut down the OSU offense. OSU will keep running until Oregon stops them. Look for a few long passes when the Oregon defense loads up the line. Pryor says he is not limited by the knee injury, but it sounds like it was a big limitation at the end of the regular season. He needs to run to keep the Oregon defense on its toes. Oregon has not faced a defense like OSU. The OSU defense will limit Oregon, but OSU still needs to score at least 31 points to win this game. A touchdown or two on special teams or defense could make the difference in this game for OSU. OSU has the advantage in this game as they have the better defense and the more experienced coach. Look for OSU to win by 7 or less points.

Comparing the teams

On paper Oregon would win this in a close game, with OSU averaging 29 points/game and Oregon averaging 37.7 points/game. The OSU defense gives up 12.2 points/game and the Oregon defense gives up 23.6 points/game.

Defense
Although Oregon defensive stats are helped by games like UCLA (10 points), Washington State (6 points), and California (3 points.) The Oregon defense has given up 24 or more points in five games, with two of those as the last two games of the season. By comparison OSU has only given up 24 or more points in two games, with only one in the last two games of the season.

Offense
The Oregon Offense has had some high scoring games, with nine games with 35 or more points. By comparison OSU had three games with 35 or more points.

Common Opponents
There are two opponents in common between OSU and Oregon, and OSU lost to both USC and Purdue while Oregon beat both USC and Purdue. Luckily the transitive property does not apply to college football.

Coaches
Chip Kelly stepped in as head coach with a loaded team, especially on offense, but it is still his first year as a head coach at any college team. In contrast, OSU is led by Jim Tressel in his 9th at OSU and 24th overall. This is Tressel's ninth bowl game and fifth BCS game.

The Series

OSU is a perfect 7-0 against Oregon with series dating back to 1957. OSU has only played Oregon once in the Rose Bowl, and that was a 10-7 victory by Ohio State in 1957 on the way to a National Championship. The last meeting was in 1987 when OSU beat Oregon in Columbus during the last season for Earle Bruce. Below are the scores from the seven games.

1957 Ohio State 10, Oregon 7 (Rose Bowl)
1961 Ohio State 22, Oregon 12
1962 Ohio State 26, Oregon 7
1967 Ohio State 30, at Oregon 0
1968 Ohio State 21, Oregon 6
1983 Ohio State 31, Oregon 6
1987 Ohio State 24, Oregon 14

The Coaches

Jim Tressel
In his 9th season at OSU he is 93-21, with a career record of 228-78-2 in his 24th year of coaching. Under Tressel, OSU is 4-4 in bowl games. This is the fifth consecutive BCS bowl appearance for OSU under Tressel. Tressel is 14-1 in games against first year head coaches, with the only loss being to Purdue's Danny Hope this season.













Chip Kelly
In his first year as head coach and at Oregon he is 10-2.

Guest Panel-Bowl Games

The Guest Panel starts a new competition with the slate clean. Check back on December 18 for the picks/comments for all 34 bowl games.

NOTE-Panelists, please number your picks in the order in this post.

TIEBREAKER-Please list the total number of points scored for the Rose Bowl (OSU vs. Oregon) In the event of a tie for first place, I will look to the tiebreaker and the panelist closest to the total number of points, above or below, will break the tie and win. I will only use the tiebreaker for first place.

1. New Mexico Bowl
December 19th, Albuquerque NM, 2:30 pm ESPN
Fresno State vs. Wyoming

2. St. Petersburg Bowl
December 19th, St. Petersburg FL, 8 pm, ESPN
UCF vs. Rutgers

3. R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
December 20th, New Orleans LA, 8 pm ESPN
Southern Miss vs. Middle Tennessee

4. MAACO Las Vegas Bowl
December 22nd, Las Vegas NV, 8 pm, ESPN
Oregon State vs. BYU

5. San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
December 23rd, San Diego CA, 8 pm, ESPN
Utah vs. California

6. Sheraton Hawaii Bowl
December 24th, Honolulu HI, 8 pm, ESPN
Nevada vs. SMU

7. Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
December 26th, Detroit MI, 5 pm, ESPN
Marshall vs. Ohio

8. Meineke Car Care Bowl
December 26th, Charlotte NC, 4 pm, ESPN
Pitt vs. North Carolina

9. Emerald Bowl
December 26th, San Francisco CA, 8:30 pm, ESPN
Boston College vs. USC

10. Gaylord Hotels Music City Bowl
December 27th, Nashville TN, 8 pm, ESPN
Kentucky vs. Clemson

11. AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl
December 28th, Shreveport LA, 5 pm ESPN
Texas A&M vs. Georgia

12. EagleBank Bowl
December 29th, Washington DC, 4:30 pm ESPN
UCLA vs. Temple

13. Champs Sports Bowl
December 29th, Orlando FL, 8 pm, ESPN
Miami vs. Wisconsin

14. Roady's Humanitarian Bowl
December 30th, Boise ID, 4:30 pm ESPN
Bowling Green vs. Idaho

15. Pacific Life Holiday Bowl
December 30th, San Diego CA, 8 pm ESPN
Arizona vs. Nebraska

16. Bell Helicopters Armed Forces Bowl
December 31st, Fort Worth TX, Noon, ESPN
Houston vs. Air Force

17. Brut Sun Bowl
December 31st, El Paso TX, 2 pm, CBS
Oklahoma vs. Stanford

18. Texas Bowl
December 31st, Houston TX, 3:30 pm, ESPN
Navy vs. Missouri

19. Insight Bowl
December 31, Tempe AZ, 6:00 pm, NFL Network
Minnesota vs. Iowa State

20. Chick-fil-A Bowl
December 31, Atlanta GA, 7:30 pm ESPN
Virginia Tech vs. Tennessee

21. Outback Bowl
January 1, Tampa FL, 11 am, ESPN
Northwestern vs. Auburn

22. Capital One Bowl
January 1, Orlando FL, 1 pm, ABC
Penn State vs. LSU

23. Konica Minolta Gator Bowl
January 1, Jacksonville FL, 1 pm CBS
West Virginia vs. Florida State

24. Rose Bowl presented by Citi
January 1, Pasadena, CA 4:30 pm ABC
Ohio State vs. Oregon
(TIEBREAKER-list total points scored)

25. Allstate Sugar Bowl
January 1, New Orleans, LA 8:30 pm Fox
Florida vs. Cincinnati

26. International Bowl
January 2, Toronto, Canada, Noon, ESPN2
South Florida vs. Northern Illinois

27. Papajohns.com Bowl
January 2, Birmingham AL 2 pm ESPN
South Carolina vs. Connecticut

28. AT&T Cotton Bowl
January 2, Arlington TX, 2 pm Fox
Oklahoma State vs. Ole Miss

29. AutoZone Liberty Bowl
January 2, Memphis TN 5:30 pm ESPN
Arkansas vs. East Carolina

30. Valero Alamo Bowl
January 2, San Antonio TX 9 pm ESPN
Michigan State vs. Texas Tech

31. Tostitos Fiesta Bowl
January 4, Phoenix, AZ 8 pm Fox
Boise State vs. TCU

32. FedEx Orange Bowl
January 5, Miami Gardens, FL, 8 pm Fox
Iowa vs. Georgia Tech

33. GMAC Bowl
January 6, Mobile AL 7 pm ESPN
Central Michigan vs. Troy

34. Citi BCS National Championship
January 7, Pasadena, CA, 8 pm Fox
Texas vs. Alabama

Guest Panel-Regular Season Final Standings

Congrats to Buckeye Cock for his victory in the Buckeye Pregame Guest Panel Regular Season Competition! He will receive an OSU shirt and a certificate. Thanks to the entire guest panel for another great season of picks and funny and insightful commentary.

Keep an eye on the blog for the Bowl Game Competition. Everyone will have a clean slate for the Bowl Game Competition, which will have its own champion.

Final Standings:
1. Buckeye Cock (62-22) (5-1 last week)
2. Pat Head (61-23) (5-1 last week)
3. Batman (60-24) (5-1 last week)
4. Mel Kiper's Hair (55-29) (5-1 last week)
4. Andy Katzenmoyer's Professor (55-29) (5-1 last week)
6. Spam Sandwichsan (54-30) (3-3 last week)
6. Old Bag of Man (54-30) (4-2 last week)
6. Philly Cheese (54-30) (5-1 last week)
9. Big Dog (53-31) (4-2 last week)
10. Hudy Delights (48-36) (2-4 last week)
10. Yellow #5 (48-36) (4-2 last week)
12. Dr. Funkenstein (47-37) (4-2 last week)

The Trash Talk Begins

The Oregon papers are already talking trash about Ohio State and Pryor (who turned down Oregon.) Here is the article.