It's that time of the year again. College football is now in full effect, and the Buckeyes are 2-1; the one loss coming from USC. smh. A combination of poor play calling, and a quarterback who still didn't appear ready for the big time, led to a 18-15 Buckeye defeat. So, so unfortunate. I joined several NC Buckeyes @ our favorite spot, The Skybox, to watch the game. Can you imagine a sports bar full of slightly intoxicated Buckeye alums and fans, quieted by a late USC surge? And this after starting the night off in loud, raucous cheers og OH-IO chants? It was pathetic. And completely disappointing. And slightly devastating. At this point, I don't care much if we beat Michigan if we can't beat any team in any of the other big powerhouse conferences. The SEC and Pac-10 has had our number for 3 years now. And the Big 10 as a whole has played poorly against the conferences.
A journalist by the name of Darren Everson published an article in the Wallstreet Journal discussing the problems plaguing the Big Ten. And his hypothesis is that the increased population growth in the South and West, and the greater zeal for football in these regions are the main culprits behind the Big Ten's lack of a cross-conference powerhouse. Here is what he said....
The main problem seems to be rooted in the population growth of the South and West, and the greater zeal for high-school football in those regions. Historically, Pennsylvania and Ohio rank third and fourth all-time in terms of the number of NFL players born within their borders. Florida is fifth. But today, Florida has nearly twice as many active players as Ohio and more than three times as many as Pennsylvania. The South and West continue to benefit because of the national population trend: 47 of the 50 fastest-growing metropolitan areas between 2007 and 2008 were in those regions, according to the Census Bureau. Playing football also is just not as important to Northerners. In the last school year, more high schoolers in Georgia played football than in Pennsylvania, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations, even though Pennsylvania has nearly three million more residents.
Where this is hurting the Big Ten is with elite, one-of-a-kind players who can dominate a game. None of the top-25 recruits in this year's freshman class, as ranked by recruiting site Rivals.com, were from a Big Ten state or chose a Big Ten school. Besides Michigan, which is coming off a 3-9 season and has been sidetracked by a report of possible NCAA violations, the conference's pillar programs aren't significantly changing their recruiting patterns. Ohio State's 2009 roster lists a combined 12 Floridians, Californians and Texans, compared to 14 in 2002. Penn State is only slightly less reliant on its region: 59% of its current players are from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New Jersey, down from 65% seven years ago.
"It's become apparent in the Midwest that the rare guys who can change the game on a dime are few and far between because of the talent pool," says Jeremy Crabtree, a recruiting editor at Rivals.com. "The Big Ten schools have to go to new territories. They have to go to Florida." **
I think he has a point. Our(Ohio State) recruiting has to become more regionally diverse. A look at the OSU roster reveals that we are regional snobs; we exist in a Big Ten gated community. At first glance, it's not that big of a deal, b/c Texas, Florida, USC, and LSU, to name a few, are all regional snobs as well. The problem is exactly what Everson pointed out...the top recruits are coming from those regions and they are choosing to stay in those powerhouse regions. So, what is The Ohio State University to do? How can the Big Ten get over?
** Wallstreet Journal Article--The Big Ten: Down & Out?
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