semi-OT: Who to root for tonight OR How OSU fans will try to claim a proxy NC via Joe Burrow
Having no horse in tonight's game, I was leaning towards rooting for LSU for a couple reasons:
- The Joe Burrow redemption story
- Ed Orgeron finally getting his shot
- The incredible story of OC Steve Ensminger having to coach through family tragedy
- Finally, that Dabo is just as terrible a scumbag as the rest of the coaches over the past decade, but covers it up with his "aw shucks" demeanor
BUT, OSU nation is trying to claim that an LSU/Joe Burrow win in the NC is the next best thing to winning it themselves, and will validate their program. I generally try not to align myself with any buckeye rooting interest, as I want to be able to sleep at night, but it seems like I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place here.
Who is everyone else rooting for tonight?
January 13th, 2020 at 12:23 PM ^
LSU, obviously. Burrow was an OSU cast-off, they have no claim to his awesomeness.
And I can't stand Dabo and his bullshit fake piety act.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:27 PM ^
He took it straight from the Steve Spurrier school of fake sincerity
January 13th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
At least Spurrier was funny.
January 13th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
Perfectly fine to not like him, but he isn't faking it.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:23 PM ^
LSU, Have money on it and my brother in law is a gator and hates me rooting for any SEC team but his.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:28 PM ^
I think I want Clemson to win. Something tells me that LSU will light them up, though.
January 13th, 2020 at 3:18 PM ^
My good buddy who has the misfortune of being a buckeye doesn't really care, but he is kinda glad the buckeyes didn't make it, as he believes LSU would've wiped the floor with osu. He's also sad about burrow and claims no vicarious success through the guy they buried on the depth chart.
January 13th, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
Well, Michigan turned the greatest QB of all time into a 6th round pick, and the fans still claim vicarious success there, so I guess we're even.
I don't think LSU would wipe the floor with OSU, but we'll never know. I do think OSU is much better than Clemson, and just blew it. Sometimes life's hard that way.
January 13th, 2020 at 4:01 PM ^
I actually enjoy your presence around here as a non-douchey voice of the enemy, but this narrative is so tiring and stupid.
Did he share time with one of the best QB prospects to ever put on the winged helmet? Yes, but he was 20-5 as a starter.
I agree that OSU simply blew that game.
January 13th, 2020 at 4:35 PM ^
I mean, I was just making a joke. Specifically in reference to Joe Burrow, who was decidedly not this during his three seasons at OSU or his first season at LSU.
Look, we can both agree that Tom Brady had a decent career at Michigan, but nothing about it indicated that he would be this in the NFL. Chicken or the egg?
Mike Thomas is well on his way to being the same thing for OSU.
January 13th, 2020 at 4:48 PM ^
I don't think anyone in their right mind expected Tom Brady to become the GOAT in the NFL. It is fun looking back during his senior year at Michigan and seeing those 4th quarter comebacks and getting flashes of what's to come.
January 13th, 2020 at 5:15 PM ^
That's how I (and I think everyone) feels about Burrow.
No one thought Burrow was going to win a Heisman and be the number 1 draft pick. Hell, in 2018 the only Cincinnati in Burrow's future was the freaking Bearcats, who Burrow visited and was headed to until LSU swooped in late.
I think that's part of why OSU fans have rallied behind Burrow so much. This is such a ridiculous underdog story, how do you not get excited about it? This isn't like Georgia losing Fields, which was insane in the moment and worse in hindsight. This was OSU losing a kid that seemed like a pretty nice player with G5 all-star ceiling that suddenly blew up into being one game away from having the the best single season a college QB has ever had. It's absurd.
January 13th, 2020 at 5:36 PM ^
Clemson clapped that shit. Fields sucks ass and so do you. Take a hike.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:31 PM ^
I have LSU +1 with over 61 total pts in a teaser. So go Tigers I guess
January 13th, 2020 at 12:35 PM ^
I'll go with LSU for the main reason that it will much less affect future recruiting battles. UM & Clemson go after more of the same recruits, so anything that can reduce that advantage is a plus.
A LSU victory would also move OSU futher down in the final rankings, having beaten the team that beat OSU in the semis.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:39 PM ^
Honestly, Who is the last michigan player we got from Louisiana?
January 13th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
Doing absolutely no research, I'm going to say Drew Dileo?
January 13th, 2020 at 12:45 PM ^
Doing absolutely no research, I'm going to say Drew Dileo?
January 13th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
Jai Eug... Nevermind
January 13th, 2020 at 5:26 PM ^
Parole Papa Eugene! ??
January 13th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
Don't worry about OSU. They had their most talented team in a generation yet still failed to win a National Championship.*
Yes, they'll claim a Burrow/LSU title as their own, but if Clemson wins they'll take solace in their only loss coming narrowly to the undefeated national champs.
Enjoy the game, root for whomever you want. For me it's LSU. Joe Burrow seems like a good dude, Coach O is the man, and screw Dabo.
Geaux Tigers.
*Tangent - This is another thread in and of itself, but based on the volume of talent they've pulled and sent to the NFL, they should at least be on par with Clemson and Alabama for National title game appearances. Buckeye slappies won't care because they've owned us, but there's an argument to be made that they've underperformed in the postseason. They had the most talented team in the nation in 2015 and 2018, yet didn't even make the playoff either year, not to mention faltering in 2016 and 2019 playoff.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
Agreed, they are basically the Atlanta Braves in the 90s. Like one championship is nothing to sneeze at, but considering the talent and coaching, it should be more. They are regular season monsters who then run into the true CFB bullies in the post season.
January 13th, 2020 at 4:14 PM ^
Maybe so, but I think we can all agree we'd rather have their success over ours of late.
Let's no kid ourselves.
January 13th, 2020 at 5:17 PM ^
Of course, the point wasn't that Michigan is somehow equal to OSU in terms of accomplishments, but rather OSU hasn't maximized their potential in a way like MSU, which squeezed every last drop of juice out of their program-best run during 2010-15 - consistently and annoyingly punching above their weight class.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:42 PM ^
Not only dont I give two shits who wins I'll probably not even watch the stupid game. I'm not sure why our college football overlords decreed that the only states that have viable football programs also share a love of grits and moon pies but they do, and I'm pretty sick of it. It's ok for the SEC to cheat blatantly and it's ok for Clemson to give their players every chemical in the world to turn marginal players into the son of Tony Mandarich.
Clemson played absolutely nobody this year until OSU and in that game they got the benefit of every favorable call imaginable (i'm not complaining mind you) to win. The entire SEC, LSU included, benefits immeasurably from the NCAA deciding to not enforce their own rules on payola because it would hurt their sacred cow's interest. So why should I care about tonight?
So I'm not interested in watching LSU's 5 star pro athletes beat the snot out of Clemson's roided up players this evening. It's a farce.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
I share your frustration except for impugning the good name of grits. Grits prepared properly are fucking delicious.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:37 PM ^
And by "properly prepared" you mean "flavored with literally anything else one can find in a kitchen because those things taste like the dog's breakfast if served as-is"
I've had this arguement with my southern fried friends. They're also of the "properly prepared" clan and I challenge them in that anything you cant serve on it's own, without additional flavoring, isnt worth eating. If I wanted cheese grits I'd eliminate the grits and just eat the cheese. Same goes for bacon, shrimp, sausage or any other ingredient added to those awful things just to make them somewhat edible.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:49 PM ^
Amen. Grits, in any form, are disgusting.
People shouldn't have to eat animal feed anymore. There are better options now that we're out of the 1870's.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:30 PM ^
I agree with most of that, especially about grits. But what's wrong with moon pies?
January 13th, 2020 at 1:41 PM ^
I'm just trying to figure out why they waited so long to play this damn game. College football has been over for 2 weeks now, why are we just now getting the NC game?
January 13th, 2020 at 2:14 PM ^
There was an issue with when the contracts were signed for the CFP. They initially said the playoff games would occur on NYE 2 out of every 3 years and then when it was the Rose Bowl's turn it would be January 1. After the first year they realized NYE was a bad day for those semi final games and moved all subsequent NYE scheduled games to the closest Saturday.
This year they moved up the semi finals to the 28th because NFL playoffs were on the 4th but couldn't move up the Championship game because that contract had been signed and the Superdome said they couldn't make a switch.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
i am simply hoping for a whale of a game. not too vested in the outcome and wouldn't be bummed not matter who wins. i like the cajun hoke story, it really is pretty good. here is a link to the espn article they did on coach O, worth the 2 minutes to read it: https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/28434335/the-unbelievable-tales-lsu-head-coach-ed-orgeron
i guess i'm a slight clemson lean on rooting.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:44 PM ^
8pm start, 3 month old at home, I will be asleep.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:53 PM ^
Yeah but you will be getting up as the game ends!
January 13th, 2020 at 12:55 PM ^
↑ this guy dads
January 13th, 2020 at 1:31 PM ^
Same here, but because I get up at 3am. No little ones anymore.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:48 PM ^
This obsession with anOSU has really gotten out of hand. Who cares what they think about a game they're not involved
January 13th, 2020 at 12:49 PM ^
Clemson only because they beat ohio.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:51 PM ^
I guess LSU. If only to mix up the Clemson/Bama alternating championship of the past several years.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:52 PM ^
1. Routing for the game to be over by midnight!
2. Setting the amount of Brent Venables mentions by Herbstreit at 78 for the over and under.
3. Sick of Clemson and especially Dabo, so pulling for the purple and gold. Will be crazy on Bourbon Street.
January 13th, 2020 at 12:54 PM ^
I love Coach O so I have to say LSU...plus it would be nice to have a new champion instead of another repeat team like Clemson. Also, who gives a shit about how OSU fans feel about Burrow?
The real losers are Nebraska fans since Burrow said he wanted to transfer there, but was told he wasn't good enough.
January 13th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^
Does anybody think that Joe Burrow would have blown up at Nebraska like he has at LSU, though? Even if Burrow went to Nebraska and was a significant upgrade over Adrian Martinez, at best they're a marginal bowl team. He's still running for his life in any game against a team with decent defensive line.
January 13th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
That's what I don't understand about people that are bashing Nebraska. At the time of Burrow's transfer they had a 4 star freshman Adrian Martinez on campus and two other QB's who were at least a year older. They weren't exactly desperate for a QB, especially one with less than 40 passes under his belt in his career. Frost felt like he had his man who was a perfect fit for his system.
Also, look at Burrow and Martinez 2018 stats. They are basically identical and very average. ~60% completion, 2600-2800 yards 17:8 TD:INT, 7.5 YPA. In fact, Burrow was the one dragging down the completion %.
His meteoric rise this year has been nothing short of miraculous, imo.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
Osu blew it. They had the most talented team in the nation this year and choked against Clemson. This was the most talented Osu team in my lifetime.
January 13th, 2020 at 3:05 PM ^
Osu blew it.
They sure did. And the refs helped Clemson all the way -- especially on that scoop and score.
Now buckeyes know what it's like to get fucked by the refs.
January 13th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
Can you just admit that you're an OSU fan now?
January 13th, 2020 at 1:10 PM ^
I just hope it's entertaining. I am sick of the Little Ole Clemson bit that Dabo pushes but also don't want the SEC with another title.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:17 PM ^
Clemson. I don't want to see another champ from the SEC for a long time.
January 13th, 2020 at 1:18 PM ^
LSU
OSU didn't think Burrows was good enough and brought in another QB... not sure how they could claim him as anything but an ex-Buckeye that succeeded despite being tossed like garbage from OSU.
Hypothetically, if Costello came in and was tabbed as the starter, leading DMac or Milton to leave for greener pastures winning the Heisman with his new school, could anyone from Michigan really claim either as a validation of the program? More likely an indictment that you threw away a Heisman winner and NC winning starting QB fight from under your nose