+1

With 2 teams bowl ineligible....there is no way the Big 10 fills out their slots down to the Pizza Bowl.

We all realize a BCS bow will not happen - we will not rise high enough in the polls.  So looking at things more realistically.  What is the best bowl we could realistically be invited to if we were to go undefeated?  Can we break out of the GoDaddy, etc. sphere?

I agree. If (and of course it is a huge if) we go undefeated, we'd be top 16 and likely top 12. Ball State, against a pretty similar schedule, rose to 12th before losing in the MACC back in '08. The only reason they were never in the BCS discussion then is because Boise, Utah, and TCU were all ranked ahead of them. The only non-BCS teams ahead of us right now are Boise State (0-1 and on the borderline of 25 right now) and BYU. The two play one another, which also benefits us. If the dominos fell for an undefeated season, I think the odds are high we'd get a BCS bowl game.

This isn't worth worrying about. All Ohio needs to do is take care of business, and let the chips fall where they may. The thing is, IF Ohio manages to be  undefeated, and IF the consensus is that they should get a shot, voters have a way fo distorting their votes in the last poll or two to make "justice" happen.

For ANY chance of making a BCS game, two things need to happen:

1)  The most obvious, Ohio needs to go undefeated and win the MACC.

2)  We need to face an 11-1 Toledo or NIU in the MACC.

With NIU still playing Kansas and Toledo still playing Cinci (and their head-to-head game), if either of them can win out then it would make the MACC game a matchup of top 25 teams in prime time.  Adding a win like that, that late in the season, with that many eyes watching, would almost certainly be enough to move into the top 16 at the very least.  I think we'll already be there if we're sitting at 12-0.

UofL will be ranked above Ohio as Big East champ, and OU will not sniff top 16. You won't crack top 25 til you are 7-0 or 8-0, and would finish maybe #18 if you go undefeated, which is a big IF.

This weekend is what MU and OU's entire seasons hinge on. If MU wins i could see us going 10-2 or so and seeing the top 25 again. If we lose, we go 8-4 probably. For you, you may still go 11-1 if you win, but even then may not be ranked until the last game or the conference championship.

OU actually fell in the polls this weekend from what i have been reading.

goherd25,

You're clearly drinking the kelly green koolaid.

As probably the single Ohio alum and also Marshall supporter (husband of MU grad and a WV resident for two years) on this board, I feel I can speak intelligently on both sides.

Ohio has the makings of a solid team. Nothing is guaranteed, but the opportunity is there because the talent and experience is in place.

Marshall has speed. That's it. Marshall was picked third in their division. Ohio was picked the unanimous MAC Championship winner and with good reason.

Marshall put up points against the second and third team of WVU late, then pummeled Western Carolina against a QB (Eddie Sullivan) that couldn't even hack it at Marshall.

I support Marshall every game they do not play Ohio, but I am a realist about their ceiling, because I am not drinking from your koolaid punch bowl. I am also a realist about Ohio's potential. They're solid, real solid, and Marshall will give them a game, may even beat them if Ohio plays a sloppy first half like at PSU and vs. New Mexico State and can't recover. Marshall, however, will not be going 10-2. They won't be going 8-4 either. They were lucky last year to finish 7-6, with a bowl win. They'll be lucky to sniff the postseason again -- and I say that hoping they can.

Ohio's focused. They have this. In my opinion, they can leave the bell at home. There's no point bringing it to Huntington.

The guys on ESPN Radio's College Gameday were basically laughing at our schedule. They said even if we go undefeated, there is probably no way we get to a BCS game and don't necessarily deserve to either. This is especially true if Penn State and Marshall both end up with losing records.

I hate to say I agree, but it usually takes some time before you get respect in the polls and vaulted up to BCS status, which is another reason that they stated we probably won't make it in. I wouldn't be upset if Ohio didn't make it to the BCS this season, just get a shot at a different bowl game for once! But if Ohio does end up making it, well then that's just icing on the cake.

Is everyone forgetting that the 2008 Ball State team did get up to #12 in the BCS poll before dropping the MAC Championship? They had a very similar schedule to ours:
An FCS team (Northeastern - Norfolk State) 
A bottom feeding non-AQ (Western Kentucky - New Mexico State) 
A middle of the road non-AQ (Navy - Marshall) 
A struggling Big Ten team (Indiana - Penn State)

Now they were not going to make a BCS bowl even if they did win the MAC for a couple reasons. One, the non-AQ auto-bid rule that we are all talking about (Top 12 AND highest ranked non-AQ or Top 16 AND highest ranked non-AQ AND higher than an AQ conference champ) wasn't in place yet. Two, an undefeated Boise State and a two-loss TCU team were ranked ahead of Ball State.

So it is possible (likely)that we would make it in the Top 12 if we do go undefeated. Although we probably wouldn't be ranked higher than a one-loss Boise State or BYU. So that's why I'll be rooting against those teams this season, just in case we do run the table.

Ball State got A LOT of help that year to get that high. Directly behind them were multiple teams with three or four losses and directly ahead of them were two loss UC, two loss TCU, two loss OSU and undefeated Boise. Utah was also undefeated at the time.

There is a slim chance, but like Ball State, Ohio will need a ALOT of help.

One game at a time.

We are talking about the top 25 because our team IS good enough to be top 25.  And you're pointing out what the massive talking heads that don't know the difference between Western Michigan and Western Carolina are saying about us.  Any college football writer/analyst/fan that understands anything outside the BCS knows that our win over Penn State wasn't a fluke, and they've been public about it.  We may have dropped in the coaches poll, but we gained five more votes in the AP poll.  

At least give us the courtesy of knowing a little something about our team.  

The two ESPN guys this week both have us in the Pizza Bowl. One thinks we play Illinois, and the other Iowa.

http://espn.go.com/college-football/bowls/projections

Scout.com has us in the GoDaddy.com Bowl vs. La-Lafeyette.