I just realized this but now that Paterno who has been the oldest coach for basically the last 20 seasons that torch has been passed briefly to Howard Schnellenberger of Florida Atlantic who is 77. Schnellenberger has announced plans to retire after the end of the season on December 3rd. The next oldest coach in FBS after Schnellenberger is you guessed it Frank Solich. Frank will officially be the oldest coach in FBS when we play the bowl game. Next year playing in Happy Valley will be interesting as it will be Ohio with the oldest coach in the country, not Penn State.

Ohio will not be making a "BCS run" next year if we go undefeated or not.

Here is a good question, how long is Frank going to coach? He's put in 7 years at OHIO and 13 overall as an FBS Head Coach. He has 2 more seasons under contract after 2011. That will put Frank at 15 years overall as an FBS head coach. However he will have an opportunity to leverage a strong 2011 season into a more lucrative contract. He's only 67 and I could see him wanting to go at least 10 at Ohio (through 2014) or 20 years overall as an HC which would push him to 2018. That will make Frank only 74 at retirement if he coaches until 2018. Keep in mind Frank signed a full 5 year contract extension back in 2008 so its unlikely he's ready to hang it up after 2013. Schnellenberger is hanging it up at FAU after he had the program peak a few years ago. I think Frank is having too much fun and could make too much money to want to step down in a couple of seasons.

Doesn't the weak schedule negatively influence the rankings and chances of ascending to a BCS bowl?

As far as I can tell, Ohio is more than a graduated quarterback away from competing with, much less beating, teams such as Boise and Houston.

Have you been following New Mexico State's game-by-game results?  They are proving tougher than most expected.  They've endured some close losses and yesterday's win over Fresno State was their 4th. 

I'm not saying they are "mighty" but far from the pushovers that most pundits were expecting in pre-season.

Houston was ranked #11 in the BCS standings last week on an SOS rated #123. Ohio's SOS this season is rated #129. Next season Ohio plays basically the same schedule next season except subbing out Rutgers for Penn State. Its fair to say an undefeated Bobcat team would at least be BCS bowl eligible (top 12). Hawaii was able to do it in a year with a SOS rated #173!!. I wouldn't worry about us making the BCS eligibility. Without those returning QB's there is no way Boise State and Houston start in the top 25. Ohio though may have some preseason top 25 votes going into next year if we finish 11-3 with a bowl win this season. NIU did to begin this year. It won't be like Ohio is trying to break into the top 25 out of nowhere, we've been building up to this for years. Houston had a few 8-9 win seasons before breaking into the top 25. Another question to investigate is who does Boise and Houston have on the schedule for next season. Houston has to play at UCLA. Boise State has to play @ Michigan State. Boise is not just looking to lose its QB they are looking at losing 16 starters and their HC going into 2012. Houston may lose its HC too. While its been implausible for the Cats to consider a BCS run the last 3-4 seasons due to the performance of the MWC I don't see that as an issue for us looking at 2012 and beyond for making a BCS bowl.

It is certainly not easy to do-that I agree with;however, just because you're undefeated doesn't mean you have a legit claim to being number 1.  It's just not rational that just because you've beaten a bunch of lower tier teams that you're number 1.  Put Houston in the SEC, would they be undefeated-no one really believes they would be.   Now, they are capable of beating some good teams-no doubt-but would they run the table-very unlikely IMO.

As I remember, early this year in the volleyball season, there were some very good pre-conference records by some east division MAC teams put up, and what happens when those teams played Ohio who had lost 4-5 at that time-they lost.  Your record, for the most part, depends on who you play, not necessarily how good you are against top competition,.

As for next year, if we were to go undefeated in the regular season(1% chance IMO), we very well could be ranked.  BCS bowl, I'd bet against it unless Penn State went 10-2 or something like that.
 

Ball State was 12-0 and in no BCS conversation.

Buffalo made it moot.

Miami did not go undefeated in 2003. They lost their first game to Iowa. They were ranked #11 (12-1) going into the bowl game and under today's rules which didn't exist in 2003 would have played in a BCS game. They didn't for simply one reason; you had to be ranked in the top 6 of the BCS standings in those days. The rules today for making being ELIGIBLE for one of these BCS games is finish in the top 12 of the standings or top 16 and rated above a champion of a BCS conference. I am certain a 13-0 OHIO team will be eligible for a BCS game. Will Ohio play in a BCS bowl if eligible I would say the odds are strong. TCU is out of the picture heading to the Big XII next season. Boise and Houston are possibly heading to Big East and at a minimum have significant graduation losses scheduling challenges for next season. I don't think Houston and Boise are going undefeated next year and finishing ahead of OHIO in standings in the event we go undefeated based on the information that is known.

Really?

Can you cite a single source for this?

I feel like I can usually argue on either side of most issues, but building a case for us as #1 if we go undefeated-that would be a really tough one.  Maybe we can pick up on this when we're 12-0 next year.

That was because Utah was rated #6 and Boise State was #9 that season. That is why there wasn't that much suggestion as the season progressed of Ball State making a BCS bowl. They were a surprise top 25 team had Utah and Boise State dropped a couple of games and cleared a path for Ball State they could have made it. So does Ohio have to worry about Utah stealing our BCS bid? Nope Utah is now in the PAC-12. My point is the glut of really strong non-AQ teams in the top 25 is starting to pass.  You guys are saying that regardless of what OHIO does it will be overlooked for a BCS game and that is in direct conflict with the rules of the system open to any conference team.

I guess my problem with all this is that with all the better teams exiting the non-qualifiers, we have no idea who will come out as the next 12-0 team.  The other conferences should be easier to sweep for some mystery team than now with all those moving -up teams involved.  Nevada, Tulsa, Marshall, who knows?  We should have a similar 130 ranked schedule next year which may help us win like this year, but you don't get any love with these kinds of schedules in the computer rankings (although with the polls-way more so).  Anyway, I think the probability that we will lose a game or more is a whole lot higher than us getting in a BCS bowl.  But I like your optimism.