It’s time for my game of the week, and this week I’m going with the Big Ten Championship between Wisconsin and Ohio State.
We just can’t talk enough about this game. I can’t remember the last time if we ever had a Big Ten championship game with this much hype. Two of the best teams in America will take the field Saturday night with the hope of earning the right to play for a national title in the college football playoff.
I love absolutely everything about this game. The stakes, the teams, the rabid fanbases and it being a nationally televised night game. That’s Big Ten and big boy football if I’ve ever heard of it before. This is why the men play at night, and the kids play games during the day so they have time to sit down to watch real football.
Let’s start with Ohio State. The Buckeyes have everything you look for in a college championship team. Great athletes, speed all over the field at every position, big time players who make big time plays, an outstanding coach in Urban Meyer and a reputation that proceeds them. They’re stacked with future NFL players, and that would intimidate most teams. Quarterback J.T. Barrett is also a stud. They’re dangerous.
Now, let’s get to Wisconsin. Wisconsin resembles what a college football team would look like if Jon Gruden assembled it. Nothing but a bunch of grinders, tough cornfed Midwest guys, men who love smash mouth football and a coach in Paul Chryst who is as humble as they come in the sport. Running back Jonathan Taylor is a man about children when he’s carrying the football. Just classic pound into a cloud of dust for five yards kind of guy.
This game is as big of a contrast as you could possibly ever get. OSU represents nothing but major recruits, and Wisconsin represents a system that seems to win no matter who is plugged in. We’re about to find out what happens when an unstoppable force (Ohio State) meets an unmovable object (Wisconsin).
The “experts” will be tempted to pick the flashy Buckeyes. Avoid this temptation. There’s a reason the Badgers are undefeated and Ohio State is not.
The line favors Ohio State by nearly a touchdown, but I have a feeling the football gods are going to favor Bucky come kickoff.
Either way, I recommend you strap in because this one is going to be unreal. The fans are going to be going crazy, the booze will be flowing freely and people will be willing to die to win this game. America is about to get a major introduction to what big boy B1G football means.
