It’s amazing what winning a championship will do for a fan base. Boise State fans know what I mean. After winning their first Fiesta Bowl, BSU was no longer the cute mid-major team that played pretty good football on a blue turf. The 2007 Fiesta Bowl victory erased that perception.
Ohio State’s win over Oregon in the College Football Playoff Championship game did much of the same for their program and fan base.
The win erased years of frustration. They played in three BCS Championship games from 2002-2007. Their one win during that span will always be remembered for a controversial late pass interference penalty that gave them a second life in overtime vs Miami. It doesn’t matter that there were two missed calls on one play that would have given the Buckeyes a first down with 2:30 remaining, allowing them to run out the clock for the win in regulation. The other two games ended in blowout losses to Florida and LSU in back-to-back title games.
Then came “Tattoo-gate” and the resignation of beloved Coach Jim Tressel. A bowl ban in 2012 ruined a perfect season and what could have been for Urban Meyer. Monday night’s win erased those memories. This season started with an injury to Braxton Miller and an early loss to Virginia Tech. Add an injury to J.T. Barrett late in the season and the Buckeyes were all but written off. The championship game on Monday erased all that.
It is somehwhat amazing how Ohio State got to, and won the National Championship. All the Buckeyes did was defeat two Heisman finalists and the Heisman Trophy winner in consecutive games en route to the National Championship. They won the Big 10 Championship game 59-0. They knocked off #1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl. They manhandled Oregon, who many considered to be the best team in the country. And, they did it with their 3rd string quarterback.
For years the Big 10 was ridiculed. When Urban Meyer came to Columbus three years ago, it was thought that teams like Ohio State would never be big enough, strong enough or fast enough to compete with the mighty SEC or win the National Championship. Monday night the Buckeyes erased that perception.
