For all you Buckeye haters out there, like it or not, they will be back, and the odds are that they will be playing their fourth national championship game in seven years. 

First things first, there are two ways that the Buckeyes will be back.  To start out, with the decision of James Laurinaitis to return for his senior year, that means that 18 of the 22 starters from this year’s team will be back.  All of our guys are going to be one year older, one year bigger, one year faster, and one year more experienced.  And for all of you Michigan supporters out there, you’ll be playing OSU next year in Columbus.

We lost RG Kirk Barton and LB Larry Grant to graduation, and we’re losing DE Vernon Gholston who is leaving early.  Don’t get me wrong, those are big losses, but we’re loaded on the offensive line, loaded at linebacker (Curtis Terry was injured most of last season as was Ross Homan), and Lawrence Wilson will be every bit if not more the monster that Vernon Gholston was this year now that his broken leg has healed.

There are two obstacles barring OSU’s path to next year’s national championship game.  The first is an early September meeting with USC in Los Angeles.  That’s right, it’s the Buckeyes and the Trojans.  That’s for all of you haters out there to choke on when you spout your nonsense about OSU playing a weak schedule. 

And don’t think I can’t hear you now.  You’re out there rubbing your hands together (at least I think that is your hands you are rubbing) about how USC is going to hammer OSU.  You know what?  Maybe USC will beat us.  But you can’t take away the fact that OSU is playing them and that any team that plays USC (won their bowl game), Wisconsin (almost won their bowl game), PSU (won their bowl game), and Michigan (won their bowl game) plays a tough schedule.  The best thing about it is that even if USC beats us, as long as the game is close, voters have a way of forgetting about early season losses if OSU can win out, especially to top quality teams in their own backyard.

The second obstacle is Michigan.  Despite the record that Tressel has amassed over the past seven years, it is still a tough game, and any time you have beaten Michigan, you have beaten a good team.  But this year we will play them with 18 returning starters and a few buzzsaw new guys like Cameron Heyward (Ironhead’s kid) at DT and Robert Rose and Lawrence Wilson at DE.  Michigan will also lose Mike Hart, Chad Henne, Arrington, and Jake Long to graduation.  They will lose Ryan Mallett to transfer, and Mario Manningham to early departure for the NFL.  Not even Michigan’s Head Coach will be returning next year.  And the game will be played here in Columbus.

So for all you haters out there, you should realize that 2007 was supposed to be our down season.  It was a year we were picked to finish third or fourth in the Big Ten.  We weren’t supposed to be playing for the national championship, let alone win it all.  So hold on to your hatred.  Let it warm you through the rest of the winter.  But in your heart of hearts, I think that all of you know that you’ll see us again in early January of next year.

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