Review: 2009 Fiesta Bowl

Well, it was definitely more painful than the Rose Bowl. But we as a conference should be proud (even if for only a day) of Ohio State and the effort the Buckeyes put forth last night against the Longhorns. It took a miracle play by Texas to pull out the win, similar to the Michael Crabtree catch to down the Horns on Nov. 1. But let's not get away from what the Fiesta Bowl really meant.

The Bad - The Big Ten still sucks. Yup, I said it. 1-6 in bowl games this season will earn us that distinction. Sure, one loss was in overtime, one to the latest "best team" in USC, and the other on a miracle in Glendale. But we still suck. I have a strong inkling that it's been really just bad luck for most of these woes. But we still suck. Terrelle Pryor still needs a lot of work on passing, since that's what a quarterback usually does. Penn State and Ohio State couldn't hack it in the end, though the outcomes were a bit different. Were they really? Didn't Ohio State lose by a larger margin to USC, in the same city? Doesn't matter. We still suck.

The Good - The bowl season is over. Lost in a horrid representation by the Big Ten in bowls (except you, Iowa), was the fact that it was a very exciting conference race, and regular season. When was the last time Penn State and Michigan State met, in the last game of the year, with the winner assured a Big Ten championship? Never, actually. Ohio State was still in the thick of things, making the 13-6 win in Columbus even more special for Penn Staters. Let's just hope the bowl committees don't plug ANY Big Ten teams into those at-large slots in 2009. Best to just let us play a normal lineup.

Overall - Jim Tressell can still out-coach your head man. Texas was obviously exposed–as was the entire Big XII this bowl season–as a great team, but not a national champion by any means. But were they really? I think Ohio State just came to play, and could have done that to USC, if all the cards fell right. The Buckeyes will lose a ton of talent this off season, but are they ever really out of it? This game was a good stepping stone out of the Big Ten dark ages. Thanks, Buckeyes.