So I am not sure how we forgot, but the staff here at Ohio Sports Time somehow failed to release our preseason Ohio college football rankings for Division I-A programs. Please note that these are preseason rankings and August 30th games have no bearing on these rankings at all. We will continue to update these throughout the college football season as Ohio teams continue to make a national statement to the college football world.

1 - Ohio State - The Buckeyes are the clear-cut #1 team in the state, ranking #10 in the preseason polls.
2 - Ohio - The defending MAC East Champions start off in the #2 spot thanks to their emergence in 2006 and the presence of RB Kalvin McRae.
3 - Cincinnati - Like Ohio State & Ohio, the Bearcats will not be tested until week #2 after Division I-AA SE Missouri State visits UC in the 2007 season opener.
4 - Kent State - High expectations are not the norm in Kent, but the Golden Flashes have been picked by many to win the MAC East.
5 - Toledo - Expect to see the Tom Amstutz-led Rockets back in the mix for the top 2-4 spots in this poll all season.
6 - Akron - The Zips could easily be anywhere from 3 to 6 on this list, but the Ohio MAC schools are all in the middle and upper-tier of the conference.
7 - Miami - Was 2006 a fluke in Oxford? We’re counting on the fact that it was. 2007 will tell us if Shane Montgomery and his staff have learned from a tough ‘06 campaign, and if the team stays healthy the RedHawks could contend for the MAC East crown.
8 - Bowling Green - It’s tough to pick BG below Miami, but we like the upside of the RedHawks better than that of the Falcons.

As we mentioned earlier today, Thursday, August 30th was a busy day for Ohio sports teams. UC, Kent State & Miami opened their 2007 seasons, the Reds and Indians both looked to stay hot and the Browns faced the Bears in preseason NFL action. Well I am pleased to report that Ohio teams won all 6 of those games today highlighted by what may be the biggest win in Kent State football history.

Many of college football’s experts have picked Kent State to win the MAC East this season, but for some it is hard to shake the memories of those terrible Kent State football teams of the past. Those teams of the past are gone folks. The Golden Flashes traveld to Ames, Iowa and defeated the Big XII’s Iowa State Cyclones tonight 23-14, making Nick @ VanDelay Sports look pretty damn good.

Meanwhile the Indians walked away from Seattle  with a 6-5 win in the bottom of the 9th inning and remain in 1st place by 4.5 games and the Cincinnati Reds won for the 8th time in 10 games.

In addition to Kent State, the UC Bearcats began their season with a 59-3 win over SE Missouri State and the Miami RedHawks defeated MAC rival Ball State 14-13.

After I finally took the time to match up all of the dates for sporting events I figured out that tonight is a great night for Ohio sports, but specifically for Ohio football. Not only is it the kickoff of the college football season, but the Cleveland Browns also have their final preseason game in Chicago. Meanwhile, Miami and Ball State will face off and Kent State is @ Iowa State in a game that VanDelay Sports has picked Kent to win. Big East member Cincinnati also kicks their season off tonight, and both the Reds and Indians are in action and playing well in the world of Major League Baseball.

Here’s a rundown of tonight’s Ohio sporting events:
- Cincinnati Bearcats vs. SE Missouri State - NCAA - 7 pm
- Miami @ Ball State - NCAA - 7 pm
- Cleveland Indians vs. Seattle Mariners - MLB - 7:05 pm
- Cincinnati Reds @ Pittsburgh Pirates - MLB - 7:05 pm
- Kent State @ Iowa State - NCAA - 8 pm
- Cleveland Browns @ Chicago Bears - NFL - 8 pm

Meanwhile, the Bengals play another preseason game on Friday night and on Saturday Ohio State, Akron, Toledo, Ohio and Bowling Green all kick off their 2007 seasons.

‘Tis the season for football, and what better way to kickoff the college football season than with new college football apparel from you favorite team!

The Dash Fans Network of sites has expanded our offerings and now brings an even better selection of Ohio State apparel, Toledo Rockets hats and Akron Zips merchandise than ever before.

Whether you are looking for a jersey, t-shirt, hat, shorts, sweatshirt, visor or even a college logo golf bag or Fathead sports wall mural for your favorite team, look to a Dash Fans Network site for all of your college & pro sports shopping needs.

VanDelay Sports, the well-known MAC football & basketball fansite, has released their MAC Football picks for Week #1 of the 2007 college football season. Like in past years, VanDelay takes a look at each game of the week, provides comments on the game, the current line on the game and “Nick’s Pick” for what he sees as the final score.

Check out Nick’s Picks online at VanDelaySports.com for more.

Earlier tonight I mentioned that the Reds’ season has been revitalized as Cincinnati has now won 6 straight to improve to 60-70 on the season. Well the NL Central teams seem to be doing what they can to give the Reds life as Cincinnati is now just 6.5 games out of 1st place thanks to losses by both the Cubs and Brewers. Here’s how the standings look at the end of the day Sunday:

Chicago: 66-63 -
Milwaukee: 65-65 -1.5
Saint Louis: 63-64 -2
Cincinnati: 60-70 -6.5

• Up next for the Reds is a Tuesday DH @ Pittsburgh as part of a 4-game series with the Pirates followed by 3 games @ St. Louis.
• The Cubs and Brewers face off for 3 games in Chicago starting Tuesday before Chicago welcomes Houston for 3 games.
• After the Brewers travel to Chicago they will host Pittsburgh for 3 games.
• And finally the Cardinals have 3 @ Houston before their 3 game series with Cincinnati.

Given the situation that the Reds are in, they will need to win most every series against divisional opponents to have any shot at making this more interesting. Therefore, if the Reds can take at least 3 of 4 from Pittsburgh and 2 of 3 from St. Louis then you will see one excited blogging Reds fan here at OST.

A few weeks ago I wrote that the Reds aren’t that bad. Today I am here to tell you that  right now the Reds are actually good. Yes, I realize that it’s tough to say a team that is 60-70 on the season is good, but the Cincinnati Reds are the hottest team in baseball with 6 straight victories. At that point the Reds were 47-64 and had won 2 straight, but with a 15-7 mark in August and a 13-5 record since I claimed that they “aren’t that bad,” the Cincinnati Reds have quietly become a minor factor in the mediocre NL Central. Pending the outcome of the Cubs & Brewers games today, the Reds could find themselves as little as 6.5 games out of first place (if the Cubs lose) and just 5 behind the Brewers. The Cardinals are the other team in the NL Central that the Reds would have to overcome, as the Cards currently lead the Reds by 4.5 games.

Now I am not saying the Reds are going to make the comeback of all comebacks and win the NL Central, but a mediocre team of 82-80 did win the NL Central and World Series in 2006. This is the beauty of the long baseball season, and the Reds are finally making it interesting.

Is it me, or do all Browns fans still loathe the Broncos? Sure, the younger crowd doesn’t understand as they did not live through the Elway years. Anyway, time for thoughts from the 2nd hald of the Browns & Broncos.

• Props to former Akron Zip WR/KR Domenik Hixon, a 2006 draft pick of the Broncos who was injured all season. Hixon just had a 32-yard kickoff return from 5 yeard deep in the endzone and had a nice catch in the 2nd quarter as well. Here’s hoping he makes this Broncos team.
• Brady Quinn is warming up on the sideline. Can he repeat his supurb performance from last week against the Lions?
• Denver offense comes out sputtering. A sack on 1st down and a 2nd down holding penalty is declined thanks to a nice run-stop by the Browns, thus making it 3rd down. Wimbley darts into the backfield and Cutler throws it away setting up a punt.
• Speaking of sputtering offenses, a penalty on the punt return followed by a penalty on Braylon Edwards has the Browns starting inside the 15-yard line.
• Jamal Lewis looks solid as he gets another 6-7 yards on the ground. There’s nothing flashy about this guy that I have seen in the preseason, but he looks like a solid RB that will give the Browns an improved running game.
• Brady Quinn has entered the ga,e with the 1st team offense and starts with a safe short pass.
• Quinn hits Wright on a short pss in the flat which turns into 17 yards and another 1st down. Nice start Brady.
• A nice seem pass from Quinn to Kellen Winslow gives the Browns another 25 yards and a 1st down in Denver territory.
• The drive stall as Quinn’s nice pass to the corner of the endzone is ruled incomplete and Phil Dawson misses the FG attempt.

The Cleveland Browns are in Denver facing the Broncos in preseason game #3. Below are my thoughts from the 1st half:

• Frye begins the game making good decisions hitting Steve Heiden on a 3rd and 8 pass over the middle and Braylon Edwards along the sideline. Even better was Frye’s not forcing the ball and pulling it down to run for one first down.
• Jamal Lewis is in the endzone to make it Cleveland 7 - Denver 0; you can’t start a whole lot better
• Denver marches down the field and kicks a FG - while the Browns’ defense gets the stop to prevent 6, they seemed to be on their heels for most of the drive.
• 3:53 remaining in the 1st Quarter - Cleveland 7, Denver 3
• The Browns start their 2nd drive at the 20 yard line, the same place their 80-yard drive earlier in the quarter began.
• Cleveland’s second drive stalls just past midfield as Dave Zastudil boots a 51-yard punt into the endzone
• As Derek Anderson enters the game in the 2nd Quarter, the announcers state that “Charlie Frye could not have done any better.”
• Anderson looks poised and confident as he has led the Browns into te red zone with a mix of passes and Jamal Lewis runs
• Anderson & the Browns get stopped at the 5-yard line resulting in a Phil Dawson FG and a Cleveland 10-3 lead
• With under 2 minutes remaining in the half, the Browns are in the prevent defense, and the result is basically the same as every time any team is in the prevent. Denver is driving with several passes down the field.
• Big #91 for the Browns gives the Broncos an extra 15 yards with a dumb personal foul and Denver sets up for a score with a run down to the 2-yard line and 37 seconds left in the 1st half
• A 2-yard TD pass from Jay Cutler and the PAT ties the game at 10-10 with 33 seconds left in the half as the Browns looked porous in the prevent defense
• Josh Cribbs brings the Browns out to the 26 yard line as Derek Anderson is in at QB. The first play of the drive sees Anderson get sacked, but a Denver roughing the passer penalty gives the Browns some life with 23 seconds left
• 1st and 10 from the 37 yard line - Anderson sacked at the 32 yard line. I guess the Broncos aren’t in the prevent or they are a lot better at preventing the offense from getting passes off than the Browns.
• Anderson completes the half with a ugly, short pass as the Browns and Broncos are tied 10-10 at the half

After the Cleveland Indians defeated Tigers in 10 innings yesterday to extend their lead to 2.5 games, I started thinking about what it takes to make the playoffs in the days of unbalanced scheduling in Major League Baseball. The key to winning you division is beating your division, and the Indians seem poised for a postseason appearance thanks to strong play against their division in 2007. Now with a 9-6 record and just 3 games left against Detroit and 3 wins over Minnesota’s Johan Santana alone, the Indians have shown they can play with the top contenders in the AL Central. Now the Indians just need to keep winning series from here on out to hold onto this slim lead and build some room between them and the Tigers.