It’s official. Both the Ohio State Buckeyes & Cincinnati Bearcats will be bowling in BCS games this holiday season as bowl games were announced earlier this evening. Cincinnati, the Big East Champions, will face Virginia Tech in the Orange Bowl on January 1st. Meanwhile, the Ohio State Buckeyes will face the Texas Longhorns in the Fiest Bowl on January 5th for their 4th Fiesta Bowl appearance since 2002. The BCS was not without controversy as the 10-2 Buckeyes, ranked #10 in the BCS rankings, was chosen ahead of the 12-0 Boise State Broncos. Of course it was Boise State who knocked off Oklahoma in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl to complete another undefeated season.

Saturday is the big day for Ohio State fans as the game that is being labeled the “Collision at the Collesium” feature #5 Ohio State @ #1 USC in Los Angeles at 8 pm. For those who watch ESPN, you’re lucky if you go more than five minutes without an update on the most famous toe in football history, that toe belonging to Ohio State’s Beanie Wells, but no matter who plays and who does not, College Sports Fans now has their preview for the game. Ohio State vs USC: The Homers Chime In, is a unique preview with both and Ohio State and USC writers telling why the <em>other</em> team will win. This is a worth-while read so be sure to head over to CollegeSports-fans.com and check it out.

Ohio State’s close-call in the Horseshoe on Saturday may not have hurt the Buckeyes’ record, but the 26-14 win over the Ohio Bobcats did drop Ohio State from 3rd to 5th in both the AP and USA Today polls. Ohio State (2-0) trailed 14-12 heading into 4th quarter to the Bobcats (0-2) but took the lead early in the final period as they held on for the win. The college football rankings are released each week at the conclusion of the weekend’s games, but the AP voters and coaches that vote in both polls are notoriously inaccurate and uninformed. An example of this is that Ohio State actually received a single #1 vote in both polls, despite the close-call against Ohio.

The 4th Quarter is here and the Ohio Bobcats continue to lead the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio led 7-6 at the half and added a fumble recovery TD by Curtis Meyers to make it 14-6, but Ohio State answered with a Daniel Herron TD run to make it 14-12. We’re now early in the 4th Quarter with Ohio State deep in Bobcats’ territory threatening to score.

In what may be the biggest shocker of the 2008 college football season thus far, the Ohio Bobcats are leading the #3 Ohio State Buckeyes by a 14-6 score with under 8 minutes remaining in the 3rd Quarter. Ohio led 7-6 at the half after their defense sacked Ohio State quarterbacks twice in the first half and held the Buckeyes to just 50 rushing yards in the half. Ohio answered by recovering a fumble in the end zone after Todd Boeckman could not handle a bad snap resulting in the Bobcats’ 14-6 lead.

It’s the time of year where the sports world is about as enjoyable as can be. MLB teams are making deals and the pennant races heat up and college football is just around the corner. As always, there are high expectations for Ohio’s NCAA Division I-A (FBS) teams as Ohio State once aggain looks to head to the BCS National Championship game, UC looks to take the Big East in 2008 and the 6 MAC schools look to burst onto the national scene as well. A couple of the sites that we like have released their 2008 college football preview articles and we have listed them below. Because of the great coverage over at Vandelay Sports, we have duplicate links to show the VanDelay link as well as the “national” media’s preview as well.

Ohio College Football Previews for 2008

• 2008 Ohio State football preview
• 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football preview
• 2008 Akron Zips football preview
  • 2008 Akron Zips football preview @ VanDelay Sports
• 2008 Bowling Green Falcons football preview
  • 2008 BGSU Falcons football preview @ VanDelay Sports
• 2008 Kent State Golden Flashes football preview
  • 2008 Kent State Golden Flashes football preview @ VanDelay Sports
• 2008 Miami (OH) RedHawks football preview
  • 2008 Miami (OH) RedHawks football preview @ VanDelay Sports
• 2008 Ohio Bobcats football preview
  • 2008 Ohio Bobcats football preview @ VanDelay Sports
• 2008 Toledo Rockets football preview
  • 2008 Toledo Rockets football preview @ VanDelay Sports

The Athlon Sports College Football 2008 magazine has hit the news stands (and my mailbox) and let’s just say Athlon is not expecting much of the 2008 Ohio Bobcats football team. While there’s excitement at quarterback with JUCO transfer Boo Jackson competing with Theo Scott, Athlon does not see a lot more to be excited about in Athens this fall. Andrew Mooney set a school record with 9 TD catches for a TE in 2007 and Michael Mitchel and Jameson Hartke lead Frank Solich’s defense, but the overall picture painted by Athlon is not a pretty one. The losses of key contributors Kalvin McRae (1,434 yds rushing, 19 TD - school leader in career rushing yards), kicker Michael Braunstein (school record 20 FG in 2007) and defensive lineman Landon Cohen (NFL Draft 7th round pick) leave the Bobcats with holes to fill, but I am not supportive of the 1-2 wins predicted by Athlon. Yes, the Bobcats have a greuling schedule to start the 2008 college football season with 5 of their first 7 games on the road where Vegas will likely have them as an underdog in all of those games but one, but just 1-2 wins for a Frank Solich-coached team seems dramatically underrated.

My pick for the 2008 Ohio Bobcats? Yes, there are major holes to fill, but the coaching staff knows how to win and the Bobcats are just two season removed from the 2006 MAC East title. I see Ohio being somewhere between 5-7 and 7-5 and middle of the pack in the MAC unless the ‘Cats learn a lot from their tough early schedule. If they do they could potentially contend for the MAC East crown in 2008.

When Brian Kelly took over at UC, it was expected that he would build the Cincinnati Bearcats football program into one that won 10+ games/year and played in bowl games every year. But few expected an 11-win season in his first in Cincinnati. Kelly guided the Bearcats to a 11-3 season in 2007 and looks to build on that success in 2008 as College Sports Fans has released their 2008 Cincinnati Bearcats football preview. UC returns several key members of the 2007 team that saw the Bearcats finish 4-3 in Big East games and 6-0 in non-conference games including a 31-21 win in the PapaJohns.com Bowl over Southern Miss. As excitement builds and more UC Bearcats apparel & clothing appears on fans in Ohio and Northern Kentucky, be sure to follow the Bearcats and all of their Big East rivals in the 2008 college football previews.

The following is a list of players from Ohio schools who were selected in this past weekends’ NFL Draft. All draft pick data is courtesy of our friends at Pro Football Fans.

• 1st Round - New York Jets - #6 - Vernon Gholston - DE - Ohio State
• 3rd Round - St. Louis Rams - #65 - John Greco - OT - Toledo
• 4th Round - Denver Broncos - #108 - Kory Lichtensteiger - C - Bowling Green 
• 4th Round - Buuffalo Bills - #114 - Reggie Corner - CB - Akron
• 4th Round - Denver Broncos - #119 - Jack Williams - CB - Kent State
• 6th Round - Miami Dolphins - #176 - Jalen Parmele - RB - Toledo
• 6th Round - Indianapolis Colts - #205 - Pierre Garcon - WR - Mount Union
• 6th Round - Baltimore Ravens - #206 - Haruki Nakamura - S - Cincinnati
• 7th Round - San Francisco 49ers - #214 - Larry Grant - OLB - Ohio State
• 7th Round - Detroit Lions - #216 - Landon Cohen - DT - Ohio
• 7th Round - Cincinnati Bengals - #244 - Angelo Craig - OLB - Cincinnati
• 7th Round - Chicago Bears - #247 - Kirk Barton - OT - Ohio State

A few of the undrafted free agents from Ohio schools that we have found include:

• CB Andrew Hawkins - Toledo - Cleveland Browns
• LS Ryan Senser - Ohio - New Orleans Saints
• RB Kalvin McRae - Ohio - Kansas City Chiefs
• CB Jerrid Gaines - Miami - Cleveland Browns
• P Brett Kern - Toledo - Denver Broncos
• WR Jabari Arthur - Akron - Kansas City Chiefs
• DE Collin Ferrell - Kent State - Indianapolis Colts

VanDelay Sports, a popular fan site for the Mid-American Conference (MAC), has released their annual MAC Recruiting analysis. The 2008 MAC Football Recruiting Report includes team capsules for all 13 MAC football programs including the 6 Ohio MAC schools - Ohio, Bowling Green, Miami, Toledo, Akron and Kent State. The annual recruiting report also ranks the MAC football recruiting classes each year. Last season the Miami RedHawks topped VanDelay’s 2007 MAC Football recruiting report as the top class of recruits. This season, Miami’s MAC East rival Kent State took the top spot for the first time since the VanDelay Sports MAC Recruiting Reports were first launched in 1999.