Have more comments, questions? Reach out to me at bwhite1@dispatch.com. Letters are lightly edited for clarity.
To Brian: In 2020, for a seventh consecutive year, three from the four of Ohio State, Alabama, Oklahoma, and Clemson were always in the four-team playoff. That firm grip of dominance has subsided. Three of those schools combined for 15 losses this year and none of those three were close to finishing in the top four. But the Buckeyes are still dancing after beating Nos. 3, 5, 7, and for the sixth time in school history, No. 1, so far with No. 3 Texas up next.
A devastating loss at season’s end is impossible to reconcile, but there is mitigation to Ryan Day’s record in that series by remembering that Michigan used COVID as an excuse not to play in 2020 and then miraculously turned their program around using an enhanced scouting technique the NCAA is apparently letting them get away with. Go Bucks!
Dennis Singleton, Dayton
To Brian: One Mailbox writer suggested Ohio State needs to loosen up vs. Michigan. My contribution:
1. The Buckeyes call a play based on a form of vehicular musical chairs. It would take four players scrambling around the backfield changing positions simultaneously. Once set, they would stop and do a few slap-and-clap drills with a “Head, shoulders, knees and toes” rapidity. The fans wildly join in. By now distracted, Michigan would lose sight of Jeremiah Smith.
2. Coach Ryan Day comes out of the locker room at halftime wearing a clown costume a la Red Skelton, jogs through the marching band maze and, like the Stanford-Cal finish of1982, scores a touchdown (trousers falling). Maybe not.
Yes, I needed a diversion. Weekly speculation on college football has journalism at tabloid level. Nick Saban returning? Nah. But I’m joining Bill and Joey for the win over Texas.
Larry Cheek, Dublin
To the editor: Am I the only one who finds ESPN’s “Megacast” of the CFP games a pain to watch? It’s overkill with the TV screen cluttered by all the multi-view, Skycast, Statbar, kitchen sink overload they’re producing. Seems to me the actual football game is getting lost in the shuffle of ‘Can ya outdo this.’ Or maybe I’m just one of those grumpy old people that longs for simpler times.
Leah Hanesworth
To Leah: I take your word for it that it’s annoying, but … Why don’t you just switch over to the regular traditional broadcast on ESPN?
Ryan Day discusses Ohio State’s rise back to dominance after beating Oregon
Just weeks ago fans and pundits were calling for Ryan Day’s job at Ohio State and now the Buckeyes are headed to the semifinal after beating Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
Sports Pulse
Dear Editor: Everyone seems to be talking about the changes in college sports brought about by the new transfer portal rules and the NIL money, although the payment of players in some form or another has gone on for decades. Just under the table. Wink wink! College sports are now really professional sports, just at a bit lower level than the NFL or NBA. So what’s the next big change coming down the road? I will predict in the not too distant future that the “student” part of the college “student-athlete” will all but disappear.
As it is now, a great many of the college athletes take just enough “online” classes or “make-believe” classes to retain eligibility. These are classes often open only to athletes and grades to keep the athletes eligible are all but guaranteed with little or no work or attendance. Every major college has them. The question then becomes why require classes at all? The ruse of the “student-athlete” is a sad joke. Big-time college athletics is a full-time job and has been for some time. A day will come that no major college athlete will be required to take classes. Let’s all stop kidding ourselves.
Chet Ridenour Sr., Worthington
Michigan is in Ohio State football fans’ heads; Blue Jackets games are too loud
Too-serious Ohio State football fans need to find something that brings them joy
Do Ohio State football, Ryan Day need to ‘chill’ when it comes to Michigan?
Ohio State football fans still trying to figure out ‘genius’ play-calling
Would Ohio State football’s Jim Tressel, Earle Bruce have taken a knee?
Noon Ohio State football games don’t seem so bad from the West Coast
OSU proves Dispatch writers to be wrong with win at Penn State
Reader says Ohio State football fans shouldn’t be told when to cheer
Ohio State football lost, and readers are unhappy
Did soft schedule lead to Ohio State football ‘hype train’ being derailed?
The Michigan Wolverines made it to the College Football Playoff for the first time in 2021 after beating Ohio State and winning the Big Ten Championship. Sin
Alabama football's WR room stagnated in the final years of the Nick Saban era in Tuscaloosa. The Crimson Tide went from a dominant run of recruiting and develop
Courtesy of UAPB Athletics PINE BLUFF, AR.– The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions football team has announced its 2025 HBCU football s
There's great news, and just some OK news for the Ohio State football program. The great news is that the Buckeyes made good on their "national title or bust" s