The long-awaited 2011 BCS Rankings have been released, and the Ohio State Buckeyes aren't included.
The defending Big Ten champions opened last year's initial BCS standings positioned No. 10 overall after falling to the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison the week before.
Ohio State (4-3, 1-2 Big Ten) then went on to win its five remaining regular-season games before taking out the Arkansas Razorbacks in the Sugar Bowl and finishing No. 6 in the final BCS Standings.
The Buckeyes are coming off a much-needed road victory over the formerly undefeated Illinois Fighting Illini. Senior tailback Dan Herron came back from his prolonged suspension with a boom in his step, rushing for 114 yards and a touchdown off 23 carries.
His presence will be huge for OSU's strenuous journey to a BCS bowl.
And Coach Luke Fickell will need to continue making adjustments to his game plan to fit his opponents' weaknesses—just as he did against Illinois—especially if he wants to find himself on the Buckeyes' sidelines in 2012.
What does Ohio State need to do to get back on track and find familiar territory into the BCS Rankings, you ask? This slideshow is dedicated to breaking down its laborious path.
Ohio State began the season pre-ranked as the No. 18 team in the nation after an insane offseason full of suspensions and departures. Five players, that included star quarterback Terrelle Pryor, were declared ineligible by the NCAA for the first five games of 2011 after accepting improper benefits. This was followed by the resignation of the beloved coachJim Tressel, and then Pryor to the NFL.
Since then, minor suspensions to several other players have been given, including a one game add on for Dan Herron (vs. Nebraska).
But it also includes a not-so-minor abeyance, with the NCAA hitting wide receiver DeVier Posey with an extra five games, allowing the senior to be eligible for just the final two regular season games.
And as expected, the Buckeyes have struggled so far. They opened the season with wins over MAC opponents Akron and Toledo before an embarrassing loss in South Florida, falling to the Miami Hurricanes 24-6.
Ohio State bounced back with a decisive win over Colorado, dominating in all aspects of the game in a 37-17 blowout. However, a moral victory was not enough to prepare for a Michigan State defense that sacked Buckeye QBs nine times, holding the offense to just 178 total yards and seven points, and OSU fell once again for its second loss.
The Bucks then traveled to Lincoln to take on the blackshirts, but a second-half meltdown prevented an upset win. The Nebraska Cornhuskers took advantage of a Braxton Miller injury and scored 28 straight points to defeat Ohio State for their first conference victory as a member of the Big Ten.
Ohio State started off 0-2 in conference play for the first time since 2004, which was also the last time it failed to take home a Big Ten championship.
Nonetheless, Ohio State came up clutch in Illinois' Memorial Stadium, knocking off the previously undefeated Fighting Illini 17-7. Ron Zook's offense was held to 285 total yards and turned the ball over three times and the Buckeyes' defense had its most impressive outing of the season.
This one isn't hard to figure out.
Ohio State is coming off its best win of the 2011 campaign. By far. The Buckeyes dove right into action following the opening kickoff, running the ball 10 times for 45 yards in a drive that lasted 5:56 and ended with a 43-yard field goal by Drew Basil.
And they didn't look back from there.
Dan Herron and the productive Ohio State running game led the way for a 14-point second half, featuring "Boom's" first touchdown since last season's Sugar Bowl.
True freshman Braxton Miller threw the ball for a grand total of four times, and completed just one of those—which happened to be a touchdown strike to Jake Stonebrunner—for 17 yards.
Illinois didn't score until 6:22 remained in the fourth quarter, and by then, it was all said and done. The Buckeyes' ferocious defense picked off QB Nathan Sheelhaase for a second time in the final minutes of the game to solidify the team's first conference win of the season.
For the first time since 2004, Ohio State has been left out of the BCS Rankings. The Illinois Fighting Illini, Texas Longhorns and Washington Huskies filled the final three spots.
These teams have a combined record of 15-4.
The Buckeyes dropped out of the AP Top 25 since their loss to Miami (FL) and have not had any acknowledgement to be put back in since.
The rest of the season could be good or bad for Ohio State. It could either spell out disaster for bowl aspirations or open the door back to the BCS.
The Buckeyes are currently fifth in the Big Ten Leaders division and have a lot of work to do to catch up with Penn State and Wisconsin.
The remainder of Ohio States schedule looks like this:
The Bucks will need to win-out if they want to make yet another appearance in a BCS Bowl. They are heading into a bye week, and will need every day of this needed break to prepare for a monstrous Badger squad that is beating opponents by an average score of 50-10. This matchup is Wisconsin's game to lose and Ohio State's to win.
Unfortunately for us Buckeyes fans, we have come to realize that this just isn't our year (well, most of us). If you've watched Ohio State perform this season, you've seen flashes of greatness, but mostly inconsistency.
OSU has a very young, talented squad that will do bigger and better things in the future. But for now, we'll just have to settle for mediocrity and be okay with it.
It's all we can hope for at this point, anyways.
In my bowl projection, I have the Buckeyes playing the Texas Tech Red Raiders in the Meineke Car Care of Texas Bowl after compiling an 8-4 (5-3) record.
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