Ohio State Buckeyes predicted to play Arkansas, but not in Sugar Bowl.
Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor (2) throws against the Wisconsin defense. The great predictor, also known as Toledo Blade reporter Jon Spencer, wrote in October that Ohio State and Arkansas would meet in a bowl this season.
Spencer, however, had the right teams but the wrong bowl.
No need to belabor the fact that I was off by three days (they'll be playing Jan. 4 instead of New Year's Day) and a few hundred miles (the distance between Jacksonville and New Orleans).
Weathermen would kill to be so close with their forecasts.
Spencer also writes how quarterback Terrelle Pryor didn't get much recognition from the media and coaches in the Big Ten.
I've had a vote on the all-league team in the past, so I know how difficult it is to get it right, especially in a Big Ten where the game plans sometimes set football back to the last century. Check that, 19th century.
But relegating Pryor to honorable mention, especially when 10 of his teammates made first team, seems a particularly harsh sentence.
Tickets
Columbus Dispatch reporter Ken Gordon writes how Ohio State sold out its public allotment of Sugar Bowl tickets within 15 minutes on Wednesday, but Arkansas fans still might be in the majority at the Sugar Bowl.
Demand at both schools is high, officials say.
Each school was allotted 17,500 tickets. Both gave priority to their donors, season ticket-holders and other university groups.
The difference is that Arkansas had 24,000 pre-orders, and after accommodating all the above-named groups, the public had no crack at those.
Arkansas to Florida?
Will Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino replace Urban Meyer who resigned on Wednesday from Florida?
Arkansas News reporter Robbie Neiswanger writes Petrino's name came up, although it's not known if Petrino was a candidate Wednesday night, but media reports mentioned the coach being on Florida athletic director Jeremy Foley’s radar. He wasn’t alone, joining others like Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, Oklahoma’s Bob Stoops and Louisville’s Charlie Strong.
The Sporting News said in a story Wednesday night Petrino is “at the top of the list” after being a finalist for the job Meyer won in 2004. ESPN college football analyst Mark Schlabach also made a strong statement regarding Petrino during a television appearance earlier in the day.
“I think his offense would be a nice fit in Florida,” Schlabach said. “I think there would be a bunch of coaches around the SEC and across the country that wouldn’t be too thrilled to see Bobby Petrino in Florida with all those athletes.”
Attempts to reach Petrino were unsuccessful Wednesday.