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What Are Ohio State's Most Dangerous Road Games In 2025? · Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

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  Speaker 1: Welcome to Buckeyes tomorrow morning for Tuesday, July eighth, I'm
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  Speaker 1: your host, tom Or the Texas game in fifty three days,
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  Speaker 1: the game against Michigan in one hundred and forty four days.
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  Speaker 1: If you're planning your next event, make it unforgettable with
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  Speaker 1: and good vibes booker catering Today at Grateful griddle oh
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  Speaker 1: dot com. The game against Michigan that is going to
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  Speaker 1: be part of today's conversation with their buddy, Tony Gerdaman
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  Speaker 1: of Buckehuddle dot com. We're going to be ranking the
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  Speaker 1: five big Big ten road games that the Buckeyes have
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  Speaker 1: on their schedule this year. No non conference road games,
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  Speaker 1: just five Big ten road games on the schedule this year,
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  Speaker 1: ranking them in terms of difficulties slash danger, slash whatever
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  Speaker 1: you want to talk about. So all right, Tony, I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to give these to you in order. I'll have
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  Speaker 1: my thoughts in a minute, but I just want to
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  Speaker 1: get some, you know, initial thoughts from you. If anything
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  Speaker 1: you think is going to be if you think there's
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  Speaker 1: an area where we're going to really disagree. I'll just
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  Speaker 1: do them sequentially. They start at Washington, then at Illinois,
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  Speaker 1: then at Wisconsin, at Purdue, and at Michigan. Any initial
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  Speaker 1: thoughts there on something where maybe you think, oh boy,
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  Speaker 1: this is this is one where we're really going to disagree.
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  Speaker 2: Honestly, I don't think we will. The only disagreement is
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  Speaker 2: how much we want to disagree on the middle three.
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  Speaker 2: That's that's the only disagreement here. Because I think the uh,
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  Speaker 2: we can. I don't want to spoil things, Tom, but
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  Speaker 2: I'm guessing Purdue. The Purdue game is probably perhaps your
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  Speaker 2: easiest I don't want to speak for you, would never
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  Speaker 2: ever try to do so, but I think the real
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  Speaker 2: discussion maybe becomes shoot, maybe i'm speaking out of turn.
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  Speaker 2: Maybe the real discussion is Illinois and Wisconsin and Michigan
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  Speaker 2: or whatever. Hey, I'm excited to see how this goes.
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  Speaker 1: All right, Well, let's start. We'll start at the one
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  Speaker 1: that's probably the least scary, maybe least dangerous, and that
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  Speaker 1: is as you suggested at Purdue. You know the count,
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  Speaker 1: you know the the Let's start with the why is
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  Speaker 1: this the least dangerous and the least dangerous because, uh,
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  Speaker 1: Purdue had a couple of really great players last year.
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  Speaker 1: One of them is playing in Columbus, Ohio. That is
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  Speaker 1: tight end Max Player. One of them is playing safety
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  Speaker 1: for Oregon now, that is Dylan Thieneman. The rest of
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  Speaker 1: the Purdue team was pretty not very good at football
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  Speaker 1: last year. And then they're also in the first year
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  Speaker 1: of a new coach, era more Ryan Walters to kick around.
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  Speaker 1: So now they're starting starting fresh this year, and it
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  Speaker 1: is it is not going to be a great year
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  Speaker 1: for Purdue football. The only counterpoints I had here were
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  Speaker 1: Number One, this is the week after Penn States. You
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  Speaker 1: do have potentially a little bit of a hangover whether
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  Speaker 1: the Buckeye win or lose that game. Number Two, Ross
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  Speaker 1: Aids Stadium is tony famously haunted. It wouldn't be the
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  Speaker 1: craziest thing we've ever seen in the history of Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State football to see them lose at Purdue, but it'd
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  Speaker 1: be probably in the team picture of the craziest things
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  Speaker 1: we've ever seen with Ohio State football.
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  Speaker 2: It would you would think it would be the craziest
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  Speaker 2: thing we would see this season, certainly among these broad games.
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  Speaker 2: If were it to happen, That's why I agree with
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  Speaker 2: you with where it is. I think in the past
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  Speaker 2: rond All Moore is not coming through that door. You know,
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  Speaker 2: that's one of those things where the last time we
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  Speaker 2: saw craziness happen, that was part of the problem. I
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  Speaker 2: don't know that Perdue has any kind of playmaker like that,
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  Speaker 2: And as you said, one of the best playmakers is
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  Speaker 2: playing for Ohio State this year. So this one, this
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  Speaker 2: is the free space on the board. Now. I'm interested
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  Speaker 2: to see where we go from here, but this should
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  Speaker 2: be one where Ohio State gets their young guys in
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  Speaker 2: and even you know, Tavy, I think I wrote about
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  Speaker 2: this maybe I wrote about it sometime this week where
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  Speaker 2: Tavi and Saint Clair maybe gets a little bit of
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  Speaker 2: run in an actual Big ten road game in this one.
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  Speaker 2: So I think it's an easy, easy pick here for
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  Speaker 2: you toahn, which congrats.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you, good so validation right off the bat, feeling
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  Speaker 1: better about life already. Now, as you said, the middle
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  Speaker 1: three is kind of where it gets a little bit
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  Speaker 1: interesting because it feels like the most challenging opponent potentially
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  Speaker 1: in terms of talent, is not necessarily the most challenging
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  Speaker 1: road spot in terms of the spot of the schedule,
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  Speaker 1: So I'm going to go, you know, at the middle three.
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to spoil any surprises here, but it's
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  Speaker 1: going to in some order be Illinois, Washington, Wisconsin. I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to go at number four with at Wisconsin Badgers.
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  Speaker 1: Maybe this is the year the Luke Fickle thing starts
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  Speaker 1: to work. Then they're up in Madison. It's just they
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  Speaker 1: still have a lot of the same issues they've had
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  Speaker 1: over the last few years. One of the challenging things
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  Speaker 1: for the Buckeyes on this one is Madison. We'll see
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  Speaker 1: Madison after dark can get a little hinky. And also
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  Speaker 1: it is the week after the Illinois games, so the
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  Speaker 1: second straight road game for Ohio State. It's also the
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  Speaker 1: week before they have a week off, so you know,
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  Speaker 1: maybe you get a little bit of a look you know,
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  Speaker 1: either a hangover from the Illinois game or a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of a look ahead to Oh thank goodness, we
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  Speaker 1: finally have a week off, and how good can Wisconsin
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  Speaker 1: possibly be? But I do have Wisconsin as the number
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  Speaker 1: four on this list.
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  Speaker 2: Do you expect this to be a night game then,
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  Speaker 2: because this as all of the makings of it. But
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  Speaker 2: USC at Notre Dame is also that same weekend, so
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  Speaker 2: that is a night game, So that may ease some
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  Speaker 2: things for Ohio State. But I agree this is the
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  Speaker 2: number four for me as well. But we've seen really
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  Speaker 2: good Ohio State teams go into Madison and lose, and
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  Speaker 2: you know, top ranked teams go in there and lose,
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  Speaker 2: and you can't just assume you're going to roll in there.
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  Speaker 2: But of these teams, this one is the other remaining teams,
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  Speaker 2: Like the offense doesn't really scare you as much and
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  Speaker 2: the defense is kind of it is what it is.
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  Speaker 2: So I think potentially Ohio State has can out talent
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  Speaker 2: and just withstand the environment. But also as Madison, has
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  Speaker 2: camp Randle been all that great during the Luke Fickle era. Anyway,
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  Speaker 2: I'm with you on this having it at number four.
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  Speaker 1: And if it's a three thirty kickoff instead of a
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  Speaker 1: seven thirty kickoff, that does change things a little bit.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, just think back to some of the Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State night so they've played there. Two thousand and three,
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  Speaker 1: was it? What was the year that Wisconsin ran back
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  Speaker 1: the opening kickoff? Was that twenty ten? I believe, Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: So you know when you have seen Ohio State lose
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  Speaker 1: up there, you have seen that happen at night. If
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  Speaker 1: that's a noon game, you don't get the you know,
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  Speaker 1: the folks that the folks at Wisconsin Toni, they do
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  Speaker 1: know how to tailgate, but they just have less time
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  Speaker 1: to do it if it's a noon kick or a
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  Speaker 1: three thirty kick. So that potentially works in your favor.
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  Speaker 1: All right, So let's go on to number three. I'm
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  Speaker 1: going to say at Washington, and there are certainly some
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  Speaker 1: issues here. I mean, they Washington is going to be
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  Speaker 1: a better team than they were last year, kind of
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  Speaker 1: had a transitional year in that first year after Kalin
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  Speaker 1: Divor's departure. But this is the first road game of
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  Speaker 1: the year, it's a venue that none of the players
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  Speaker 1: at Ohio State have played in before, it's a cross
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  Speaker 1: country flight, it's the week after and off week, so
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  Speaker 1: you know, you've got some things where you're a little
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  Speaker 1: bit out of your rhythm. The week after this is
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  Speaker 1: your home game against Minnesota. That's probably not a big distraction,
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  Speaker 1: but it feels like there's enough different stuff here that
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  Speaker 1: this could be you know, between between Washington being a
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  Speaker 1: pretty decent team and first time starter on the road
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  Speaker 1: famously a very loud venue, I have not been there,
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  Speaker 1: but I've heard enough people tell me it's loud. And
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  Speaker 1: you know, last year I went to Oregon and thought,
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  Speaker 1: ow loud.
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  Speaker 2: Can it be?
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  Speaker 1: It's not that big. It's like, oh no, this is
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  Speaker 1: pretty loud. And you hear a lot of the same
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  Speaker 1: stuff about Washington. So I think there's a lot of
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  Speaker 1: extraneous stuff here that makes this maybe a little more
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  Speaker 1: difficult than just the you know, line up the helmets
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  Speaker 1: next to each other would make you think.
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  Speaker 2: I'm in agreement with you here with having them at
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  Speaker 2: number three. As well, there are some pieces of this
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  Speaker 2: Washington offense that scare you. Quarterback demand Williams, this bask
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  Speaker 2: and Ron can throw. They they have a running game
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  Speaker 2: that goes along with them. So Ohio State's gonna have
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  Speaker 2: to sell not not sell out stuff the un but
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  Speaker 2: contain the run and then hope the back end holds up.
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  Speaker 2: And with the just the sustained noise at Oregon and
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  Speaker 2: what I think these two stadiums are designed by the
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  Speaker 2: same guy. So let's say, and so I'm expecting if
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  Speaker 2: the game is closed through out, it's going to be
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  Speaker 2: sustained noise. So if you can do something to make
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  Speaker 2: it a fourteen point game in the second quarter, or
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  Speaker 2: you know, maybe get the crowd out of it. I
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  Speaker 2: think has the potential to do that and the talent
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  Speaker 2: to do that. But yeah, going out west this place,
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  Speaker 2: as I think we both have a lot of respect
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  Speaker 2: for it, and that's without seeing it. So I'm looking
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  Speaker 2: forward to being out there. But I agree with this
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  Speaker 2: having this as number three. They're not as talented as
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  Speaker 2: the other two teams and maybe not as physical, and
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  Speaker 2: I think maybe that's also where I like Ohio stating
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  Speaker 2: this one.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, if you can win the line of scrimmage, that
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  Speaker 1: is another way to quiet the crowd, maybe just a
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  Speaker 1: little bit. And you know, as you said, boy, if
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  Speaker 1: you can get a fourteen point lead, that certainly will
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  Speaker 1: help your chances of winning as well. This is why
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  Speaker 1: you get the big box. That kind of analysis. We
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  Speaker 1: appreciate it. So number two now at Illinois, this is
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  Speaker 1: a very talented Illinois team, probably the most talented Illinois
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  Speaker 1: team we've seen in fifteen years, maybe twenty years. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: you're probably going back to the Juice Williams kind of
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  Speaker 1: era where Illinois was making a significant bowl game. I
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  Speaker 1: made the Rose Bowl that year. This is Brett Bilima's
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  Speaker 1: best team there. This is probably Illinois's best team in
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  Speaker 1: a long time. This is the week after the Minnesota game,
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  Speaker 1: the week before the game at Wisconsin, so you're not
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  Speaker 1: going to have a big hangover from the Minnesota game.
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  Speaker 1: This is also early enough in the schedule where Illinois
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  Speaker 1: at Illinois in mid November is a little more daunting
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  Speaker 1: weather wise than at Illinois in mid October. You got
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  Speaker 1: this early enough in the schedule that you're probably okay,
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  Speaker 1: and it's not, you know, in terms of not playing
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  Speaker 1: in a wind tunnel anymore than that place ever is.
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  Speaker 1: But it's also early enough in the schedule where you've
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  Speaker 1: had one road game, you've got your starters, have all
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  Speaker 1: played an a loud and road environment, and Illinois is
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  Speaker 1: not a crazy, crazy hostile environment. It feels like one
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  Speaker 1: where you hear more about the conditions than the noise
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  Speaker 1: or any of that stuff.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I've been there a couple of times and the
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  Speaker 2: weather is never great no matter when you're there. But
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  Speaker 2: at this point things should be fine. It shouldn't be
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  Speaker 2: an excuse, or if you want to use it for that,
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  Speaker 2: then you'll be ignoring all of the reasons why the
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  Speaker 2: Ohio State is actually having trouble. But this is going
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  Speaker 2: to be a very confident Illinois team. They've they're experienced.
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  Speaker 2: I think they're going to do as little as possible
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  Speaker 2: to harm themselves. Now that doesn't mean maybe Luke Altmeyer
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  Speaker 2: throws some interceptions. He's been known to do so. But like,
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  Speaker 2: this to me, is just a game that you're going
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  Speaker 2: to have to fight constantly for because that's what Brett
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  Speaker 2: bielamis teams do. They'll just fight and fight and fight.
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  Speaker 2: And then also he's going to tell you about it
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  Speaker 2: from the sideline, so you're going to deal with that
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  Speaker 2: aspect of it as well. So yeah, I agree with
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  Speaker 2: this one. I think you know, Illinois has playoff expectations.
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  Speaker 2: Now can they live up to those expectations. That's not
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  Speaker 2: something they're famously known for.
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  Speaker 1: No, and this may be one of those games where
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  Speaker 1: if they win this, boy they're in great shape to
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  Speaker 1: because they don't have a brutally difficult schedule. But they
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  Speaker 1: are not necessarily a team that has the brand where
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  Speaker 1: they're going to get the benefit of the doubt if
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  Speaker 1: they're right on the borderline. So this is potentially a
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  Speaker 1: really really big game for them in terms of having
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  Speaker 1: that pelt on the wall, having that resume win that
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  Speaker 1: the Committee is really pointing to in the you know,
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  Speaker 1: November December, when when the Committee's conversations really actually.
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  Speaker 2: Matter, and they missed both Penn State and Oregon. So
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  Speaker 2: this is their opportunity for a prime win.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, this is definitely their super Bowl this year. So
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  Speaker 1: that is number two. Another team for whom the Ohio
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  Speaker 1: State game tends to be a super Bowl and vice
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  Speaker 1: versa is our number one team, Tony Seat regular season
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  Speaker 1: finale at Michigan. This is the week after the Rutgers
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  Speaker 1: game for Ohio State, so not a real hangover concern there.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, Ohio State has had the last couple
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  Speaker 1: of trips up in an arbor not go real great.
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  Speaker 1: The last couple of times in Columbus have not gone
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  Speaker 1: real great for the Buckeyes. So it feels pretty clear
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  Speaker 1: to me that even before you start getting into how
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  Speaker 1: does Michigan matchup in terms of positionally and how are
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  Speaker 1: they going to replace some of the guys and you're
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  Speaker 1: gonna have a true fresh quarterback and all that kind
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  Speaker 1: of stuff, even before you get to that, there's just, man,
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  Speaker 1: there's a lot of history there, and man, there's you know,
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  Speaker 1: there's a there's a mental hurdle that you got to
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  Speaker 1: get over and all that kind of stuff to me
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  Speaker 1: pretty clearly, even setting aside the personnel stuff, this is
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  Speaker 1: number one with a bullet.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. For sure, it's a helmet game, and then it
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  Speaker 2: becomes a line of scrimmage game. And if the line,
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  Speaker 2: if the helmet game takes you out of that line
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  Speaker 2: of scrimmage game, then you've already lost. So this is
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  Speaker 2: definitely number one until it's not. And Ohio State is
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  Speaker 2: gonna have to do some things to make it so
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  Speaker 2: that it isn't in next year or in two years
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  Speaker 2: when we do this again. Can can Ohio State have
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  Speaker 2: you know, coming off of two wins or whatever where
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  Speaker 2: this isn't where it's just a game in terms of
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  Speaker 2: and it's the rivalry game. But this is more than
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  Speaker 2: just a rivalry game. This is like four rivalry games
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  Speaker 2: basically all you know, molded on top of each other.
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  Speaker 2: As you're trying to win this one game, you're it's
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  Speaker 2: going to be more than that. So that's one of
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  Speaker 2: the aspects that makes it more difficult. But this is
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  Speaker 2: obviously number one and Ohio State should be the more
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  Speaker 2: talented team, but that hasn't necessarily mattered in the past,
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  Speaker 2: in the recent past.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, and definitely one. You know they say throw the
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  Speaker 1: records out. You definitely threw the records out last year,
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  Speaker 1: and we'll see what the records are this year. We
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  Speaker 1: have seen plenty of upsets in this series over the years.
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  Speaker 1: We don't even know who the favorite's going to be
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  Speaker 1: this year, but you may see another upset this year
• 13:47
  Speaker 1: up in an Urber. We will see how that goes.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: There's a long way to go between now and then,
• 13:53
  Speaker 1: starting with Big Ten Media Days, we are just now
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: two weeks away from being out in Las Vegas and
• 13:58
  Speaker 1: covering the three full days of Big Ten Media Days
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: out there. Going to get a chance to talk to
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  Speaker 1: a lot of players, a lot of coaches, a lot
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: of media and other folks. Going to be talking to
• 14:08
  Speaker 1: Big Ten officiating folks, being talking to the college football
• 14:11
  Speaker 1: playoff folks, TV network folks. This is one of our
• 14:15
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