Buying the pot and Buckeye news

No, not the illegal kind that you go to the seedy parts of town to buy. 'Buying the pot' is a poker term for when you have a shitty hand, but bet big hoping that everyone else folds. I worked that ploy masterfully at least three times last night while playing Texas Hold'em. I had five people over, so it was a small game, but still fun. I played very well. Actually, I won, so I am pretty happy. That will make three times in a row that I have won poker games. They haven't been huge games, but still, a good thing for my playing confidence. About mid way through the game, I had a pretty good chip lead (I had more chips than the other people in the game) so I was a bit of a bully with my bets. I'd bet enough that people would have to go all in or bet most of their chips to call me. I won't bore you all with the details.

The Buckeyes did well yesterday. They played Illinois, which is a team that the entire Big Ten has been beating up on. The offense did well in the second half, but sputtered a bit in the first half with two field goals after getting first and goal inside the Illinois 10 yard line. Special teams had a bit of a brain fart on a piont after TD attempt when the ball was snapped badly and Illinois ran it back for a safety. Other than that, the defense stiffled the Illini offense. Now, Ohio State is tied for #1 in the Big Ten. Unfortunatey, Penn State has the tie breaker since they beat OSU this year. So, the Buckeyes need to beat Northwestern and M*ch*g*n and Penn State needs to lose to Michigan State for the Buckeyes to win the all out Big Ten title. The good news is that Penn State plays at Michigan State. The bad news is that Michigan State is not playing too well this year. I guess more bad news is that Ohio State has to go up north for the big game this year. I feel confident that the Bucks can win out if the offense keeps on the roll it has started over the past few games.

It's getting to be time to start thinking about the Bowl Game situations this year. It is hopeful that, if they win out, OSU will get an at large bit to a BCS bowl game. If they win the Big Ten outright, they will automatically go to a BCS game. It's looking pretty good for the Buckeyes since three teams ranked higher that OSU lost yesterday. Virginia Tech, UCLA, and Florida State all lost. That should mean that OSU will go up a few places in the polls. I will be more than happy with a top ten finish this season. A chance to play for the National Title would have been nice, but I don't think anyone will be able to beat USC this year. I guess Texas might be able to with that QC they have. I always hate when teams always win titles. The commentators start throwing around words like 'dynasty' and hype up things more than they really need to be hyped. Oh well.