By: Doug Lesmerises (Cleveland Plain Dealer) — COLUMBUS, Ohio — In the last three years, a Heisman Trophy winner, seven first-team All-Americans, 15 first-team All-Big Ten players and 18 NFL draft picks have all ended their Ohio State careers the same way.

From Troy Smith to Vernon Gholston to James Laurinaitis, Buckeyes who spent their entire careers winning departed school with a bowl loss as the last thing on their minds.

“I’ve been around a great bunch of seniors, from Troy to James, and they did everything they needed to do to win bowl games, and they didn’t come out victorious,” Ohio State senior defensive lineman Doug Worthington said. “It’s hard to see those guys work so hard, knowing what they put into it, and they ended their last game with a loss.”

Among the 19 OSU seniors, the only one to have participated in a bowl victory is defensive lineman Lawrence Wilson, who was part of the win over Notre Dame in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl. The other Buckeye on the roster with a bowl win when he wasn’t redshirting? Offensive guard Justin Boren with Michigan in the 2007 Capital One Bowl.

On a three-game losing streak after BCS National Championship losses to Florida and LSU and a Fiesta Bowl loss to Texas, the No. 8 Buckeyes would tie the school record for consecutive bowl losses if they fall to No. 7 Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Twice before the Buckeyes lost four straight, from 1977-80 and 1989-92. The only Big Ten team with a longer current bowl losing streak is Northwestern, which is on a six-game streak and hasn’t won a bowl since 1948.

“You’re only as good as your last game,” senior cornerback Andre Amos said. “If you don’t finish off with a win, it’s going to be with you until you kick off again.”

The Buckeyes haven’t been getting any breaks in bowl games, losing to the No. 2, No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the country. Playing in their seventh BCS bowl game under Jim Tressel, and eighth overall, the Buckeyes are 4-3 against top 10 teams, but the three recent losses are listed in bold on their national resume.

Ohio State is the first candidate everyone looks at when assessing the Big Ten.

“We’re playing great teams,” Big Ten commissioner Jim Delaney said before the season when discussing the conference’s bowl problems. “We’re not playing little sisters of the poor. Those are great programs and I hope we’ll start winning games this year.”

It didn’t happen during the regular season. The Big Ten went 5-9 against teams from BCS conferences. So it’s left to bowl season, where the league has a 15-28 record the last six years and went 1-6 last season.

Before the Buckeyes can worry about conference pride, they have to worry about themselves. The current seniors have won four Big Ten titles, have beaten Michigan four times and have a 43-8 record. One more win and they’ll break the record for the most wins in a four-year period, currently shared with the senior classes of 1998, 2005 and 2008.

“We talk about being the winningest class of seniors in the history of Ohio State and it all rides on this bowl,” senior linebacker Austin Spitler said.

So far, they’ve won 90 percent of their games during the regular season and zero percent of their bowl games.

“We all had sour tastes in our mouths the last three years,” senior defensive tackle Todd Denlinger said, “losing not only the bowl games but, most people would say, all the big games. So this is a big game not only for the seniors but the program, to get back on the right track and get back on that big-game winning tradition.”

Michael Chow / Arizona Republic via AP

Ohio State hasn’t been alone in suffering bowl game heartbreak, but the Buckeyes have been the face of the Big Ten’s recent struggles.

BIG TEN PROSPECTUS
The Big Ten hasn’t had a winning bowl season since 2002, going 15-28 in the six seasons since. Is this the season it changes? It won’t be easy.
TUESDAY, DEC. 29
Champs Sports Bowl, Orlando
No. 15 Miami (9-3) vs. No. 25 Wisconsin (9-3), ESPN, 8
Breakdown: The Hurricanes were in BCS bowl contention until quarterback Jacory Harris threw four interceptions in a loss to North Carolina on Nov. 14. Harris may be the best quarterback the Badgers have faced, but he’s thrown 17 picks, tied for the most in the nation. Wisconsin tied for 22nd in the country with 15 interceptions. If the Badgers force him into mistakes, they win.
Doug’s pick: Miami
THURSDAY, DEC. 31
Insight Bowl, Tempe, Ariz.
Minnesota (6-6) vs. Iowa State (6-6), NFL Network, 6
Breakdown: The Cyclones rank 102nd in the nation in scoring and are bowl-eligible thanks to their 9-7 upset of Nebraska in October. They’re 1-3 since that win. The Golden Gophers, 98th in scoring, had trouble with good defenses, scoring a total of seven points against Ohio State, Penn State and Iowa. The bowl folks are praying it’s not a 6-4 game.
Doug’s pick: Minnesota
FRIDAY, JAN. 1
Outback Bowl, Tampa
Northwestern (8-4) vs. Auburn (7-5), ESPN, 11 a.m.
Breakdown: Northwestern has one bowl win in its history — the 1949 Rose Bowl. Now 0-6 in bowls since 1996, the Wildcats have a real shot here. Auburn stumbled after a 5-0 start, though three of its five losses were by a touchdown or less, including a 26-21 loss to No. 1 Alabama. On a three-game win streak, the Wildcats need a great game from quarterback Mike Kafka, who has five 300-yard passing games.
Doug’s pick: Northwestern
Capital One Bowl, Orlando
No. 12 LSU (9-3) vs. No. 13 Penn State (10-2), ABC, 1
Breakdown: Both teams are more defined by their losses than their wins. LSU hung in there in losses to Florida and Alabama, but doesn’t have a win over a team with a record better than 7-5. Penn State, eighth among Big Ten teams in schedule strength, lost to Ohio State and Iowa, the only two teams it faced that finished the season in the Top 25. Both might be overrated but have strong defenses. Penn State’s offense gets the edge.
Doug’s pick: Penn State
Rose Bowl, Pasadena, Calif.
No. 7 Oregon (10-2) vs. No. 8 Ohio State (10-2), ABC, 5
Breakdown: Oregon coach Chip Kelly recruited Ohio State’s Terrelle Pryor and told this to Portland radio station KXTG FM/95.5. “I told him that when I was recruiting him, that I would see him in the Rose Bowl sometime,” Kelly said. “I thought it was gonna be on our team, not on the opposing team.” The Buckeyes’ defense is the best Oregon has seen, but Pryor and the OSU offense still might need about 28 points, a number the Buckeyes didn’t hit in their three big November wins. Great matchup and basically a tossup, but for now — and this could change — a lean to the Ducks.
Doug’s pick: Oregon
SATURDAY, JAN. 2
Alamo Bowl, San Antonio
Michigan State (6-6) vs. Texas Tech (8-4), ESPN, 9
Breakdown: The Spartans, decimated by the suspension of eight players and the dismissal of two others, are even further from the team some thought at the start of the season could contend for a Big Ten title. Three of their losses were by three points or fewer, but they were also dominated by Penn State in the regular season’s last game. Texas Tech quarterback Taylor Potts, who threw for 388 yards in a November destruction of Oklahoma, could make it a long night for the Spartans.
Doug’s pick: Texas Tech
TUESDAY, JAN. 5
Orange Bowl, Miami
No. 10 Iowa (10-2) vs. No. 9 Georgia Tech (11-2), Fox, 8
Breakdown: This is one of the games that makes it tough on the Big Ten. The conference earns an extra $4.5 million by having a second BCS bowl team — only the Big Ten and SEC have two BCS teams this season. But now a second-place team faces the ACC champ. The Yellow Jackets have the lowest-rated defense among the 10 BCS bowl team, but Iowa has by far the lowest-rated offense, scoring just 23 points per game, 12 fewer than Georgia Tech.
Doug’s pick: Georgia Tech
– Doug Lesmerises

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