By: Bill Blanton (Examiner.com) –

Many sports fans have read or heard of sports author John Feinstein and his chronicles of the Indiana basketball season. Bob Knight was coming off one of his worst seasons at Indiana and the pressure was mounting. A championship coach was forced to start from scratch with a new group of players and build success that eventually culminated in an NCAA Championship win in 1987. The sport is different but the story is the same. Jim Tressel heads into 2009 as respected, admired, and successful within the college football coaching ranks, much like Bob Knight was to the college basketball community. Tressel like Knight has won a national championship, but time has passed since the championship trophy was hoisted in January 2003 in Arizona, and the disappointment of six straight losses to top 10 teams has everyone scratching their heads.

Buckeye faithful have to be hoping the 2009 season is “The Season on the Brink” for the sake of the Ohio State program. Its amazing Buckeye fans can feel that way since we just said goodbye to one of the winningest senior classes. The 2008 seniors posted forty-three wins, four Big Ten Championships and four wins against Michigan. That’s an outstanding record of accomplishments, right? Unfortunately, and maybe not fairly, the group will be remembered for losing three BCS bowls, two of which were lopsided national championship losses. Yes, this group was 29-3 in the Big Ten and handled their rival four times, yet we look at this group as a team that couldn’t win the big game. That’s a tough burden to bear for a group of outstanding men who wore the scarlet and gray with pride. Perhaps the best thing the 2009 Buckeyes have going for them is they don’t know any better. These youngsters aren’t marred by disappointing performances in big games. This will be their year to start their own legacy……

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