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Home > Blogs > Buckeyes Beat > Archives > 2009 > January > 05 > Entry
Texas seeks half of No. 1; Buckeyes have been there
With the Fiesta Bowl less than six hours away, the talk has turned to split national championships, a subject Ohio State knows a thing or two about.
The Buckeyes finished No. 1 in the 1954 AP poll and in the 1957 United Press International poll but were second in the other poll those years, to UCLA (1954, UPI), Auburn (1957, AP).
If things break just right in the final two major bowls, the thinking goes, Texas could win the AP share of the 2008 national championship.
The BCS side already has been decided - the winner of the Oklahoma-Florida game automatically is its No. 1.
According to the theorists, Texas would have a chance to sway the writers who vote in the AP poll if:
—- the Longhorns overwhelm Ohio State in the Fiesta Bowl, which is far from likely, and;
—- the BCS title game Jan. 8 is sloppy, low-scoring and close.
If Florida beats Oklahoma by a field goal or less, Texas and Florida would have one loss apiece, and the Longhorns could get votes because they beat the Sooners more decisively (45-35 on Oct. 11).
If Oklahoma just slips past Florida, both Texas and Oklahoma would have one loss - and, again, Texas did beat Oklahoma.
“Monday’s our national championship game,” Texas senior cornerback Ryan Palmer said.
“It’s a crazy scenario. You can’t control what BCS does. You can only control what you do. On Monday, we can control everything we do. If the writers consider us the national champion, that would be great, but we can win another bowl game and have a 12-win season. Everything that we want to do is still intact. We just have to go out and perform well.”
As Longhorns running back Chris Ogbonnaya said: “We can’t talk about being in the national championship picture without having a victory” today.
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