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By Brian Nowicki The University of Toledo has signed a two game series in football with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Wow! First game will be considered a "home game" for Toledo and played at Cleveland Browns Stadium on September 19, 2009. Are you kidding me??? Let me stand in line to shake the hand of UT Athletic Director Mike O'Brien. This deal is incredible. Ohio State has played a MAC school 10 times (games counted only while the school was in the MAC when the game is played) and all of them have been at the Horseshoe. In fact, in modern college football the Buckeyes have only played one game against another Ohio school outside of the Horseshoe.......a game against the University of Cincinnati on a neutral field in the city of Cincinnati in 2002. That game was part of a 3 for 1 deal that had Cincinnati playing three games at the Horseshoe in Columbus though. Toledo only has to make one trip to Columbus to get the neutral-site home game! Mike O'Brien deserves all the credit. He has been talking to Ohio State about playing in football for quite a while. A while back rumors surfaced that Toledo was going to play a one game deal at Ohio State in 2008. When asked about the game, O'Brien said that no deal had been reached. Rumor has it that Ohio State did not offer UT a lot of money to play the one game deal in Columbus and a game between Toledo and Ohio State appeared to be dead. O'Brien shocked the state of Ohio Thursday morning when he announced that the University of Toledo and the Ohio State University had reached an agreement on a two game series with one in Columbus and the other as a neutral-site UT home game at Cleveland Browns Stadium. UT fans should not be as surprised as the rest of the state though. O'Brien has been upgrading the Rockets' football schedule ever since he stepped on campus in January of 2002. He has worked at getting football deals done that include a home game, with an emphasis on trying to get home and home deals. He brought Temple in September of 2004 with a return trip to Temple in 2005. He signed a 2 for 1 deal with Kansas that brings the Jayhawks to the Glass Bowl this fall. He signed a home and home deal with Iowa State that has UT playing there this fall and then Iowa State coming to the Glass Bowl in 2007. He signed a 2 for 1 with Purdue that has the Boilermakers coming to the Glass Bowl first in 2007 and then two trips to Lafayette to complete the series. He signed a home and home deal with Fresno State that has the Bulldogs coming to Toledo in 2008. He signed a home and home with Boise State that has them coming to UT in 2009 and the Rockets returning the favor in 2010. He signed a home and home with Florida International that has them coming to the Glass Bowl in 2008 and UT returning the favor in 2009. And now he signs this home and home with Ohio State. Never before have the Rockets non-conference schedule looked as strong as it does now with the deals Mr O'Brien has been putting in place. This year Toledo hosts Kansas and plays at Iowa State and Pittsburgh. In 2007 Toledo hosts Iowa State and Purdue, while playing at Kansas. In 2008 Toledo hosts Fresno State and Florida International, while playing at Syracuse (final game of an earlier 2 for 1 deal). In 2009 Toledo hosts Boise State and Ohio State (Cleveland Browns Stadium), while playing at Purdue and Florida International. Road games against Purdue, Ohio State, and Florida International are already scheduled for either the 2010 or 2011 seasons as well. So what does this do for the University of Toledo football program? Well, first it gets Toledo on national television in marquee games. The home game against Kansas this fall is already scheduled for ESPN2. You better believe that the two games against Ohio State will be on television as well. Games against Fresno State, Boise State, Purdue, and Iowa State all have national television written all over them. Next, this helps recruiting. Telling a kid that you are hosting Iowa State and Purdue in 2007, while also playing a game at Kansas is a good thing. Telling a kid that you are hosting Ohio State at a neutral field in Cleveland in 2009 is a really good thing. This also helps to bring in more of the bigger names across the country. Signing a deal like this against Ohio State and getting a home and home with Iowa State will aid in leverage in bringing in other BCS schools. Finally, this helps UT in positioning themselves for a move up to a better conference. Nothing against the MAC, but Toledo's goal should be to be part of a conference that gets an automatic bid into a BCS bowl game. Let's face it, Toledo always seems to be cutting edge in the MAC. UT was the first MAC school to host a Big Ten school when the Rockets did so against Indiana in 1996. In 1997 Toledo became the first MAC school to beat a Big Ten school at a MAC stadium when they beat Purdue. A few years back the Sporting News rated the Glass Bowl as the best stadium in the MAC. Toledo holds the MAC record for the largest single game attendance and the record for the largest single season average attendance. And now Toledo will be the first MAC school to host Ohio State at a neutral site. Toledo keeps raising the bar. That will help them to get noticed by a "BCS" conference. Have a question or comment for Brian? Email |