Selling personal possessions, receiving benefits, NCAA suspensions, tattoos and Jim Tressel leaving. All this happened in a five-week span between Ohio State’s 37-7 victory over Michigan Nov., 27 and the Buckeyes date with the Razorbacks of Arkansas Jan., 4.

The selling of personal possessions doesn’t bother me all that much. Yes, it shows me these five players don’t value and respect the tradition of Ohio State, but after all, it is their stuff, hint the word, personal. Receiving benefits, I don’t agree with. Just because you are Terrelle Pryor doesn’t mean you deserve more than the guy sitting next to you in your extremely difficult basket weaving class. The whole receiving free tattoos for your personal possessions is just weird.

There was a rumor on Christmas day that Tressel was leaving Ohio State after the Sugar Bowl. Many thought he was leaving because of the sanctions against the Buckeyes, but thanks to Twitter, Gene Smith calmed me down and gave me my best Christmas present this season by saying, “The rumors are false and go ahead and continue eating your Christmas hams.”

Pryor, Dan Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas are suspended for the first five games of next season but were allowed to play in the Sugar Bowl. You, as a Buckeye fan, know Ohio State would have been rocked in New Orleans if those five were sitting out. Don’t believe me? How about this for proof:

Pryor: 336 total yards of offense, two touchdowns and the Offensive MVP award.

Herron: 24 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown.

Posey: Led the team with three catches for 70 yards and a touchdown.

Adams: Part of the offensive line that gave up zero sacks and paved the way for the Buckeyes to rush for 225 yards.

Thomas: Picked off Ryan Mallett, sealing the 31-26 win for the Buckeyes.

Believe me now?

The best part about this football game and the best part about this BCS game, was the fact that Ohio State finally got that “Can’t beat the SEC in a bowl” monkey off their back. It took them 10 tries, nine painful losses to the likes of Alabama in 1978 and 1995, Auburn in 1990, Georgia in 1993, Tennessee in 1996, South Carolina in 2001 and 2002, Florida in 2007, and LSU in 2008. The great part about Ohio State’s win, from the Big Ten Conference’s perspective, is an Ohio State win was a must. The Big Ten had fallen five times on New Year’s Day, three to the SEC and Wisconsin fell to TCU, or “The Little Sisters of the Poor.” Mark May and the rest of the Big Ten and Buckeye haters would have had a field day on the Big Ten’s lack of success this postseason if Ohio State had fallen. Trust me.

So after all those mishaps, all those rough endings to great seasons, not just for Ohio State in their history, but this season for the Big Ten; this win, this triumph, made this year’s Sugar Bowl win so, so sweet.