Point/Counterpoint: Who will win the national championship?

Kevin: West Virginia Mountaineers; Mike: Ohio State Buckeyes

By: Kevin Duffy and Mike Mauro

Posted: 8/28/08

Mike: Ohio State

Ohio State has been a disappointment in the last two BCS Championship games, but in 2008 they have a more experienced and talented team that will avenge those embarrassing losses and win the National Title.

Led by Heisman frontrunner, running back Chris Wells, and the best defensive player in the nation in James Laurinaitis the Buckeyes will dominate the weakest major conference in college football - the Big Ten.

Kevin: West Virginia Mountaineers

West Virginia opens the year ranked No. 8 in both polls, but behind the electric backfield of Pat White and Noel Devine, the Mountaineers should contend for the National Title.

Strength of schedule is everything and the Big East is one of the weaker major conferences in the country. West Virginia should roll through its conference schedule on their way to a National Championship.

West Virginia opens the year ranked No. 8 in both polls, but behind the electric backfield of Pat White and Noel Devine, the Mountaineers should contend for the National Title.

Strength of schedule is everything and the Big East is one of the weaker major conferences in the country. West Virginia should roll through its conference schedule on their way to a National Championship.

Mike: There are too many question marks on West Virginia's schedule for them to get through unscathed. Everyone thought they'd go undefeated the last two seasons but failed to do so. Ohio State is on a mission this year. Most of Ohio State's key players have suffered two bad losses in the title game and they aren't about to let a third opportunity slip past them. With Wells, the best running back in the country, at running back and Laurinaitis, the best defensive player, at linebacker, both sides of the ball will post elite numbers this season

Kevin: It doesn't matter how hungry Ohio State is. The bottom line is that the Buckeyes cannot win a big game - or even come close for that matter. As you said, they were embarrassed in the last two seasons. West Virginia routed Oklahoma - a team that many thought deserved to be in the title game in place of Ohio State - in the Fiesta Bowl last year. This team is capable of winning a big bowl game.

Mike: But not capable of winning the games they are supposed to win to get into the title game. The Buckeyes have the experience of getting to the title game and this team is better than what they have been the past two years with the addition of the nation's top recruit Terrelle Pryor. Pryor will provide a Tim Tebow-like presence to the quarterback position and be used like Tebow was when Florida won the National Championship two years ago against the Buckeyes. Now its Ohio State's turn to hoist the Championship trophy

Kevin: The dual-quarterback system rarely works, and I suspect Todd Boeckman will struggle as he is looking over his shoulder with Pryor waiting in the wings. As dominant as Ohio State's defense is considered to be, it has a lot of trouble with speed (see: Juice Williams and Rashard Mendenhall for Illinois last season). If the Mountaineers and Buckeyes meet for the BCS Championship, it will surely mark Ohio State's third straight blowout loss in that game.

Mike: If the two teams did meet, you'd have to scrape the Mountaineers' defense off the ground because Wells and the mammoth Buckeyes' offensive line, led by tackle Alex Boone, would bulldoze through them as if they were high-schoolers. Ohio State recruits the top prospects like every other top school and they have plenty of team-speed to drag down Noel Devine and Pat White to come out as victors. The third time will be a charm for Ohio State and they will win the National Championship.