Jim Tressel

Ohio State downed Iowa 27-24 in overtime to clinch a fifth straight Big Ten title, a fifth straight BCS bowl bid and the school’s first Rose Bowl berth since 1996. And yet, when you check out all of the national sites all you see is acrimony over the way the coach Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes pulled out – or was it backed into -- the win.

Of Tressel, ESPN’s Pat Forde wrote:  “You are a relentless, perennial, inevitable winner. You might be the most conservative coach in America, but you don't care. You obsessively play not to lose, instead of playing to win, but you don't apologize.” (Click here for his full column, titled “Buckeyes, The Vest do it their way.”)

That was actually a very civil tone compared to what CBSSports.com’s Gregg Doyel had to say. Click here for his column, titled “Everybody a loser in Ohio State’s disgusting ‘victory’.”

“This was revolting,” Doyel wrote. “Ohio State won the game, the Big Ten title and a spot in the Rose Bowl -- but what did the Buckeyes lose? And can they ever get it back?”

And Doyel’s rant only got worse from there.

SI.com’s Stewart Mandel was only slightly more diplomatic. His column, linked here, was titled “Buckeyes notch another BCS bowl despite constraints of Tresselball.”

“You missed your window, Big Ten teams,” Mandel wrote. “You wanted to end Ohio State's five-year reign of conference dominance? This was your chance. With a small senior class, a work-in-progress offense and a quarterback struggling to live up to gargantuan expectations, the Buckeyes appeared to have their most vulnerable team in years. A midseason meltdown at Purdue left the door open for other challengers.

“But you couldn't do it, Penn State. Nor could you, Wisconsin. Michigan -- what do we even say about that?”

Pete Fiutek of College Football News put it in perspective, perhaps, right here.

“Remember this, Ohio State fans,” Fiutek wrote. “Remember how cool it is that you get to go to the BCS yet again, while other big names like Oklahoma and USC are crashing and burning in their rebuilding seasons. Remember that all that matters is whether the team wins or loses, and remember how cool it is to be in the spotlight yet again as the Big Ten champion.”

Speaking after the game, OSU players said they have learned to tune out the complaints and focus on the work and the results.

“We hear the outside critics, but this is all about the team here,” said linebacker Ross Homan, who had eight tackles in the win. “We keep it in the locker room. It’s about us as the players and the coaches. That’s how we approach it.”

Quarterback Terrelle Pryor seemed to be playing with shackles on at times on Saturday. But that’s OK, he said, because Ohio State survived and reached the best result they could with the national championship game out of play.

“Playing in this conference, people overlook us and say we’re slow,” Pryor said. “But in this conference, it’s a lot of hitting. It’s a tough conference. It’s just unbelievable how many Big Ten championships they’ve won. That’s one thing our seniors brought up. They have never not won a Big Ten championship. That motivated us.”

Tressel defended his play calling at the end of regulation, saying a turnover deep in OSU’s end would have been catastrophic.

“The one thing we couldn't do is turn it over and give them a chance to beat us in regulation,” Tressel said. “If we could pop something, so be it. If not, we're going to have to go beat them in overtime.”

By clinching the Rose Bowl, Ohio State will go into January knowing that it will be the first college football program to appear in eight BCS bowls in the 12 years of this format. Oklahoma and USC each came into the season with seven BCS appearances as well, but they will be relegated to lesser bowls this holiday season.

Tressel accepted the Rose Bowl bid – his first as the OSU coach – after the game. When his postgame remarks were complete, the coach had a few last words for his critics: “I'll see you at Pasadena.”

I will echo the coach’s sentiments with words from one of my favorite songs – a little ditty I just can’t stop singing today:

“All the leaves are brown and the sky is gray. I’ve been for a walk on a winter’s day. I’d be safe and warm, if I was in LA. California Dreamin’ on such a winter’s day.”