James -
We are part of the big 10 and the level of competition in all conferences is cyclical. I have no idea how long these cycles last - 5 years, 20 years? Who knows. I don't think that our scheduling is weak, given our situation. Most teams play a creampuff or two. Then we, as Big 10 members, have to play a bunch of B10 teams. These last few years, they have sucked. The thing is, against LSU, you are dead right. We weren't prepared because our previous competition sucked and theirs didn't. They were ready for a battle, and we showed up with squirtguns. Oh well. I don't see it as WE sucked, just that we weren't cultivated for the opportunity...
How many times am I willing to watch OSU get waxed by a better SEC team? However many it takes until we beat them.
But as far as the scheduling, _part_ of it is out of our control. I also don't know the relative importance of factors that the schedule-maker must consider. For example, there must be some balance between toughness of schedule and record for a bowl game. The ideal answer is in the middle somewhere, since neither the toughest schedule possible nor the easiest schedule possible have yet to occur. Then we throw in projecting how good opponents will be (pretty tough to do consistently), and of course, what about money? It MUST be better to make the NCG and lose then to not. My point is that there are so many factors, both controlable and random, to consider.
I also think that it's pretty childish to bash OSU fans, but I wouldn't expect any different from you. And the whole "they bash every other team" arguement is so tired - two wrongs don't make a right. Harboring anger is like a cancer (that goes to the OSU fans too - if the bashing gets to you). And not all OSU fans bash other teams. Here's another good educational article about the concept of the Other, BTW (don't worry it's short):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Other . I think it's applicable.
Have a nice day!