we would have beaten Ohio State if VY stayed.  No way.  It was close the whole game with Colt and no healthy Terell Brown.  We would be back to back champions, no doubt.  

I honestly believe we would have won the basketball title in what would have been TJ's junior year and similarly feel that Texas would be playing for a second straight MNC if VY had stayed.  Two other worldly talents who made everyone around them better and lifted their teams to heights unseen previously or at least not seen in a long time.

VY has the will to win.  Perfect example: Last Sunday against the Giants.  Oh yeah, the Giants are an NFL team.  Anyone here want to give credit to the Titans for supporting VY?  No.  Everyone has said that VY would have had a much better year had he had any support at all.

By the way, those are the best of the best he is playing against.  Not just D1 players that may not make it to the pros.  If the entire OSU lineup makes it to the pros, maybe I'll recant my statement.  But I doubt that will happen.

The OSU game would have been drastically different.
VY would have found a way to pull out another 7 points or so against K-State.
And he certainly would have scored more than 7 against a&m.

So, yeah.  I think we would have won back to back without a doubt.  Vince would have won the Heisman.  The only thing that wouldn't have changed much (if any) is his draft stock.  How can you get much higher than #3?  

the last i checked, vy, as transcendent a talent as he is, doesn't play defense. the osu defense is marginally better than our defense.with vy, however, i think our offense would be better, bt only marginally so, because that osu offense is one well-oiled machine. vy is a far superior athlete and runner, but man does troy smith look smooth throwing the ball. College Football News,at the beginning of the year, opined that vy returning would turn the horns into this decade's version of  '95 nebraska. After watching the season play out, i dont think so. texas probably beats osu but not by a big margin.

because we didnt have leadership as soon as McCoy went down in the K-State game.  If VY played in that game we would have scored from the 30 yard line and not had to punch it in 2 times.  The A&M game was a complete leadership abortion. Our big separation play (Limas'leaping TD in the endzone, which was a fucking touchdown and I don't want to hear otherwise)stymied our momentum and the agros slowed the game down to molasses pace by doing just enough every 3rd down.  Once again, we just didnt have the VY-type emotional leadership to elevate out of that aggie quagmire in the second half.  Those are the games you will get caught in, especially in the Big 12 where you need someone to elevate above all the inferiority complexes that are traps in the conference.
On a related note...
Basically tOSU was given a championship (if they win) by the rest of college football, which as a whole, was down this year (Big East teams in the top 10?).  Are you telling me that this years tOSU team could beat USC or UT from last year?  I think not.  

The only way we are NOT in the Big XXII Championship game, undefeated, and averaging less than 60 pts a game with VY still on the team, is if VY lost both of his legs in a motorcycle accident with Ben Rothlesburger.  

Our D is much better with VY under center. Even this D can stop people from scoring 50.