If Ohio State Gets Anywhere Near the Playoff Discussion Again, the Committee Should Just Disband
By Jason Lisk
Ohio State is hard to “kill” when it comes to the College Football Playoff. It seems that no matter what happens, the rules seem to change and it works out for the Buckeyes.
Three years ago, Ohio State played the worst schedule of the contenders, and the Big Ten was not the conference that year that it has been the last two. They lost a bad home game to Virginia Tech. They beat precisely one ranked team (Michigan State) before routing Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. But they passed the eye test in the final week, and the Big 12 couldn’t settle on a champ, so Baylor and TCU both got left out.
Last year, Ohio State did not win the division. They lost to Penn State head-to-head, but then survived in controversial fashion in overtime against Michigan. They had the early season non-conference Big Win over Oklahoma, and that carried them even though they did not appear in the title game.
And so, friends, it is with a heavy heart that I must report that Ohio State is not officially buried, even though they should be after last weekend’s debacle at Iowa. You see, Ohio State still is in the front seat when it comes to winning the Big Ten East. They win this week at home to Michigan State, handle Illinois, and then win against Michigan, and they are in. From there, a win over Wisconsin would give them the Big Ten title.
Yeah, sure, a 2-loss team has never made the playoff. That history is all of three years old. We aren’t that many crazy scenarios (Washington losing, OU and TCU splitting, Clemson and Miami losing, or Miami beating both Notre Dame and Clemson) from it being the case this year.
If that’s the case, then valuing a conference title, and wanting a conference champ from the #1 power-rated conference could suddenly become the most important thing, and guess who that benefits?
But I’m here to tell you that Ohio State should be eliminated. I don’t want to see this team near the discussion again. They got to play their two toughest games at home. You want to be a title contender? You have to win your games against other title contenders at home. It eliminated Oklahoma last year. Those aren’t toss up games, they are games where the home team should win 70% of the time. Losing one in comfortable fashion, and then trailing in the other one all game isn’t the indicator of a title contender.
You know what else isn’t an indicator? Getting your pants pulled down, taken completely off, and run up a flag pole in Iowa City. That was the first game that Ohio State has played on the road all year against a likely bowl team, and they gave up 55 points.
So I don’t care what else happens this year. Don’t let Ohio State back in it. That would be the worst college football move since the BCS formula put Nebraska in a title game after giving up 62 points to Colorado in the last game in 2001.
Just say no to the O.