4. The Really Big Thing Was …
Ohio State looked the part.
We can all debate whether or not Ohio State is one of the four best teams in college football over, say, Florida, or Texas A&M, or Cincinnati, or the loser of the ACC Championship, but at the moment, the College Football Playoff committee likes Ohio State.
It’s not like the Buckeyes have done anything to actually earn the No. 4 spot in last week’s CFP rankings. They have one win over a team that’s going to finish with a winning record – and that’s how it’s going to remain, whether or not they play Michigan – and they struggled in that lone good victory over Indiana.
However, it’s Ohio State, it’s talent is right there with any other top team that gets the job done for you, and it’s hard to argue the practical when it comes to a team that in reality didn’t even need to play a game this year for it to be considered one of the top four teams.
And it shouldn’t be that big a deal that it beat a now-2-4 Michigan State 52-12, but it is.
That was the Ohio State we were waiting for.
The Buckeyes just did a whole lot of people a massive solid.
They saved the College Football Playoff committee.
Michigan State might not be anything great, but it beat Northwestern the week before. Ohio State got off the plane and blew the doors off the Spartans from the start.
Now, considering Texas A&M got rolled by the Tide, Florida lost to Texas A&M, and Cincinnati is Cincinnati and isn’t going to face a Power Five team, it’s easy for the CFP committee to make the “pass the eye test” argument, because Ohio State just did.
The Buckeyes also saved the Big Ten.
There was about to be a dilly of a pickle this week when it came to the Michigan game.
The University of Michigan is sort of a mess when it comes to the virus, and despite the allegations of potential ducking, canceling next week’s Ohio State vs. Michigan game might have to happen.
That creates a slew of problems, not the least of which would be the lack of a six-game season for Ohio State, meaning it wouldn’t be eligible to play in the Big Ten Championship.
Had the Buckeyes won 24-14, or had they struggled in any way, it wouldn’t have seemed or looked quite right to change the rules just so this team could get to play for the Big Ten title.
But now, because that win was so impressive – and the rest of the Big Ten sucks so hard – the conference championship wouldn’t have any legitimacy without the Buckeyes.
And Ohio State saved itself.
Again, the team was okay over the first four games, but even in the wins over the other bad teams, it wasn’t playing like some be-all-end-all program that had to be in the College Football Playoff.
Beat Michigan, or don’t. Beat Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship, or take down Iowa or Wisconsin whatever the Champions Week thing could be, and in. Don’t worry about what happens in the other championships – an unbeaten Big Ten Champion will absolutely be in this thing.
– Week 14 Winners & Losers
– Not really, but … : Most Overrated Thing
– Texas A&M and Indiana wins: Most Underrated Thing
– It’s almost over?: What It All Means, Week 14