Penn State will face Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday in Indianapolis. Ohio State, after losing to Michigan at home to close out the regular season, won’t be part of the high-profile event.
However, the Buckeyes will still have something on the line as they are widely expected to make the 12-team College Football Playoff. This game could impact their seed as they faced both teams in the regular season.
Ohio State is, right now, supposed to host a first-round game against the Tennessee Volunteers.
While that would pose a difficult match for the Buckeyes, the seeding is far from set with a packed day of conference championship games on Saturday. For Ohio State, it should be rooting for Oregon, and here is why.
The biggest debate for the next week will be OSU vs Penn State.
If Penn State loses to Oregon, should they still be ranked over Ohio State.
Both would have two losses, Ohio State beat Penn State in Happy Valley.
Penn State currently has no top 20 wins, OSU has two top 10 win: pic.twitter.com/067K9xDCP2
— Adam King (@AdamKing10TV) December 4, 2024
The one-loss Nittany Lions are currently No. 3 in the College Football Playoff rankings. If they lose, they should drop below Ohio State, especially as the Buckeyes beat Penn State in a packed Beaver Stadium earlier this season.
However, given this is the first 12-team playoff, there’s no telling how the committee will view these neutral-field battles when it comes to seeding. Nonetheless, for the sake of getting a higher seed, the Buckeyes faithful should want a Ducks win on Saturday.