Ohio State Football: 3 takeaways from survival against Michigan
By Zach Bigalke
3. Ohio State is no College Football Playoff contender in 2017
Yes, Ohio State won on Saturday. But their struggle to pull away from the Wolverines revealed a painful truth for Buckeyes fans. Quite simply, Urban Meyer’s crew does not deserve a place in the College Football Playoff discussion this season.
Even if they knock off Wisconsin for the Big Ten title, an 11-2 Ohio State squad would still have those two losses hanging over its head. The first, on its home turf against Big 12 contender Oklahoma, wouldn’t be damning on its own. But the second should be an immediate disqualifier that takes the Buckeyes out of the Playoff picture.
That loss, of course, was a 55-24 blowout in Iowa City against the 7-5 Hawkeyes. That loss revealed the Buckeyes to be contenders rather than pretenders. And given the way that Ohio State struggled to take down Michigan on the road, that 11-point margin of victory is a mirage that should not blind the College Football Playoff selection committee.
No matter what happens in Indianapolis, Meyer’s crew is almost certainly headed to a New Year’s Six bowl game. And we’ve seen the committee give the Buckeyes the benefit of the doubt in the past. But a hot-and-cold regular season from Ohio State hardly merits a spot in the top four, even though they could still earn a bid to the Rose Bowl or the Sugar Bowl.