Ohio State called out for "weak schedule," analyst questions playoff chances

The Ohio State Buckeyes were listed as one of the favorites to win the National Championship before the start of the 2024 season. Now, one analyst thinks they could be on the outside looking in when it comes to the 12-team College Football Playoff.

Ohio State made its way to Eugene, Oregon ranked as the No. 2 team in the nation, potentially poised to take over the No. 1 spot in the AP Poll if it picked up a win over the Oregon Ducks. Instead, that all came crashing down when Oregon pulled out a thrilling 32-31 victory that saw OSU's quarterback Will Howard slide on the final play with no time remaining.

Ohio State, still ranked No. 3 in the country by the AP, is certainly in no danger of being left out of the playoff for now, but one national analyst thinks that might not be the case for long.

ESPN's Heather Dinich recently pointed out the weakness of Ohio State's non-conference slate, sharing that she believes the Buckeyes could be in trouble if they are a 10-2 team vying for an at-large bid.

It's a fair point from Dinich to make note that Ohio State did not challenge itself in the non-conference. The Buckeyes scheduled Akron, Western Michigan, and Marshall, and it's not as if the Big Ten is projecting to be a conference that will have seven or eight teams ranked at the end of the year, either.

Dinich notes that, if Ohio State were to lose to Penn State in a road tilt in early November and essentially be eliminated from the Big Ten conference title picture, that could spell trouble for the Buckeyes in earning an at-large bid when their strength of record and strength of schedule numbers are compared with others vying for the same spots with equal or better win-loss records.

Just for reference, Ohio State's strength of record currently ranks 14th in the country and the Buckeyes' strength of schedule is 32nd. Here are a few potential at-large teams with better strength of records: Penn State (2), BYU (3), Miami (4), Iowa State (5), Georgia (7), Alabama (9), and LSU (11).

Keep in mind it's far too early for these stats to matter too much because we've still got another half of the season to be played, but it is interesting to think what the narrative might be in early November if Ohio State suffers its second loss.

That being said, there's no way the committee wouldn't include Ohio State at 10-2. The only way, in my opinion, that the Buckeyes are left out is if they're 9-3, which at that point, would mean a loss to Indiana, Purdue, Nebraska, Northwestern, or Michigan coupled with a Penn State loss. If you lose to any of those teams in addition to Penn State, then you don't deserve to be in the playoff anyway.

Regardless of what the narrative might be right now, the path to the playoff is still very much there for Ohio State and, honestly, things don't even have to be perfect for the Buckeyes to get there. As long as they go 5-1 in their last six — which should be a given considering how weak that schedule is shaping up to be outside of the trip to Happy Valley — they'll be in.

Oh, and by the way, if Ohio State gets there — as an at-large or an automatic qualifier— they'll be one of the favorites to win the whole thing.

Ohio State is off this week before returning home to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers on Saturday, Oct. 26.

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