Matthew Dellavedova is becoming a better passer
December 1, 2015Giving Away Tuesday: Cavs-Wizards, Behind the Box Score
December 1, 2015Chaos reigned during college football’s Rivalry Week. In a weekend of Wagon Wheels, Apple Cups, Civil Wars, Bedlam, and The Game many schools either earned emphatic victories to secure bowl berths or suffered spirit-crushing losses. When the dust settled, the biggest losses went to previous top ten teams Notre Dame and Baylor whose playoff fires are all but extinguished. With only one weekend to go until Decision Sunday, the newest College Football Playoff Poll dropped Tuesday night.
No. 1 Seed: Clemson
No. 2 Seed: Alabama
No. 3 Seed: Oklahoma
No. 4 Seed: Iowa
Clemson capped their unbeaten regular season with a 37-32 victory over in-state rival South Carolina. The Tigers now advance to the ACC Title Game against red-hot No. 10 UNC. Clemson faces the most straight forward road into the playoff needing only to beat the Tar Heels to get in. No. 2 Alabama bested unranked Auburn in the Iron Bowl and will now tussle with No. 18 Florida for the SEC crown. Alabama would likely advance into the Playoff with a win. In the de facto Big XII Title Game No. 3 Oklahoma conquered No. 17 Oklahoma State in Stillwater. While the conference does not have an official championship game the 11-1 Sooners lay claim to the conference uncontested. Unblemished Iowa rounds out the top four. The Hawkeyes are enjoying their best season in school history, and aspire to shock the Spartans in the Big Ten Championship Game.
Next two: Michigan State, Ohio State
Michigan State may be on the outside looking in at the moment, but they still control their own postseason destiny. The winner of the Iowa-Michigan State tilt will undoubtedly qualify for the Playoff. Ohio State will need a bundle of help to make it in. The Buckeyes’ best bet requires the following assistance:
– Clemson defeats UNC. A 13-0 Tiger club would take the top seed in the bracket.
– Florida upsets Alabama. The Gators and Tide would both then have two losses and may miss out on the CFP Playoff entirely.
– USC upsets Stanford. A four-loss USC team would not even sniff the top 4, but a two-loss Pac-12 champion Cardinal club would have a case.
– Iowa beats Michigan State. The undefeated Hawkeyes would perhaps move up as high as the second seed, opening the door for Ohio State to climb in at Number 4. (Or Michigan State emphatically beats Iowa to wilt their bloom)
For the first time since 2012 the Buckeyes will watch the Big Ten Championship from their dorms. With no control over their fate, the Bucks understand the odds are long that they can repeat as National Champions. However, even if the door to the Playoff remains closed the Ohio State, the club should find its way into a meaningful New Year’s Six bowl game. How does a Fiesta Bowl date with Notre Dame sound? If you’re a traditionalist, maybe a Rose Bowl rendezvous with Stanford is more your speed. Either way, Ohio State fans have plenty to look forward to in the coming month. Whether it’s one game to go or two, today is a good day to be a Buckeye.
8 Comments
Disagree about Clemson over the Heels. If UNC wins, they wouldn’t necessarily pass the Bucks.
Isn’t the most simple route Florida over Alabama and Michigan State over Iowa? Bama losing opens the spot, and there’s no way the committee takes a one-loss Iowa over a one-loss OSU. The only possible hiccup there is Stanford, and one-loss to a playoff team vs two losses to unranked teams seems to be a no-brainer…seriously, the ONLY argument there is “there’s no way to put two BIG10 teams in without any SEC or PAC12 representation.”
michigan state MUST beat Iowa for the Buckeyes to have a shot.
If any of the other top-4 lose, I think OSU jumps in. Even over Stanford. I know last year how OSU jumped over the Big 12 teams but we have to remember the greatest thing about being a Buckeye fan: they’re Ohio State and they always get the benefit of the doubt. They did last season and they would get it this season.
I see no other reason for the committee to have them at 6. It would just be asking for trouble if they demoted the Buckeyes. A 1-loss Buckeye team, on the heels of a dominant performance against a top-12 team, gets in the playoff over a 2-loss Florida or a 2-loss Alabama. If Clemson loses, they’re done. UNC won’t leapfrog with their schedule, which is worse than Ohio State’s.
except for the fact that the Big Ten is currently the best league in college football. We saw the SEC love in the old BCS so it’s not unprecedented.
I’m not sold on Iowa at all frankly I don’t see how they are even in the top 4. Regardless I think Michigan State should be able to beat them but we’ll see what happens.
Sorry should have saved my Iowa comment for here but I like Spartans chance.
I guess I am more optimistic than others. My view is that the MSU and Iowa game doesn’t matter. Ohio State will jump whoever loses. Ohio State has the single most dominant win of any team in the country this year, and they are the defending champs. The committee showe has shown a huge bias towards Ohio State and the big “brand” schools. Thus, I really think that if there is any type of debate, OSU will sneak in.
In short, I think if either Clemson or Alabama lose, we are in. I guess if Stanford wins like 59-0 nothing, then they might jump us.
I think this is 100% right. The worst OSU will finish is #5, and any trip-up among the top 2 will put the Buckeyes in. As such, while I don’t think either really have a chance, I’m the biggest NC and Florida fan right now. The rest is irrelevant (though, like you said, I’d rather USC win than Stanford). As bad as the Sparty loss was (and it was really, really bad), I think the committee sees it as an outlier (weather, playcalling, etc.). I think they’d love to have a reason to put OSU in the playoffs.
Oklahoma is the safest team in the picture, which is interesting, given the Big 12 “no championship game” controversy last year.