Can somebody please explain to me why Ohio State is in the playoffs?

[YodaUte]

This team didn’t even win their conference. Does no one else see the obvious illogic in this selection? How can any team claim to be in the conversation for the best team in the nation if they aren’t even the best team in their conference? Penn State is the only team from that conference with any real argument for being selected. If two losses disqualify Penn State, then the Big 10 shouldn’t have a representative. It’s the same logic that kept the PAC 12 out of it last year–a bunch of good teams beating each other.

I’m sorry, Urban, but I hope your team gets boat-raced in the first game.

[Tacoma Ute]

I think they are one of the four best teams on the county but if u can’t even win your own 7 team division you shouldn’t get the privilege of being one of the only 4 in the nation to have a shot.

[Utesbyfive]

Because they’re CFB royalty. And they only have 1 loss.

[quagmire]

Who cares, utah doesn’t have an off…..oh wait. 

[Anonymous]

Yeah I agree it is stupid and B1G has an inflated resume IMO. 

[rbmw263]

I would be willing to bet if you switched tOSU and Penn states records and results, tOSU still gets in. The system gives them fill autonomy to favor the blue bloods and drive ratings 

[UteBacker]

The goal of the playoff committee is to select the 4 best teams.  Conference championships are only there to put on resumes.  I agree with you, Yoda, that winning your own division is probably a pretty huge part of the equation.  

I tried to think of it like this…. who would I take in a head-to-head battle if I had $100 to bet straight up.

 

SEC

Ohio St vs Alabama- Bama

Ohio St vs all other SEC teams- Ohio St

 

Pac12

Ohio St vs Washington- Ohio St

Ohio St vs USC- Ohio St (but close)

Ohio St vs all other SEC teams- Ohio St

 

Big XII

Ohio St vs Oklahoma- Ohio St (and they proved it)

Ohio St vs all other Big XII teams- Ohio St

 

ACC

Ohio St vs Clemson- Ohio St (but close)

Ohio St vs Florida St- Ohio St

Ohio St vs all other ACC teams- Ohio St

 

Big Ten

Ohio St vs Michigan (my #2 Big Ten team)- Ohio St (and they proved it)

Ohio St vs Penn St- Penn St proved it but I’d still take Ohio St in a re-match

Ohio St vs all other Big Ten- Ohio St

 

G5 Teams

Ohio St vs all G5 Teams- Ohio St

 

So if I had $100 to bet I’d take Ohio St against everyone except Bama.  This is how I look at it anyway.  In my opinion you could make a case to keep any of the teams that they selected out of the playoffs except Alabama.  

I’m no Ohio St fan.  I think the Big Ten was very top-heavy this year.  They had 3-4 good teams and then a whole bunch of so-so.  The bottom-end was bad.  Really bad.  

Just my 2 cents.

[noneyadb]

Highly doubt Ohio St vs Clemson will end up being a close game. Ohio St by 10+

[Utah]

Why Ohio State deserves to be in:

They have less losses. 

Their only loss came after they played a top 10 Wisconsin team on the road and Wisconsin had a bye going into the game. Oh, and Penn State had a bye the week Ohio State was playing Wisconsin. And Penn St was in Happy Valley. That is a near impossible task to go 2-0. 

Ohio State beat Oklahoma OOC. Penn St lost to Pitt. 

Yes, Penn St beat Ohio St, but it was on a fluke and Penn St had an extra week to prepare and Ohio St was playing a top 10 team on the road the week before. 

Ohio State played Wisconsin, Penn St, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Michigan. 

Penn St lost to Pitt and almost lost to Temple. They didn’t play Nebraska and they didn’t play Wisconsin until the title game. 

If you take the Ohio St loss away, Ohio State blows Penn St out of the water. When you realize that Ohio State played two top 10 teams in a row on the road, and both teams had bye weeks the week before? And it took a semi-lucky play for Penn St to win? That win isn’t that impressive. 

Ohio State should be in. And before the Big 10 title game I was a Penn St should be in guy. 

[UtesRock]

Yoda, you are correct why Ohio State over Penn State, when Washington was selected over USC?  Michigan beat Penn State, etc., etc,.  It probably comes down to number of loses.  I’m sure the committee struggled with that one.

[Utah]

Yoda, you are way off base here. You can’t compare the Big 10 this year to the PAC-12 last year. The second place team in the PAC-12 last year was 10-3 Utah. Not 11-1 Ohio State. BIG difference there. If the second place team had been an 11-1 USC, then the PAC-12 would have gotten in last year. 

And, how can you say that Penn St is unequivocally the best team in the Big 10? Ohio State played Wisconsin and Nebraska in the regular season. Teams the Penn State did not have to play. Those two teams went 19-5 in the regular season. So, we don’t know if Penn St is the best team in the Big 10, because they did not play the same schedules. What happens if that instead of Penn St playing Purdue, who went 3-9 and did NOT play Ohio State, they had to play Nebraska on the road after Nebraska had a bye week. 

Would Penn State still have 2 losses? Or would they now have three? 

Going off the conference champion is just one piece of the puzzle. 

Why does Ohio State get punished for scheduling up and playing Oklahoma in Oklahoma when they had such a tough conference schedule and Penn St gets rewarded for scheduling down, losing that game and having an easier conference schedule? 

Penn St was losing to Ohio St for 50+ mins. Ohio State had played a well rested Wisconsin the week before (Wisconsin had a bye before they played Ohio State) and Penn St had a bye the week before the played Ohio State. 

And it wasn’t like Penn St took it to Ohio St. They won off a blocked FG. 

I understand where you are coming from with your complaints, but the question is, if you don’t take Ohio St, who do you take? 

Your options are Penn St, Oklahoma or Michigan. Ohio State beat two of those teams. You can’t take Oklahoma over Ohio State. You can’t take Michigan over Ohio State. 

So, it is down to Oklahoma vs Penn St. Penn St played 3-9 Purdue, 2-10 Rugers, 3-9 Michigan State. Oklahoma only played two teams that bad. Oklahoma played Houston and Ohio State in OOC. Oklahoma lost to Ohio St by 12. Penn St lost to Michigan by 39. 

So, I don’t see how you take Penn St over Oklahoma. 

If that is the case, then your rankings look like this:

1 – Alabama

2 – Clemson

3 – Washington

4 – Oklahoma

5 – Penn St

So, where in that group do you put Ohio State? They beat Oklahoma, have less losses than Oklahoma, played a tougher schedule than Oklahoma, etc. 

Penn St has no argument to be in the final four. Oklahoma might have an argument, but they were worked over by Ohio State. 

The argument isn’t Penn St vs Ohio St. It is Oklahoma vs Ohio St. Neither played in a conference championship game. Ohio State has less losses and beat Oklahoma. It is pretty straight forward. 

[Big Kahuna]

Ohio State got in via Urbans supernatural powers. Cannot deny this

[AZswayze]

So long as Ped State is nowhere near the playoffs. I’m sorry but it bothers me that a few short years after everything went down they are back on top. And I don’t want to hear how the players don’t deserve to be punished; that’s the case every time sanctions are involved (there are always some folks who had nothing to do with it that are affected). USC got stiffer sanctions over Reggie Bush living in a house owned by a wanna-be agent two hours away from campus. If any program has ever been deserving of the death penalty it’s Penn State. Sorry, rant over, just glad they didn’t get a playoff berth.

[Anonymous]

It is a rant that everyone has in their minds unless they are outright morons. 

I do think the NCAA should allow transfers if a school is sanctioned.  They can leave without facing a sit out period.  I know everyone doesn’t have the same view on transfer rules as I do but I think a lot of these kids should be able to leave whenever they want.  

[AZswayze]

Agreed, unless that particular player was involved, and even then it should be reviewed on a case by case basis. I also have a hard time feeling bad for the fans in this case considering the way so many of them acted over JoePa being ousted, even after the evidence against him continued to mount. Penn State is a blight on college football imho, and there’s no amount of scrubbing that can be done in my lifetime to make me think different.

Baylor’s pretty bad as well, but at least the boosters and fans were willing to call a spade a spade. Unfortunately, I have a strong feeling Briles will be coaching somewhere within the next 12 months.

[Author]

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