Buckeyes Will Make the Playoffs

Write this down.

Chisel it in stone.

Ohio State will make the College Football Playoff.

Guaranteed.

I have no doubt that Urban Meyer will fix whatever may be wrong with the Buckeyes. And I have no doubt that the Buckeyes will be full of piss and vinegar when they take the field Saturday against Northwestern and we will see the Buckeyes we saw earlier this year.

It’s a quite simple path to the playoff, actually. Win out and OSU is in. How can the CFP gurus leave the Buckeyes out? They would have road wins at then-No. 14, at then-No. 8 Wisconsin, a win over current-No. 7 Nebraska and a win over current-No. 2 Michigan. Then a possible rematch with Nebraska in the B1G title game.

Put that schedule up against currently undefeated Washington, which played Portland State earlier and has played just one ranked team so far, Stanford, which was over-rated at No. 7 and has just one more currently ranked team on its schedule.

Put that up against Louisville, which thumped the rising Florida State Seminoles but also only beat Duke by 10 and played Charlotte in the season opener. The Cardinals still have a game at Houston and may not even make the ACC title game. It would need Clemson to lose twice to make the title game, due to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

I can see Clemson losing at Florida State Saturday but not to anyone else. And we all know being the conference champ is a big plus according to the CFP folks.

I bring up these two specifically because they are currently ahead of Ohio State in the AP poll, which does not factor into the CFP, but is very close to what we can expect when the CFP reveals its first rankings next month.

Michigan is also ahead of Ohio State but would drop back below the Buckeyes if Ohio State wins Nov. 26.

So what that all means, is assuming the first CFP ratings resembles the AP poll as it is now, at least two teams ahead of Ohio State would be behind OSU in the final pecking order … Michigan by virtue of a loss to Ohio State, Louisville by virtue of not even being in the conference title game, Clemson by virtue of a loss to Florida State Saturday. And that doesn’t take into account a weak schedule played by Washington, which could hurt the Huskies if it comes down to them or Ohio State.

There are only two other teams who factor in, Baylor and West Virginia, currently undefeated. They play each other so we know one will be eliminated. Baylor still has to play TCU and at Oklahoma and West Virginia has Oklahoma State Saturday and Oklahoma later on. I seriously doubt both of them make it unscathed. And since the Big 12 has no title game, there is a good chance of having multiple champs.

So what does this all mean, beside the fact that I have shown I can research schedules and rankings?

It means Ohio State’s loss to Penn State means absolutely nothing. Bubkas. Squat. Before the game, Ohio State had to beat Michigan and win the B1G to make it. And after the game, the Buckeyes have to beat Michigan and win the B1g.

And I think they will.

Plan on it.