College Football is about honor, prestige, integrity, and many other adjectives that seem noble on the surface. When you dig deep into its core, you find out it’s slimy, sleazy, and has zero grams of integrity within its foundation.

While the title of the piece may seem like clickbait, however, I stand firmly behind it. And before Buckeye Nation sends hate mail, I want you to think and ask yourself, “Did this team earn a consideration for a spot in the College Football Playoffs?” And if you don’t want to answer that question, I’ll answer it for you.

(You can discuss this on the BSL Board here.)

First, let’s address the elephant in the room, the BIG TEN conference, ultimately altering the Buckeyes’ rules to play in the BIG TEN title game. The BIG TEN initially postponed all fall sports due to the COVID-19 pandemic back in August, the first of all the Power 5 conferences to do so. The BIG TEN thought their progressive thinking should earn them brownie points when the SEC, ACC, and BIG 12 (PAC-12 postponed their season also) didn’t follow; but the BIG TEN quickly realize, another adjustment was needed, or the conference would be without representation in the 2020 College Football Playoffs.

The BIG TEN made the “proper” adjustment and set up an eight-game season and championship game on December 19, just in time to have a team qualify for the playoffs on New Years Day.

This is when things get tricky.

The BIG TEN also implemented a rule that a team will need at least six games to qualify for the BIG TEN Championship to negate a 2-0 Illinois spot over 5-1 Iowa. Once again, their progressive thinking backfired.

Ohio State’s games against Maryland and Illinois were suspended due to the virus, which goes back into the BIG TEN’s poor decision to start its season as the virus was peaking in many states within the conference. Those canceled games put the Buckeyes in a “need every game scenario” by week five to qualify for the BIG TEN title game.

And like most seasons with championship implications for the Buckeyes, it came down to the big game between Michigan. Michigan 2-4 record diminished their BIG TEN title possibilities, but with 45 players off the roster, it left the Wolverines no choice but to cancel the game.

Strangely and unusually fueling the hatred between the two schools, that left Ohio State with only five games and disqualified from the conference title game.

As the legendary Lee Corso would say, not so fast, my friend.

Protecting the conference’s potential playoff contender, the BIG TEN once again changed their rules. This time allowing teams with less than six games played to qualify for the Big Ten title game, which meant Ohio State would play December 19 against Northwestern for the Big Ten Championship.

The Big Ten did everything they possibly could to make sure their conference was being represented. While it shows the lack of integrity the conference’s officials have, the College Football Playoff committee has included the Buckeyes in the top four every week. This is where we break down why the Buckeyes are not a playoff team this season.

Not Enough Games

Whether it was the BCS or the current format to select teams to play for a national title, the committees judge a team by their resume. Who have you played, who have you defeated, and who have they defeated? These questions help the committee compare teams and their schedules before deciding who plays for the national crown.

Only three ranked teams have less than six games on their schedule going into Saturday, #13 USC, and #25 Colorado. CFP Committee chairman Gary Barta detailed how the committee has trouble comparing teams with only five games played to a team with eight or nine games.

“It was talked about a lot, specifically talked about in the room about whether Ohio State goes to No. 4 or Texas A&M flips and goes to No. 4 and Ohio State goes to No. 5, a lot of discussion about that,” explained Barta.

“At the end of the day, Ohio State’s offensive firepower, all the weapons they have, the win over Indiana. And then, we did have a different game to evaluate for Texas A&M…At the end of the day, the committee just decided that Ohio State was still a better team than Texas A&M and deserved to be No. 4, but definitely, a lot of discussion about the number of games played.”

Texas A&M’s only loss came against Alabama during the second week of their season, with no preparation or summer practice. The Ohio State second game was against a 0-2 Penn State squad, who only defeated 38-25; not much of a convincing win.

Where Are The Quality Wins

The Buckeyes’ only quality win came against #9 Indiana back in November, 42-35. Indiana outscored the Buckeyes 28-14 in the second half to close the 28-7 Halftime deficit. This is a game the committee relied on to support their decision to keep the Buckeyes in the top four. Heisman hopeful Justin Fields threw three interceptions in that game and was pretty much outplayed by the Hoosiers’ quarterback Micheal Penix Jr., who threw for 491 yards and five touchdowns.

With this shortened season for everyone, quality opponents are a premium, which means your conference must be top-notch. Only two teams in the BIG TEN West division are above .500, Ohio State and Indiana. The conference has the least amount of teams above .500 out of all the Power 5 conferences, with four.

So with only one big win in a down year for the conference, can we really say the Buckeyes are deserving?

Others Are Worthy

Texas A&M has proven they earned that spot, and I’m far from an SEC supporter, but if it was a year where the SEC can dominate the College Football Playoffs, it would be this one. Florida and Georgia are still lingering around the top four, but both have two losses on their schedule. Even without three SEC teams, the CFP committee can find other worthy teams to fill in for the Buckeyes.

Iowa State made a significant leap in the rankings, jumping to #6 with a 7-2 record. They have wins against Oklahoma and Texas, currently riding a five-game win streak, outscoring their opponents 200-79. Some may say they are the best “two-loss team,” but their season opener loss to Lousiana Ragin’ Cajuns will be held against them.

Cincinnati has dominated their conference similar to Ohio State, only allowing 20+ twice this season and an average margin of victory of 25 points. They will play #24 Tulsa, and with a dominant performance, will give them three quality wins against ranked opponents, plus a 9-0 record.

Coastal Carolina sits at #12 in the playoff rankings, but #9 in the AP Polls as we enter the final Saturday of the season. They have the record to support why they should be in the College Football Playoffs, but they don’t hold a strong enough strength of schedule to give the committee something to think about.

The College Football Playoff committee seems to be playing it safe, not willing to bet on the little guys. Instead, they are going with the teams with the largest fan bases, aiming to guarantee large ratings since games will be without fans. The Buckeyes are the beneficiaries of this theory, but history is not on their side. The Buckeyes’ last two playoff appearances ended with Clemson’s losses, one of which is a 31-0 rout.

The Buckeyes are likely favorites against the “others” listed above, and rightfully so. They have the talent, depth, and a Heisman hopeful quarterback in Justin Fields. Only a Power 5 conference team could theoretically compete with the Buckeyes, such as Texas A&M, Florida, Georgia, or even Iowa State, but football is not played on paper. If Ohio State does defeat Northwestern this weekend, they will, in fact, “earned” their way in, adding another ranked opponent to their resume, but this piece is not to say they’re not good enough. I stand behind my theory of they don’t belong, and that is because, while the rest of the teams fighting for a playoff spot have played 8-9 game schedules, multiple ranked opponents, and some have been punished in the ranking for canceled games (cue Cincinnatti), Ohio State had the easiest path possible.

Kendall Hilton
Kendall Hilton

BSL Analyst

I started this journey as a writer in 2012, establishing my brand Fan-i Sports, which stands as a multi-media sports brand based out of Baltimore, Maryland. I wrote articles, opinionated columns, developed hip-hop compilation mixtapes, and everything else I could use to communicate in the steady changing (and crowded) world of sports media. From there, I built a small following, which allowed me to turn Fan-i Sports into a legit company in the state of Maryland, leading to my career as a sports journalist.

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