Why Ohio State Shouldn’t Be In The College Football Playoff
*This is an opinion article*
I have heard the same old argument now for the last week: Ohio State is one of the 4 best teams in the country.
Ohio State should be in the college football playoff because...fill in the blank with whatever excuse you'd like to use. I have even heard, to my surprise, that Alabama fans don't want Ohio State in the playoff because Alabama is scared of them. What?
Today, I want to bring all of you back to reality. I know 2020 has been a year of confusion between the overwhelming cases of Covid-19, parents having to become teachers, not being able to go outside and deciding whether or not it is safe to send your kids to school. Fear not my sports friends, I will give you 3 reasons why Ohio State shouldn't be anywhere near the college football playoff when the season ends.
1. The college football playoff committee has ZERO idea what they are looking for in a team- I want to share this quote with you from the chair of the CFP committee Gary Barta. "A lot of the discussion about the number of games a team plays," Barta said. "“t’s not anybody’s fault, but trying to evaluate a team that has four games played versus a team that has seven, eight or nine games played is definitely a problem. The more games a team brings to the committee, the more we have to evaluate.”
If you're reading that the way I am, this statement should make you frustrated. I want to be balanced when I write this article. I understand that the pandemic changes things and makes it difficult to make decisions. However, it's the ending statement that makes fans crazy. Why should an Ohio State team that has 5 (or less potentially depending on next week) have any shot in this final 4?
2. The Big 10 is going to change their policy to make sure Ohio State gets in- I have asked this before and I'll ask it again, doesn't that sound stupid to anyone else? The Big 10 is ultimately why this is happening in the first place. They decided to play, then not play, then play again. If they would have made a smart and conscientious decision to play and work out situations like we are in now, maybe I would be singing a different tune. Also, any change in the policy for the Big 10 would have to be voted on by 14 athletic directors and I just don't see how they can approve this with 4 games and no Big 10 championship (provided they don't make it or win it)
3. The "eye-test" tells me all I need to know- Let's look at this one closely (no pun intended) for what it is. You want to tell me that Ohio State, who barely held on against #12 ranked Indiana a few weeks ago, is one of the four best in the country?
Let me present this argument to you. What if this was another school who was bad in the same situation? What if Arkansas for example was in this situation. What if I told you that Arkansas was 4-0, but three of its wins came against teams that aren’t going to finish with a winning record and have gone a combined 4-13 overall so far? The other win was against Florida by seven in a wild shootout – it was a win, but the quarterback was outplayed, giving up three interceptions.
Is it because of the talent level? LSU has NFL talent. So does Miami, Auburn, Texas A&M, Florida, and North Carolina. Ohio State might have more, but that’s not supposed to mean anything in the College Football Playoff discussion. So this "eye test" people talk about, shouldn't matter in the landscape of this decision.
The bottom line is simple, you're putting Ohio State in because of the name. It's money in your pocket because you've lost money this season already. Think about it. Would you rather watch Ohio State play Clemson, or Cincinnati play Clemson? Obviously you're going to answer that with Ohio State and Clemson. However, this decision shouldn't have anything to do at all with a name or financial gain.
Ohio State should not be anywhere near the final four of the college football playoff. If they are, then you might as well go back to the BCS system.
More From Tide 100.9
