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ESPN analyst Desmond Howard ‘hesitant’ on Ohio State landing in College Football Playoff
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With the B1G reinstating a fall football season in 2020, Ohio State has been considered a lock for one of the four College Football Playoff spots almost unanimously. But ESPN’s Desmond Howard is a little hesitant on the Buckeyes’ chances.
Howard’s concern doesn’t stem from the amount of talent in Columbus, or even any of the opponents on the schedule. Instead, he’s not so sure that Ohio State will play enough games as teams from the Big 12, ACC or SEC to work its way into consideration.
On Wednesday’s edition of Get Up on ESPN, Howard said he likes the Buckeyes to get one of the spots in the Playoff, but it’s not a guarantee.
“As we sit here today, I’d say Alabama, Clemson and then I would go Ohio State, but I’m a little hesitant and I’ll tell you why, and I’d go Oklahoma,” Howard said. “I picked Oklahoma State earlier but their quarterback Spencer Sanders got here and at Oklahoma they have a young quarterback named Spencer Rattler who’s playing at a high level. But he’s trying to do something in that league that hasn’t been done since 2007, which is a redshirt freshman lead his team to a Big 12 championship. That year it was done by Sam Bradford of the Oklahoma Sooners. But I’ll go with those four teams.
“Ohio State I was hesitant about simply because if you look at the landscape of college football right now with these games being postponed or cancelled, the Big Ten didn’t leave any margin for error. They got eight games in eight weeks, they have to get all those games in. I’m not sure if they’re all going to play a complete eight game schedule.”
The B1G has implemented a nine-game schedule that will be played in consecutive weeks. There are no off weeks and Champions Week will be held on Dec. 19, just one day before the selection committee makes its final decision on the four College Football Playoff teams.
If a game is canceled in the B1G, it won’t be made up in time to be considered by the committee. Playing any fewer than nine games could hurt Ohio State’s title hopes, especially if one of the games affected is against Penn State or Michigan — the only two ranked opponents on the schedule.
We’ve already seen a number of college football games postponed or canceled this year due to COVID-19 concerns. If it happens to Ohio State, it could be costly in the national championship picture.
Dustin grew up in the heart of Big Ten country and has been in sports media since 2010. He has been covering Big Ten football since 2014. You can follow him on Twitter: @SchutteCFB