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College GameDay crew talks Ohio State’s Playoff predicament
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College GameDay might be taking in Coastal Carolina-BYU on this Saturday, but the crew was quick to discuss college football’s elephant in the room.
In the early goings of Saturday’s show, the crew discussed Ohio State, as the Buckeyes appear to be the most discussed team in college football right now. The discussion centered around if Ohio State deserves a spot in the top four and a chance at the college football playoff.
As of now, the Buckeyes sit at 4-0. They’ve had two games canceled, including last week’s game at Illinois. At most, Ohio State could end up with seven wins with wins over Michigan State, Michigan and a Big Ten championship game.
With almost half as many wins as their counterparts, some are questioning whether the Buckeyes have enough wins to earn a spot in the top four. That includes ESPN’s David Pollack.
“I’m looking at Ohio State and I’ll telly you why – they’re trying to get to X amount of games,” Pollack said. “Well, they also have to look good because their resume isn’t going to be as long as everyone else’s.”
On top of trying to impress the CFP committee, Ohio State has been hit by COVID-19. That forced last week’s cancellation and has the team down a number of players to go along with head coach Ryan Day.
“Now you might be down a bunch of players and you’re already down Ryan Day and you’re trying to look good?” Pollack said. “That’s not a good combination for success. So, the Buckeyes might be in a tough spot today.”
The Buckeyes face a Spartan team that doesn’t sport an impressive record but has two of the more shocking wins in the Big Ten this season. In Week 2, Michigan State downed Michigan in the Big House and sent the Wolverines into a never-ending tailspin. Last week, Sparty upset previously unbeaten Northwestern.
As GameDay’s Desmond Howard points out, Michigan State might not be playing for the CFP but for its own pride.
“This is a chance for the Spartans to make a statement,” Howard said. “They’re not going to roll over, especially with a win already over Michigan.”
Ohio State was the biggest champion of having Big Ten football back in the fall. The Buckeyes got their wish. However, their wish could end up with an extremely short season and a spot outside of the top four.