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Joel Klatt delivers wild but possible scenario for final Big Ten standings
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Joel Klatt isn’t necessarily delivering bad news for the group of Big Ten teams vying for the conference title and/or a spot in the College Football Playoff. He’s just serving notice that complete chaos could reign supreme come December when it’s time for the Big Ten Championship Game and the 12-team Playoff field to be picked.
The FOX college football analyst was being real during his podcast on Wednesday, and the twisted reality is that No. 1 Oregon, No. 3 Penn State and No. 13 Indiana could all go undefeated in 2024, but there’s one cruel caveat — they all play No. 4 Ohio State.
The Ducks already beat the Buckeyes in a classic Week 7 showdown in Eugene, but the Nittany Lions and Hoosiers still have Ohio State on their schedule down the stretch, with the Buckeyes visiting Penn State on Nov. 2 and hosting Indiana on Nov. 23. Depending on the results of those 2 games, things could get really interesting or just plain crazy, which was Klatt’s point.
Klatt dives into the possible tiebreakers yielding an Oregon-Penn State Big Ten title game, but that a 12-0 Indiana team would still sneak into the Playoff as an at-large team.
“Wild but possible,” said Klatt about Oregon, Penn State and Indiana not playing each other this season, causing chaos. “Wait, hold on a second. Those three teams don’t play each other in the Big Ten. We got to understand that there is one common opponent and that’s Ohio State.
“Plenty can happen in the next six weeks. If they all go undefeated, Ohio State would be on the outside (looking in). These wild-but-possible (scenarios) are great. I think college football is incredible. If you think the expanded Playoff and the expanded conferences have been bad for college football, you’re crazy.”