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Playoff lock? GameDay crew talks about Ohio State’s chances to play for national championship
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For the second consecutive week, College GameDay has made a top at a non-Power 5 matchup. And for the second consecutive week, the crew can’t stop talking about one Power 5 team individually.
If you guessed, Ohio State, you are correct. The Buckeyes, and their chance to play in the Big Ten Championship Game despite only playing five games continues to be the conversation that never sleeps, especially so for the GameDay crew.
If you’re unfamiliar, Ohio State is off this week after its game against Michigan was canceled due to COVID. That left the Buckeyes at 5-0. Under previous Big Ten rules, Ohio State would’ve been left out of the Big Ten Championship Game because the team failed to play at least six games. This week, the conference changed course on the six-game rule, causing many to opine over the change.
While the crew already did that, they discussed the rule change’s impact on the College Football Playoff. There are plenty of scenarios to discuss surrounding what happens next week with the conference championship games.
“I think what happens in Atlanta and what happens in Charlotte dictates what happens with Ohio State,” Kirk Herbstreit said. “If Ohio State beats Northwestern and wins the B1G championship, I think Ohio State needs to become huge Alabama fans. They need to cheer for Alabama to beat Georgia and knock Florida out. If that happens and they’re 6-0 and B1G champs, whether you like it or not, they’re gonna be in the Playoff, in my opinion.
“Where it gets tricky, in my opinion, is if Clemson beats Notre Dame and Florida upsets Alabama. I think Ohio State is out.”
The speculation continues as Desmond Howard seemed to agree with Herbie.
“I think that’s the only scenario that I see Ohio State not making the Final Four,” Howard said. “If Alabama loses, Florida is in. They’re not gonna drop Alabama beyond NO. 4. We’ll see what happens with Notre Dame and Clemson.”
Speaking of the Tigers, Howard brought up the team’s head coach and certain comments about the Buckeyes.
“Dabo Swinney had an interesting comment,” Howard said. “His quote was ‘Listen, this team is playing six games and everyone else is playing 11 games.’ He said it’s like you need 120 hours for a business degree but yet these folks only need 60 hours for a business degree. So Dabo Swinney is not board with this Ohio State situation.”
Dabo never fails to at least have an interesting opinion if anything. David Pollack pointed to a similar fact compared to what Swinney had to say.
“When you go to Ohio State, the interesting thing is, they’ve got a less wear and tear on their bodies,” Pollack said. “A lot less injuries. A lot less things they’ve had to deal with.”
If you’re looking for more Ohio State talk, I wouldn’t fret. This seems just like the the tip of the iceberg of Ohio State 2020 talk.