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Urban Meyer implies Cincinnati has a better strength of schedule than Ohio State
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Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer has made the case for the Buckeyes to potentially not be included in the College Football Playoff. The team that he thinks might sneak into the ranking? Cincinnati.
Ohio State has played just a single ranked team this year, casting some doubt on their credibility as a true College Football Playoff contender. The Buckeyes were No. 4 in the recent rankings for the College Football Playoff that were released this week.
Meyer spent seven years as the Ohio State head coach, where they went 5-2 in bowl games.
“If Ohio State plays and they don’t have a chance to beat a good team other than Indiana — because you look at Michigan State’s record and Michigan State is not a good team,” Meyer said on Breaking the Huddle with Joel Klatt.. “You look at the Wolverines, they are not a good team. They’re really struggling. They could finish the season with one (impressive) win and you see Alabama has all these wins. Can you tell me Cincinnati has a worse schedule than Ohio State? No.”
Ohio State’s lone win of the season over a ranked team was a 42-35 home win over then No. 9 Indiana. The week before, Ohio State looked sloppy in beating Rutgers 49-27.
The irony of this statement from Meyer is that Cincinnati is playing their first team this season that is currently ranked (No. 24 Tulsa on Saturday). They did play games earlier this season against ranked teams (for example, the Bearcats beat then No. 22 Army in late September) but that came at a time when major conferences such as the Big Ten and the Pac 12 weren’t playing.
So the argument for Cincinnati (8-0), while holding some validity, doesn’t necessarily mean that the Bearcats have played an incredibly daunting schedule either.
This season due to COVID-19 protocols, Ohio State has seen games against Maryland (2-2) and Illinois (2-3) cancelled. Games that, right now, could potentially have helped their candidacy to make the College Football Playoff.