Since then, Ohio State has replaced Tressel with Meyer, and MI is on Carr’s third replacement with Harbaugh.
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While a ranking of No. 5 or No. 6 is no guarantee of a playoff spot, it is a lot easier to imagine a path to the playoff from one of those spots. Now Meyer coaches the Buckeyes, and they’re facing a MI team looking to lock up the East Division’s spot in the Big Ten championship game and remain on the path to the College Football Playoff. Washington is No. 5 this week.
Here’s the catch: As of right now, the committee doesn’t think No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Penn State “look similar”. It would be a boost for the Sooners to beat No. 10 Oklahoma State in Bedlam, but this is where a league title game would help the cause for the Sooners.
“The (Huskies’) strength of schedule is still in question”, Hocutt said. If Ohio State beats MI and Penn State wins, it’s hard to see the Buckeyes not making the playoffs.
MI has home wins over No. 9 Colorado, No. 7 Penn State and No. 6 Wisconsin. As I’ve been saying in CFP Implications for just about a month now, the top teams have resumes that are far superior to those behind them.
That bit of history isn’t lost on Ohio State Coach Urban Meyer, who was a graduate assistant on the Buckeyes staff when Harbaugh made his 1986 prediction. Unless, perhaps, if PSU puts a 59-0 kind of whooping on Wisconsin, the way Ohio State did two years ago.
A Lions’ win over Michigan State Saturday needs to be coupled with an Ohio State victory against Michigan.
Hocutt pretty much dashed that theory, however, when he downplayed the significance of a conference title and head-to-head result.
Here are some thoughts on the fourth set of rankings that were released by committee chair Kirby Hocutt and Co. earlier on Tuesday evening.
“This is college football at its finest and at its peak in my opinion”, former Ohio State linebacker and Fox NFL analyst Chris Spielman. A MI victory could send Ohio State below the Badgers in the rankings, and UW would then have an opportunity to defeat MI next week in the Big Ten Championship Game in order to rise into the top four. His first taste of college coaching was at Ohio State, where he was a graduate assistant in 1986 and ’87 for Earle Bruce, the man who worked for and then replaced Hayes as Buckeyes head coach in 1979. Colorado is also on pace to play Washington in the title game, and either one will lose there or before getting there.
The Sooners and Cowboys will meet in a de facto Big 12 title game on December 2.
The Oklahoma-Oklahoma State victor also remains in the hunt. Ditto for Clemson in the ACC and Washington in the Pac-12.
Penn State would have wins over No. 2 Ohio State and No. 6 Wisconsin.
Penn State keeps climbing up in the rankings.
All of this can become a moot point if Washington loses again.
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The victor in the Big Ten Championship will have a legitimate shot at making it into the College Football Playoff.
