The road for the Buckeyes is clear after USC’s Pac-12 title loss Friday, even though the Big Ten program isn’t playing this weekend.
Utah may have emerged last night as the Pac-12 champion, but the real winner of Friday night is Ohio State.
The Buckeyes path to the College Football Playoff is now clearer than ever after No. 4 USC fell to the Utes 47–24 in the Pac-12 title game. The Trojans now have two losses—both to Utah—and no team with two losses has ever made the field of four.
No. 5 Ohio State has only one loss, which came in The Game against Michigan last weekend. The Buckeyes weren’t particularly close in the matchup against their archrival, but still seemed positioned to benefit after USC’s loss.
While there’s something to be said about the fact that Ohio State has just one loss against one of the other top teams in the country, quite a few analysts have found themselves frustrated with the concept of the Buckeyes benefitting from not playing in their championship game. Because of the loss to Michigan, Ryan Day’s program will spend Saturday at home while the Wolverines take on unranked Purdue in the Big Ten title contest.
With the playoff picture starting to take shape–and Ohio State seemingly in line to earn at least the No. 4 seed–a number of college football media members took to Twitter to express their thoughts about the Buckeyes’ good fortune.