We are not out yet!! (Okay, now we are....)

[woofermazing]

Ohio State is on the bubble. We need to root for fewer teams to be "in" and fewer teams to be "on the bubble". If there's 3 or fewer "in" teams, obviously they drop to the bubble teams.
I think that if Clemson wins, they're in, and NC is out. If NC wins, they both fall to the bubble. They'd both be 12-1. NC would be a conference champion, putting them above Ohio State. But their schedule (I hear they have 2 wins over FCS teams, and I don't know who they lost to) drop them down a little. Clemson, being 12-1, might also be above Ohio State, at 11-1.
Obviously, Oklahoma is in.
Obviously, Big Ten champion is in. If Iowa wins, I think Michigan State is out. But if Michigan State wins, Iowa, at 12-1, remains on the bubble. I'm guessing they'd be below Ohio State, but I don't like the idea of all these bubble teams. I think I need to root for Iowa.
If Stanford wins, they're on the bubble. Above Ohio State, maybe? 2-loss conference champion vs. 1-loss non-champion. If USC wins, Stanford is out.
If Alabama wins, of course they're in and all this bubble talk is moot. But if Florida wins, Bama is a 2-loss non-champ. I don't see how a 2-loss non-champ is in over a 1-loss non-champ. Except, of course, SEC! SEC! SEC! Does Florida have 2 losses or 3? If they have 3 then they're already out. If they have 2, and they beat Bama, they're on the bubble and may be in over Ohio State.

So yeah - I agree. The best shot Ohio State has is if Alabama loses. But there's a slight chance we get in if Clemson loses, but I don't like those chances much. I'll be rooting for Iowa, Clemson, Florida, and USC.

It may not be in their official guidelines, but us not having played Iowa will help our case should Iowa win. The committee will do their best to avoid an MSU-OSU rematch unless there are no other bubble candidates.

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

Only chance is with a UNC win and we would probably need that to be a narrow or luck win. Everything else is secondary to that. Personally I consider there being a zero chance of Florida beating Bama. I consider Bama and OU as being locks along with the Big 10 champ.

If Iowa wins I guess that would put Sparty in contention with OSU as a one losss team and they did beat us.....but I think the way they beat us and the way they beat TTUN while we hammered them would put us over the top.

If UNC pulls the upset then it would be nice to have USC beat Stanford but it might not be absolutley necessary. A USC win guaruntees the Pac 12 getting shut out though.

A UNC win is absolutely paramount and it really needs to be viewed as a narrow/luck win. If that happens then OSU has a very legit shot. One factor in that will be how strong the Big 10 is in the rankings. Funny to think how quickly the perception of the Big would change if that happened. From being a liability to a strength in a very short time.

It all boils down to a narrow UNC win in my eyes.

Disagree. The B1G and ACC championship games are essentially quarterfinal/play-in games. The winners move onto the next round robin....am I wrong, Dude! The SEC CG would have been the same had Florida not lost (thank you FSU). Alabama losing is the only avenue open to Ohio State getting in, and then we need Stanford to lose or at least look really crappy winning.

 

[osucollegebuck]

Disagree. The B1G and ACC championship games are essentially quarterfinal/play-in games. The winners move onto the next round robin....am I wrong, Dude! The SEC CG would have been the same had Florida not lost (thank you FSU). Alabama losing is the only avenue open to Ohio State getting in, and then we need Stanford to lose or at least look really crappy winning.

^^^THIS!!!

The committee highly values conference championships and UNC will absolutely be in if they win especially if Clemson stays at #1. What is the likely rankings on Tuesday the Bucks @ 6 and UNC @ 8? It s a no-brainer to advance them.

 

[LostLassie]

It may not be in their official guidelines, but us not having played Iowa will help our case should Iowa win. The committee will do their best to avoid an MSU-OSU rematch unless there are no other bubble candidates.

I'm back and forth with which outcome is better for us. If MSU loses to Iowa, doesn't that mean our loss to them is to a "lesser" team, and therefore a so-called worse loss? I get it that MSU winning means they'd have to rank us up there with a team that already beat us. Seems tricky both ways.

My biggest concern in terms of the Committee evaluating tOSU is that the Real tOSU didn't show up until this weekend. That was the team I've been waiting to see all season. One could legitimately argue that, given the chance, they don't know which team will show up next: the one that played every game before November 28th, or Saturday's team. Most of us have a pretty good guess what made the difference, but a non-fan might take the position of the then vs. now question, ala the line often used in courtroom dramas against an inconsistent witness: were you lying then, or are you lying now? Were you the real tOSU then, or are you the real tOSU now? The tsun game is impressive, but an awfully small, late in the day, sample.

Anyway, given the justifiable expectations we had for this team, although I'm delighted with Saturday's result, there will always be the gnawing question for me about this year: You couldn't figure out what was going south with this team and fix it one lousy week earlier? Hell, I'd settle for you figuring it out at half-time on the 21st. Glad lots of you are able to be over it, but I'm having a hard time with the what-might-have-beens, especially after the performance we saw in the Great Pee Bowl.

 

[Crump's brother]

^^^THIS!!!

The committee highly values conference championships and UNC will absolutely be in if they win especially if Clemson stays at #1. What is the likely rankings on Tuesday the Bucks @ 6 and UNC @ 8? It s a no-brainer to advance them.

If that happens, they value conference championships over having the best four teams. I've seen UNC and they are not as good as the Buckeyes or a host of other one loss teams.

 

[ShowMeBuck]

It's probably true that the ACC chamnpionship game is an automatic invite but if both teams look average and UNC gets the win it's hard for anyone to convince me they are a better team than tOSU. The ACC is the weakest P5 conference by far IMO.

 

[Bestbuck36]

I want an SEC team in the bowl game. A 2 or 3 loss Stanford isnt going to cut it in my eyes. I'd rather play 2 loss Baylor/TCU than that one. OSU vs one of the SEC teams would be fun to watch but everything else other than playoff right now is going to feel really hollow.

 

[bukIpower]

I'm at peace with whatever happens. Right now, OSU is projected to play a team like Houston...and I won't lie, that's disappointing as hell of an outcome a year after beating #1 and #2 en route to a national championship.

But at the end of the day you can't be mad at anybody other than ourselves. Beating Michigan the way they did on Saturday was so satisfying, but reality set in a couple days later. "Too little, too late" is the mantra I will remember for this season, not necessarily in a bitter way but in a way that we'll wonder what could have been. The top 4 look relatively weak to me- I don't know, Clemson is your gold star undefeated squad? Eh. Ohio State is easily one of the top four teams in the country and could/would beat any of those teams that are in currently. Sadly, you still have to bring it every week and you can't just take a week off vs the first tough team you play in the second to last week of the season just because you don't feel like playing in the rain.

Anyways, just a few random thoughts. Disappointed, but can't complain too much. I'll root for mayhem next weekend, as our hopes are on life support but they do technically still have a shot. Who knows what this committee will do, after all it's only the second year of it. Maybe we will get lucky.

Same here... only issue I have is most likely 3 of the top 4 teams will have one loss and at that point it's about who's better than who. If you want to argue MSU over OSU I get that. I don't get a 2 loss stanford, UNC who played two FCS teams or Oklahoma for that matter who didn't play a championship game and has a worse loss.

We lost by a last second field goal in the rain to IMO a playoff participant after next week. Oklahoma lost going away to a horrible Texas team. I get they've been playing better as of late but sorry if beating Baylor/TCU without their QBS does not impress me

 

[bukIpower]

I want an SEC team in the bowl game. A 2 or 3 loss Stanford isnt going to cut it in my eyes. I'd rather play 2 loss Baylor/TCU than that one. OSU vs one of the SEC teams would be fun to watch but everything else other than playoff right now is going to feel really hollow.

I don't want any part of the SEC if they ain't top 10. Won't get squat for recognition if we play a close game against Florida or some bull shit.

Give me Tree if we don't get in...

 

[ORD_Buckeye]

I'd love to play a soft no-defense team like Baylor and kick Briles' teeth in. After that, the domers in Glendale or Stanford in the Rose Bowl would be my choices.

 

[UpNorth_Buckeye]

^^^THIS!!!

The committee highly values conference championships and UNC will absolutely be in if they win especially if Clemson stays at #1. What is the likely rankings on Tuesday the Bucks @ 6 and UNC @ 8? It s a no-brainer to advance them.

I don't think it's a slam dunk for UNC. Their OOC schedule may come to bite them in the ass. And hard (lost to 3-9 South Carolina and beat TWO FCS teams). Additionally, the ACC is fairly weak. I'm not saying they wouldn't jump OSU. But it's not a given. I think it depends on how the game looks. If they dominate Clemson, they're in. If they win a close one, I think it's a toss up with osu.

Also, fyi they will probably be 9, maybe 10. They were behind fsu last week and fsu had a much better week, so they won't jump them this week. And I could see them possibly being behind ND.

 

[UpNorth_Buckeye]

I don't think it's a slam dunk for UNC. Their OOC schedule may come to bite them in the ass. And hard (lost to 3-9 South Carolina and beat TWO FCS teams). Additionally, the ACC is fairly weak. I'm not saying they wouldn't jump OSU. But it's not a given. I think it depends on how the game looks. If they dominate Clemson, they're in. If they win a close one, I think it's a toss up with osu.

Also, fyi they will probably be 9, maybe 10. They were behind fsu last week and fsu had a much better week, so they won't jump them this week. And I could see them possibly being behind ND.

Wow. I also just took at a look at their schedule in general, and my goodness. Talk about horrendous. They don't have a single win against a team in the top FORTY of the AP (top 25 plus 14 teams receiving votes). Their best win was either 8-4 Miami or 8-4 Pitt.....LOLOLOL.

 

[Crump's brother]

Treon Harris will have more fans in Columbus than he does in Gainesville versus Bama.

 

[LostLassie]

I think the real "tell" for the committee's intention toward tOSU will be tomorrow, if they place them at least 6th. Anything less will be a pretty clear statement that they don't think the team has earned it this year, and they're out no matter what. So before chaos even gets a chance to figure in, it's about whether the people behind the closed door believe, or don't.

 

[zincfinger]

If that happens, they value conference championships over having the best four teams...

Was that ever in question? You can count on there being teams outside the playoff every year that would be favored on a neutral field against one or more playoff participants.