Should Ohio St be in the playoffs?

[Alan]

First I know the committee picks the BEST four teams. But you have Penn St who beat the Buckeyes in regular season play. Also Penn St won their conference, but may be shut out. Bama will be the one seed, non conference winning Buckeyes will probably be the two seed, Clemson will be the three and either Penn St or Washington will get screwed. I'm thinking the Huskies because of sos.

Nothing else it's a good argument for an eight team playoff.

[Tray Dub]

Ohio State will be in and should be in, in my opinion.

[UofDuck]

Ohio State will be in and should be in, in my opinion.

I understand your opinion that tOSU is the better team, but they blew their chance by losing to the team that won the conf. How do you possibly let the eyeball test take precedent over what actually happened on the field - PSU beat Ohio State. Beauty contest is what hurts college football and makes the sport ugly - unless of course you're an SEC fan, then it's what makes college football great. Perceived greatness. How would it go over in the NFL if a committee were to say "yeah you won your conference but we think a different team in your conference is actually better so we're keeping you out of the playoffs and letting them in." Heads would explode.

[fpsduck]

My personal preference is for conference champions first.

They need to expand the playoffs IMO.

[UofDuck]

8 is a great number. All 5 P5 champs, 1 non-P5 and 2 at large. I'd limit it to 2 teams max from each conference. Spread the love.

[Tray Dub]

Ohio State will be in and should be in, in my opinion.

I understand your opinion that tOSU is the better team, but they blew their chance by losing to the team that won the conf. How do you possibly let the eyeball test take precedent over what actually happened on the field - PSU beat Ohio State. Beauty contest is what hurts college football and makes the sport ugly - unless of course you're an SEC fan, then it's what makes college football great. Perceived greatness. How would it go over in the NFL if a committee were to say "yeah you won your conference but we think a different team in your conference is actually better so we're keeping you out of the playoffs and letting them in." Heads would explode.

It's not about the eye test, it's about the win-loss record. Penn State has two losses, Ohio State has one. That's all that matters.

Head-to-head is a great tiebreaker, but this isn't a tie. It's like in the NFL when one team is 11-5 and the next team is 10-6. It doesn't matter if the 10-6 team won both their matchups – they shouldn't have lost more games.

The NFL analogy you use is misleading because there's college football has something that's fundamentally different: the nonconference games. In the NFL, the divisional standings count every game, no matter which division or conference the opponent comes from. In college football, the conference standings ignore the three games teams play against out-of-conference opponents.

This means a team can win their conference without having the best overall record. That fact is EXACTLY why we shouldn't have a hard-and-fast requirement that a team win their conference to make the playoffs. Who wins the conference ignores part of each team's resume, and there's no reason we should follow suit and overlook the nonconference games.

If both teams are coming from major conferences and haven't played wildly different levels of competition, one loss trumps two losses. That's the rule, in my opinion.

[UofDuck]

But who's to say the competition they'd played is so much better? It's so subjective. That's the SEC argument. Set a narrative and then push it until it becomes reality. Perception is reality!

[Tray Dub]

But who's to say their competition they'd played is so much better? It's so subjective. That's the SEC argument. Set a narrative and then push it until it becomes reality. Perception is reality!

I mean even if you don't say Ohio State played better competition and ignore the Oklahoma game, they still lost one less game. That's my whole point.

[Duck24]

This tweet sums up my feelings on the matter because never in a million years would they leave Ohio State out in this scenario. Hell, two years ago, Ohio State leapfrogged in because they won the BIG 10 and TCU/Baylor were punished for not having a championship game. ESPN...I mean the committee...wants teams in that will be a bigger TV draw. If anyone else believes otherwise, they're crazy.

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[UofDuck]

But who's to say their competition they'd played is so much better? It's so subjective. That's the SEC argument. Set a narrative and then push it until it becomes reality. Perception is reality!

I mean even if you don't say Ohio State played better competition and ignore the Oklahoma game, they still lost one less game. That's my whole point.

And that's certainly a valid point.

[fpsduck]

8 is a great number. All 5 P5 champs, 1 non-P5 and 2 at large. I'd limit it to 2 teams max from each conference. Spread the love.

I like this format. Of course, the traditionalists would probably hate it.

[Tray Dub]

8 is a great number. All 5 P5 champs, 1 non-P5 and 2 at large. I'd limit it to 2 teams max from each conference. Spread the love.

I like this format. Of course, the traditionalists would probably hate it.

Yeah that would be an ideal way to do it. I have think player safety people might complain but whatever, it'd be great.

[Duck07]

Umm, yes. Huck the Fuskies, Penn State should be in.

[pezsez1]

Conference champions should be in. If Ohio State made it, then Penn State should be in there too. That would have made sense.

It makes no sense to let tOSU in, but then leave out Penn State, but then let in an unrelated conference champion.

[dthomas=ddixon]

Sets a dangerous precedent. On-field results should always be the #1 factor. I mean, it's kind of ridiculous that it's even a discussion.