Surprising to some, unsurprising to others, the Buckeyes will not be taking part in the College Football Playoff this season.
Ultimately, the committee could not reconcile Ohio State’s loss to Iowa, and so when the playoff pairings were announced Sunday afternoon, it was Alabama in the No. 4 seed that OSU was vying for, and now the Buckeyes will wait to find out their bowl destination later in the day.
Despite securing a Big Ten title Saturday night over the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers, it was OSU’s 55-24 loss at Iowa that just couldn’t be overcome. Perhaps a more impressive win over the Badgers could have put the Buckeyes in, but it just didn’t happen.
“The selection committee just favors Alabama’s full body of work over Ohio State,” selection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said on ESPN after the announcement. “Alabama was clearly the No. 4-ranked team in the country.”
Hocutt said they viewed Alabama’s body of work as better than Ohio State’s throughout the season.
The pairings will feature No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 Alabama and No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Georgia.
The Buckeyes are still expected to take part in one of the New Year’s Six bowl games, which will be announced later in the day.
Ohio State got in last year because of their quality wins (top 15 wins). Alabama didn’t have any of those this year. Apparently Alabama won the eye test, I just don’t understand how beating A&M (who loss to UCLA) by 8, Miss St by 7 late, and beating LSU by 14 (who lost to Troy) passes the eye test. Anyway, ESPN got what they lobbied for all week. Hopefully for their sake they understand the implications of having 3 teams from 1 sector of country and leaving out legitimate contenders from the Midwest and West coast. Ratings will be great down south but will that be enough to make up for the disinterest just about everywhere else? Could be more layoffs coming at ESPN.
We don’t deserve to be in the playoff PERIOD – not saying Bama deserved it either. Let’s look at our records in out of conference big games lately. Lost 31-0 to Clemson in playoff last year and lost to Oklahoma 31-16 early this season … top it off with the 55-24 debacle at Iowa. Not exactly strong branding to impress the playoff committee.
Just take care of business and beat USC at the Cotton Bowl. Go Bucks!
NCAA playoff committee delegitimized itself falling prey to the influence peddling we all thought to be rid of from the previous bcs system. Apparently games you play no longer matter and it is once again back to a beauty contest where teams are added not based on their performance but on the “look test”.
I’m really finding it hard to ignore the rife corruption and the lack of any integrity in the sport all together. And while I understand it’s been the elephant in the living room for many years, I am finding it impossible to ignore anymore.
Ohio State probably would not have won the title this year. I don’t think there is much doubt. But they played and won the games to deserve a shot. What does it tell the kids when they play their guts out only to be left out because of a “look test”? It says your season don’t matter your effert doesn’t matter and your hard work doesn’t matter because we can just arbitrarily ignore your accomplishments because ESPN told us so.
I think I might be done with college football all together. I see the elephant in my living room too clearly. Thank you playoff committee. With calmness I can choose to free myself from your deeply corrupt sport and find something less corrupt like professional boxing.i hear Don King is a hallmark for honesty and integrity compared to this. At least they award fighters for in the ring performances and not based on who looks good during weigh ins.
I think the committee was clear. No matter who you are, your league, your schedule, or your good wins, you cannot give up 55 pts to anyone (losing by 4+ touchdowns) and expect to play for the national championship. It’s not going to happen. Good luck to the Bucks in the Cotton Bowl. The Last visit to Dallas worked out pretty well.
One heck of a team. One heck of a season. Beat TTUN. B1G Champs. Playing USC in New Years Day Bowl. One costly slip up. Got slaughtered by an unranked team in a second loss or would be in the National Championship Playoffs. Whiners quit whining. Team hold your head high.
#1 Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, lesson learned. #2 Last time in playoffs Clemson 31 OSU 0
#3 Needed to thrash Wisconsin, Bucks had their foot on the throat of the Badgers and didn’t finish the job, because of the costly mistakes of the offense letting the Badgers stay in the game (2 bad interceptions, drop touchdown pass and two over thrown touch down passes, plus a fumble.) Defense played great ! So why is anyone surprised the Buckeyes are not in the playoffs ? Big 10 Champs!
The Meyer conundrum is a very interesting. He get’s great recruiting classes, but his only National Championship at Ohio State was a fluke. A 3rd string quarterback inherited from Tressel who he clearly didn’t like and a running back, who was the best in college football and is now the best in the NFL who he was forced to use more than he wanted to. The announcers are calling his quarterback runs now, in the broadcast booth. Is there anyone in the world who doesn’t know they are coming? He has become predictable. That used to be his biggest fear.
HIs problem is that he equates unconventional with unpredictable. It’s quite possible to be predictably unconventional.
He had great teams, in and 2016 and 2017, but with no injuries, he was able to run the show according to his own preferences. Clearly, he can’t make the most out of the talent he recruits.
The only thing stopping me from calling for his resignation would be, we could end up with a lot worse. It’s clear to me even if no one else see’s it that way, he coaches favourites. he benched Cardale Jones for winning ugly, he stuck with J.T Barrett for losing even more ugly. My preferences would be winning ugly not losing ugly. And J.T quarterbacked some ugly loses.
With J.T Barrett, he was inspirational in that he played over his head. His work ethic helped him over achieve. That us a great attribute. Cardale Jones didn’t take anything seriously until he had too. Then he showed potential way beyond what J.T Barrett showed. But he was frustrating because even though he had a higher ceiling when motivated, his day to day just wasn’t that good.
IN the end, they both should have played. Cardale when Barrett wasn’t getting it done. Just as against Wisconsin, Haskins should have been brought in when J.T. was throwing away opportunities. I think Meyer refuses to just win, because he is so busy promoting his world view, that his favourite people as persons are the the only ones who should play regardless of who gives you the best chance to win. During his national Championship against us, at Florida he played two quarterbacks. It killed us. Since then he’s become some kind of fan of his players, where the feelings of the guys he like counts and the rest of the team’s doesn’t. I think it started with Tebow. And it’s the conflict with his failing judgement that causes him so much stress. He is unable to correctly evaluate what’s right, he just leans of players like J.T asking them to do things they can’t go, rather than going to the guys who can.
For me personally, 6 years of Meyer means I’m done. I’ve seen enough to know that in his current mindset, it doesn’t matter how much talent he has, he can blow it. I’m going to go back to watching Penn State, Michigan State, and Michigan, and finding better things to do with my other Saturdays.
I feel Meyers is too good to let go, but loses to many big games to keep.
Who am I kidding, I’ll be right back next year to see if Haskins can get it done, although I fear that Tate Martel will be anointed the next J.T Barrett, and the nonsense will start all over again.
55-24 they didn’t deserve it.Clemson would have put it on Bucks again and I love the Bucks!Good luck in bowl game they will be back in playoffs next year
WRONG. The criteria is……who are the 4 best teams AT THE END OF THE SEASON, not the middle of the season. Alachumpa struggled against a lousy LSU team, they struggled against an equally lousy Miss State team. They beat a REALLY bad FCS team in Mercer (5 – 6 season for them) and got their asses handed to them by Auburn.
Alabama is NOT a good team, and they are NOT playoff caliber. The argument should have been between USC and Ohio State. Both teams played their best ball to close out the season and both won the respective conference titles. Alachumpa finished 3rd in their own weak conference.
Say what you will, but despite the inconsistent play this season, I am darn proud oft this team, and if we avoid any early departures from the team I can’t wait for next season. This team responded to each challenge and the secondary has been lights out down the stretch. Besides either team, i.e. OSU or Alabama, could have been selected and it would have made sense. More importantly, as someone long ago wrote, if every day were a holiday then to sport would be as tedious as to work. Go Buckeyes.
Lee Corso was right. And everyone is forgetting what he said. You have to think about how people work. Everyone reading this post avoids being embarrassed. It’s human nature. Corso said if it comes down to Alabama and Ohio State, Alabama is in. Why? Ohio State embarrassed the committee last year when they did not show up against Clemson. First and foremost, they were not going to risk THAT again. It is this same factor than made the Iowa loss, by 31 points no less, the most crucial factor for Ohio State in the committee’s deliberations this year. Prepare yourself. In future years, a team will get in that had a bad loss. They will get in because they did not have a bad playoff loss the previous year. The committee will say they made up for the bad loss. You will say it is unfair. You will argue the numbers. No one will listen to you. If that day comes, remember, this is happening this year because of the human factor. If it doesn’t happen this way in a similar situation in the future, it will be because of a different human factor. Listen to the Lee Corso. Don’t dismiss him because he is an old man. Old men learn this important lesson: Life’s doings are not driven by information and it’s numbers; Life is shaped by human factors and it’s people.
If they are basing this on LAST years results, they are CLEARLY as bad, and even worse than the BCS. Last year has NOTHING to do with this year. That was something the fraud of a playoff committee harped on when this whole playoff formula was proposed. IF they have a bias based on a FORMER team, they are already a failed system.
and Kirk Herbstreit has become horrible in his analysis over the last couple years….too much lame espn/sec bias love…yikes
Just what every college football fan outside of respective fanbases wanted to see: Clemson v. Alabama III. Really CFP committee? I guess strength of schedule is the new loophole since they were ready to put Wisc or Bama in despite limited play of ranked teams. PLEASE give us an 8 team playoff with each of power 5 conference champs and 3 other deserving teams. Wanted OK v. Ohio State rematch.
If I’m CEO Meyer I get together with the team and reject any Bowl bid.
And reject the bowl practices that the young players need — including the QBs? Nope.
I think you’re 100% wrong on this Tony. The only players who need those practices are incoming freshmen. Winter conditioning and training is all what is going to be a veteran returning teams needs to prepare for Spring ball and next season.
The Nation is getting treated to what will prove to be the lowest watched playoff games since it started. That’s guaranteed. The Buckeyes got left out of 2015 for the exact same “excuses” they used to shove an average at best Alabama team in this year. I thought last year they got it exactly wrong, and this year they have got it exactly wrong.
The Big 10 and the Pac 12 should boycott this post season.
Yeah James lets take our ball and go home so no one can play because we are bigger than college football! Give me a break. You can argue for either team and the Big Ten record in the last 2 playoff games is not too good, 69-0. Nick Saban always has Alabama show up in the big games so you can see the committee took the less risky selection.
It will be nice for our seniors to have a final memory with their teammates and coaches against a great rival in USC, and it will be nice for our young players to have numerous practices. OSU vs USC now that is football tradition and a game I am very much looking forward to watching.
I think Clemson and Oklahoma are the 2 best teams in the country, but we will see. I have written a long time ago that college players play too many games so just go to a 10 game season with hopefully 10 conference games and then select 16 teams for the playoffs and use the bowl games for the playoff games, and if demand is there let some teams that played 10 games but did not make the playoffs have a bowl game for total of 11 game season. Keep season length the same so students can have several weeks off while in classes and play playoff games weekly during month of Dec. and early Jan.
Go Bucks beat the Trojans!
Yeah, lets kneel down and lick the crumbs off the floor. The Buckeyes seniors have what they set out for…………a conference championship, and that REALLY IS what their memories should be. Not some ridiculous and MEANINGLESS participation trophy game, where the ONLY thing at risk is their health for a potential career at the next level. Sorry, you are trying to put sugar on a habanero.
In the not so subtle give a crap about the SEC…….phuck alabama, and the entire FRAUD of a playoff system, complete with its “southern school majority committee. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least to learn that Gene Smith turned his back on the Buckeyes on that committee. He’s a worthless coward.
It was the big win over Mercer that cemented it.
The bowl selection committee is rigged. What a surprise that ESPN’s favorite conference gets two teams–one average at best who played literally no one–in a very flawed selection process. The entire committee should have its collective heads examined.
Revenue is the ONLY thing that is going to force change in the status quo of how personal committee bias gets conducted. They allow a false narrative of talking heads to dictate their fake process. Last year their bias favored Ohio State and they were dead on 100% wrong. The same bias carries over this year based ENTIRELY, regardless of what media types say to the contrary, of media perception over actual criteria.
What do I mean by that? Alabama isn’t even the second best team in their own conference, so WHY are they in the CFB playoffs ahead of the team who IS the second best team in their own conference, who also happened to beat them rather convincingly to close out the regular season. If a second team from the SEC should have received ANY consideration at all, it was Auburn. They beat the crap out of Alabama.
The committee was wrong last year when they bumped Ohio State in over Penn State. They did it based on “perception” not cold hard facts. Penn State beat Ohio State head to head and they won the OUTRIGHT Big 10 title. The committee shunned Penn State because of a bias that favored Ohio State.
What the CFP committee has proven is that they are even more pathetic than the silliness of the BCS and all of the bias centered on those decisions.
The CFB selection committee is pathetically operated in an even worse version of the BCS system. And to think……………..their are clowns out their who actually think the playoff should be expanded even more. ROTFLMAO. Yeah, lets turn a clown show process into an even bigger clown show process!
The coaches at Ohio State and USC, both who deserved and EARNED the right to be in the playoffs this year ahead of the joke in Alabama should simply call and end to the season RIGHT NOW and raise National Champion banners for 2017. It’s mythical………but so too is the BS fake playoff system, so it would be every bit as legitimate.
there, not their….sorry about that.
They bumped PSU for OSU on perception and not cold hard facts? LOL! The cold, hard facts is that OSU was a better team, at least to anybody paying attention. PSU beat us fair and square but we dominated and lost with a fluky string of events. The committee got that right last year just like they probably did this year. Alabama isn’t going to get beat down in the playoffs and I certainly can’t say the same for us.
Makes perfect sense to me. We are too inconsistent, particularly at the QB position. And now, looking back with 20/20 vision, it wasn’t Ed Warriner or Tim Beck who couldn’t coach, it was J.T. Barrett and by extension, Urban Meyer. He stubbornly decided he was going to stick with J.T. as his qb no matter how many touchdowns he over threw or under threw, even though a much better passer was what the team needed to be great and he had that in Dwayne Haskins. Personally I can’t wait until J.T. plays his final game and we can move on, not because I don’t like him but to hopefully see competent passing from our qb’s. Last night was typical of our last few seasons, a fantastic play followed by a horrid play, Inconsistent is the only word for it.
Thanks for attacking someone who has given five years of his life to OSU. He helped to win games we probably would have lost with other QBs. Love the team, hate the “fans”.
Bucknaked, you hit the nail right on the head. I too am glad to see JT leave the system. The last two seasons have been exhausting with him at the helm. Inconsistency has been the game plan for far too long.
Get used to it. Urban isn’t the same coach he was at Florida, and if it saves his life I’m just fine with that. This program isn’t the same since Tom Herman left. Having said that, with great recruiting classes there can still be a national championship in the near future if the stars align…
We all knew, when the committee would only give an undefeated Wisconsin the #4 seed, and only drop Alabama to #5, that OSU wasn’t getting in. No way, no chance. This is their dream, to put 2 SEC teams in the playoffs (again!) and screw over the other conferences. So sick of this crap already.
They’ve got to be kidding right? Must have been a Saturday Night Live stunt. There is absolutely no way AL overall strength of schedule, was anywhere near OSU, and someone said that OSU played UNLV which is equivalent to AL playing Mercer. I beg your pardon. Not even close. Supposed to be the best 4 teams at the end of the season, not the entire body of work. Which are the best performing teams at the end of the season. Without a doubt OSU is one of those teams. In fact I’d venture to say, WI could beat AL with the team AL presently has with the injuries at linebacker. In my opinion, ridiculous logic, and there will be no interest in watching these teams. BTW, it just strikes me, it will most likely be USC vs OSU in some bowl somewhere.
The irony is palpable. Urban’s nearly slobbery devotion to a less-than-100% QB has cost him the opportunity to try for another championship. JT’s poor showing in the CCG cost the Buckeyes their one shot. And make no mistake, Wisconsin was ripe for a committee-swaying drubbing.
Clearly the committee weighed Alabama’s win over Mercer
Simple. Don’t lose more that one game and if you lose don’t lose by 31 points.
It was good to come back and win out after that Iowa loss but this team just never stopped making silly mistakes and JT never delivered the goods consistently. He is a great buckeye but to be up there, more was needed. Big ten champs. I will take that.
Didn’t work that way in 2015 for the Buckeyes who NEVER lost with any time remaining on the clock except once. Alabama in over Ohio State this year makes no sense based on their own criteria. They could have made a MUCH better case in putting USC in over State this year, but, Alabama’s schedule this year IS and REMAINS a tire fire.
Right. don’t forget buckeyes got their bacon smoked last year. 31-zip bacon smoking. that is traumatic.
If you’re on the committee, do you want the questions if that happens 2 years in a row? Not me. And there’s real chance it happens again. Bucks have been too inconsistent this year. Love em, but it’s been a seesaw ride.
Take the BIG10 Championship. Cream the under qualifiied bowl opponent and smoke someone else”s bacon in 2018!
The future is bright!
Who cares..Last year is NOT supposed to have any bearing on the current year according to the committee. If they ARE using last year as a point of reference they are a failure to their own pretense of selecting who are the CURRENT 4 best teams, and they should be removed removed from the committee and the committee subsequently made to adhere to the mandate THEY initially said they would follow. In their process, last year never happened. If they apply last year, end the facade of a playoff and return to the simple Bowl structure PRE BCS.
I have to say, OSU might have not deserved a playoff spot because of what happened in Iowa. However, Alabama did not deserve the spot either with no championship and a worse SOS. If losses count for something, then why is Wisconsin or UCF not in the discussion? It sounded like the playoff committee made up their mind about OSU/Alabama before the games were played (watch the interview with the chairman). Of their own 5 criteria, OSU was ahead on 2 (championships won and SOS). 2 criteria were N/A (common opponents and margin of victory over like opponents). The final criteria was other factors ( very vague). They seemed to rely heavily on this vague one criteria. With the committee being 65% from the south, this is disappointing. I personally will vote by not watching ANY PLAYOFF GAMES! It is the only way to make your voice heard. They need to get to 8 teams quick and if we give them the viewership (revenue) it will not happen anytime soon. #tuneoutCFP
Interesting points, K-9. The shame of it is, this was a pretty weak year for this system and college football in general, a great year to be able to do some damage in the playoffs. Its hard to puff out your chest for inclusion with a thirty one point loss to a mediocre team, that was even worse than it sounds.
Frankly, I think the plaoff games sound boring and I likely won’t watch.
I agree with your post except for expanding the playoff. If number 5 is left out now, number 9 will be left out in an 8 team playoff. Number 17 left out in a 16 team playoff. Where does it end? It ends in continuing what it’s always been……….a mythical national champion as voted by bias. It becomes the same garbage as the NCAA basketball………..which is………..just a way to expand revenue NOT award a championship.
The old Bowl system was the right system for amatuer athletics.
lsu; beats not eats lol
and the pathetic saban and sec love rears it’s ugly head.each year is different and this year’s alabama does not compare to last year’s OSU team in the same scenario–last year’s Osu beat 3 top ten teams..this years alabama beat lsy..who lost to troy….and miss st..who lost 4 times….and non-fbs mercer…..this years osu compared to this years alabama..Osu beat 3 top 15, 2 top ten team–and won their conference championship–in the best or tied for best conference….this changes everything and the committee is pretty untrustworthy at this point…there is no real basis ..last week they said how close teams 5-8 were…alabama doesnt play..osu eats last undefeated power 5 conf team to win conf champ..when all other things are fairly equal–like committee JUST said the week prior–then OSU wins conf title…it should’ve been Osu in..makes ZERO sense and the hypocrisy and inconsistency of the committee is pretty alarming…i hope this encourages an 8-16 team playoff sooner than later.
Several points:
1) Wish the committee chair would have had the courage to speak the truth- you can’t lose to Iowa by 31 points (and it looked even worse than a 31 point loss). Alabama’s ‘body of work” isn’t very impressive. They lost convincingly to the only opponent who could even come close to matching them, and that opponent ended up with 3 losses themselves.
2) Hope the Bucks end up with a traditional bowl rivalry game vs USC. The mere fact that they aren’t in playoff doesn’t mean their bowl game can’t be a good one.
3) Speaking of playoff, which turd team do you pull for in this group? No way I root SEC. Clemson? Eh. OU and Baker Mayfield? Anyone else holding their nose right now?
Amen brother my thoughts exactly and to the JTB haters and CEO haters switch to the school up north, it could be worse,
Great points all, Longtime Fan. I hope Clemson shuts out ‘Bama and after that I could not possibly care who wins it.
Not too unhappy with this. While I would love another shot at the Sooners, I would not want to see another blowout loss to Clemson. Now I am hoping the SEC gets swept so everyone can start talking about how we need an expanded playoff. Go Bucks!