INDIANAPOLIS — Ohio State has made its case.
There are no more games to be played before the College Football Playoff committee releases its final rankings Sunday at noon when the top four teams that will be playing for a shot at a national title are revealed.
That’s it. It’s over. Now the eighth-ranked Buckeyes have to sit and wait. However, it’s not the originally-scripted scenario they would have preferred.
They took care of the challenge in front of them Saturday night, defeating undefeated and fourth-ranked Wisconsin to win their first Big Ten Championship since 2014 and keeping their playoff hopes alive by cracking open the final spot.
Yet, they didn’t take care of the larger challenge: leaving the playoff committee with no choice but to put them into the semifinals.
It’s two-loss conference champion Ohio State versus one-loss non-champ Alabama.
This is a situation the committee never wanted.
Ohio State had so many different chances to put the game away in the second half and couldn’t do it. The offense’s turnovers manifested itself into 18 of Wisconsin’s 21 points. The Buckeyes started the second half with the ball and went backwards, resulting in a punt. The next drive ended in a field goal, followed by three three-and-outs, an interception and another field goal.
A touchdown at any point in the second half would’ve sealed it for Ohio State, but that didn’t happen. And that’s what playoff teams do. They press down when they have their foot on the opposition’s throat.
Even after winning his first conference championship, Nick Bosa thought about the missed opportunities as he sat in the locker room less than an hour after hoisting the trophy.
“This game could have been a lot different if we executed the things that we should’ve,” he said.
It would’ve been easier for the committee to ignore an egregious 30-point loss with 55 points allowed to 7-5 Iowa had the Buckeyes dominated the No. 4 Badgers. That didn’t happen because Ohio State left the door open like they’ve done so many times before this season.
On its resume, Ohio State has wins over Penn State, Wisconsin and Michigan State with a conference title. Alabama’s only ranked wins on its resume are over a four-loss Mississippi State team, a three-loss LSU team, and Fresno State — a team that lost to UNLV, whom the Buckeyes beat by 33 points. The Crimson Tide lost its only game it had to win against Auburn, which now has three losses after losing to Georgia in the SEC championship.
However, that Iowa loss has to count for something. That’s if the committee thinks some of that Ohio State team is still in this Ohio State team that played Saturday night.
“We had two wins this year against top four teams, top four teams in America,” Urban Meyer said. “And I can’t imagine any other team doing that.”
“We beat Penn State when they were No. 2,” J.K. Dobbins said. “We just beat the No. 4 team. And we turned the ball over three times. We kind of gave them their points.”
The ranked wins will sit well the committee, but Ohio State didn’t dominate Wisconsin Saturday like it did in 2014 to make the playoff. It didn’t need a 59-0 win, but Ohio State could’ve buried Wisconsin and it didn’t.
Alabama coach Nick Saban went on “SportsCenter” and made his case for his team to host Scott Van Pelt, saying the Tide wouldn’t even be considered if it lost by 30 this season.
“I think if we lost to a team by 30 points, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation,” he said. “You wouldn’t even be talking to me.”
The Tide lost its toughest game on its schedule and didn’t get to play for a conference title because of it. Georgia lost to Auburn by 30, then beat the Tigers to win the SEC. So how does that affect Alabama and, by proxy, Ohio State? Who knows?
Ohio State could’ve made it easier on the committee with a dominant performance in a conference title against a top-four team, at the time.
So did Ohio State do enough? The committee will let the world know at noon Sunday.
But did the Buckeyes do everything they could? That’s definitely a no.