Ohio State trails Northwestern, 10-6, at halftime of the Big Ten title game on Saturday. If the Buckeyes lose, it will have massive College Football Playoff implications, to say the least.
Who would take Ohio State’s place if the Buckeyes were unable to find a way to come back and win? Let’s take a look at the playoff rankings from this past Tuesday. It’s actually incredibly complicated this year.
Week 16 in the #CFBPlayoff rankings: pic.twitter.com/zrvfw263dU
— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) December 16, 2020
Of course, there are plenty of results still to be determined. Let’s take a look at where things stand.
If Oklahoma, which currently leads Iowa State 24-7 in the third quarter, holds on to win, the Cyclones will be out of the mix.
No. 5 Texas A&M currently leads Tennessee 24-13 in its regular season finale, but many wonder if the Aggies would get passed over by a team with a conference title. They’re the easy answer for the next-in-line team, but they certainly aren’t a lock.
Oregon’s win over USC on Friday night knocked the Pac-12 out of the competition entirely.
Alabama will be the No. 1 seed if it can beat Florida. If the Gators win that game, they will have a strong argument for the committee despite the LSU loss.
If Clemson beats Notre Dame, the Tigers will almost definitely be the No. 2 seed. If Notre Dame wins, it’s a lot harder for the Tigers to get in.
Our best guess? Alabama knocks off Florida and Clemson takes down Notre Dame. The committee then has to decide between three teams – a one-loss Texas A&M team who lost to Alabama in ugly fashion, a two-loss Oklahoma with a Big 12 title and a one-loss Northwestern that just beat Ohio State for the Big Ten championship. We’ll lean towards Oklahoma in that scenario.
Ohio State can make this a lot easier on the committee if it can prevail. It’s going to be a great few hours of college football.
The post Who Will Make The Playoff If Ohio State Loses To Northwestern? appeared first on The Spun.
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