Published: Monday, 11/30/2015 Buckeyes will need help to return to playoff BY DAVID BRIGGSBLADE SPORTS WRITER COLUMBUS — Ohio State’s 42-13 win over Michigan on Saturday was soul-cleansing and historic. It might have also been too late. With the Buckeyes fresh off their most lopsided win at Michigan Stadium since 1961 and an 11th victory in 12 meetings over the Wolverines — the most dominant stretch in the rivalry since Michigan went 13-0-2 from 1897 to 1918 — the defending national champions were left to wonder what might have been. The powerhouse team everyone expected to see this year likely arrived just in time to haunt Ohio State’s offseason. Chances are the Buckeyes (11-1, 7-1 Big Ten) will be the first team out of the four-team College Football Playoff when the final standings are revealed next Sunday. Their only hope is chaos this weekend. Or, as senior left tackle Taylor Decker put it, that “God is a Buckeye.” To rejoin the playoff conversation, Ohio State needs Florida (10-2) to stun No. 2 Alabama (11-1) in the Southeastern Conference championship game or North Carolina (11-1) to beat top-ranked Clemson (12-0) in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game. A win by Southern California (8-4) over Stanford (10-2) in the Pac-12 championship game might also be necessary. First, a rundown of where the playoff picture stands: Expect Ohio State to rise two spots to No. 6 when the 12-member selection committee releases its penultimate standings Tuesday night, behind Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma, Iowa, and Michigan State. Two spots in the playoff are locked up. The winner of the Big Ten championship game between Iowa (12-0) and Michigan State (11-1) is in, along with Oklahoma, which clinched the outright Big 12 title with a 55-23 win over Oklahoma State on Saturday. That leaves Ohio State’s focus on the SEC and ACC title bouts. If Alabama and Clemson win as expected, both are in and Ohio State is out. But while the committee places a heavy emphasis on conference championships, a loss by either could shoehorn the Buckeyes — whose defeat to Michigan State cost them so much as a league division title — into the final four. Florida’s 27-2 loss to Florida State on Saturday all but eliminated the Gators from playoff contention. That means Ohio State coach Urban Meyer will be leaning on his old team as much from the couch as he ever did on the sidelines. The problem for the Buckeyes: No one gives the 17-point underdog Gators a chance. The most realistic debate is what happens if the Tar Heels beat Clemson. North Carolina has won 11 straight since a season-opening loss to three-win South Carolina. Yet, the feel-good story on Tobacco Road hasn’t resonated where it matters most. Leery of a schedule that included two teams from the second-tier FCS but not one currently ranked opponent, the committee slotted the Heels 14th in the latest standings. A cynic might also wonder if the playoff would prefer a blue blood over Carolina blue. No team delivers television viewers like the Buckeyes, who have played in the three highest-rated games of the college football season — against Michigan State (7.0 rating), Michigan (6.8), and Virginia Tech (6.6). Still, odds are the Heels would be in. …
Continue Reading: OSU on the outside looking in
