130 shares SHARE TWEET SMS SEND EMAIL Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports The Ohio State Buckeyes presented a strong case to the College Football Playoff committee Saturday night, pulling off the second-largest shutout victory against a top-15 opponent in history against Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, and the Buckeyes were rewarded with the fourth and final spot. Baylor and TCU fans will be upset, but Ohio State deserves its place in the first-ever playoff. The Ohio State defense proved it can be dominant The Buckeyes faced the top rusher in college football Saturday in Wisconsin’s Melvin Gordon, a leading Heisman Trophy candidate, and held him to one of his worst performances of the year. Gordon managed just 76 yards on 26 carries. As a whole, a Badgers team that averaged more than 450 yards of total offense per game was held to just 258. The Buckeyes’ defense had been serviceable if unspectacular most of the season, but in the Big Ten title game Ohio State proved it has a championship-caliber defense. Wisconsin isn’t a bad team – Ohio State was simply that good. Brian Spurlock/USA TODAY Sports The Virginia Tech game was in September The lone argument against putting Ohio State in the playoff is that the Buckeyes lost their second game of the season at home to the Hokies, who have gone on to have a below average season – but the Ohio State team that played Virginia Tech on September 6th is not the same one that just annihilated Wisconsin. In his second career start, J.T. Barrett understandably looked like a freshman and had a season worst 31.0 completion percentage. Since that game, the Buckeyes have outscored opponents 533 to 223, pitched two shutouts, won two games on the road against ranked teams and gone undefeated in the Big Ten. That Virginia Tech (a bowl-eligible team) lost an embarrassing game to Wake Forest in November isn’t a legitimate reason to keep the Buckeyes out of the playoff. …
Continue Reading: Why Ohio State deserves to be in the College Football Playoff
