Scarlet and Game
Fansided

Ohio State Football: Buckeyes would finish 3rd in either SEC division?

By Charlie Lockhart

LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes watches player warm up before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images)
LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 14: Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes watches player warm up before the game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Memorial Stadium on October 14, 2017 in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Photo by Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

In the first CFP rankings Ohio State is in the Top 10 but ranked behind four Southeastern Conference teams, two from each division.

The first College Football Playoff rankings are out and Ohio State is ranked No. 10. Apparently the College Football Playoff Committee doesn’t think as highly of the Buckeyes as the AP voters who had them ranked No. 8.

But they sure are high on the Southeastern Conference. Four teams are ranked ahead of the Buckeyes as I speculated might be the case in a previous article.

There are 3 SEC teams ranked in the top 6 and 4 in the first 9. Also, 7 conference teams are ranked in the top 20. Two of those teams, Mississippi State (18) and Texas A&M (20), each have three losses.

I have to admit I was a bit surprised LSU was ranked ahead of Notre Dame, but now I understand the reasoning behind it, The 7-1 Tigers’ loss was to the Florida Gators.

If your only loss is to another SEC team I guess you should be ranked higher than an undefeated team. Even Kentucky (7-1)  and Florida (6-2) is ranked ahead of 10-0 UCF.

Here is how the other conferences stack up in the initial CFP rankings.

The ACC has 5 teams ranked in the top 25, the Big Ten and Big 12 have 4 apiece and the Pac 12 has 2. The American and Mountain West conferences each have 1 ranked team.

Of course Notre Dame is an Independent.

Here is the Top 25 in this weeks CFP rankings per NCAA.com.

  1.  Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. LSU
  4. Notre Dame
  5. Michigan
  6. Georgia
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Washington State
  9. Kentucky
  10. Ohio State
  11. Florida
  12. UCF
  13. West Virginia
  14. Penn State
  15. Utah
  16. Iowa
  17. Texas
  18. Mississippi State
  19. Syracuse
  20. Texas A&M
  21. NC State
  22. Boston College
  23. Fresno State
  24. Iowa State
  25. Virginia

With the high opinion the Playoff Committee has for the Southeastern Conference I think other contenders to make the Final Four should be a bit concerned. A look at this scenario will show why.

More from Ohio State Football

Let’s say LSU upsets Alabama and wins the West to face a one loss Georgia team. That will mean there could be three SEC teams with 11-1 records at the end of the regular season.

If the Bulldogs would narrowly defeat the Tigers in the championship game they would be in the playoff, but how could you exclude the other two SEC teams?

Would the defending national champions be left out like the Buckeyes were in 2015? Not likely. So then how could you leave out the only team to defeat Alabama?

Possibly it’s time for the Playoff Committee to just rank the top three Southeastern Conference teams and then add another conference champion like Clemson to the mix.

Next. Urban Meyer is more than a coach. dark

Apparently the SEC is so strong that many of the so-called contenders couldn’t even compete for the conference title. After all, even Ohio State would only be the third best team in either division.

Home/Ohio State Football