Ohio State Football: Can teams challenge OSU, OU and Bama?

BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 14: Justin Fields #1 and Chris Olave #17 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate a touchdown in the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images)
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 14: Justin Fields #1 and Chris Olave #17 of the Ohio State Buckeyes celebrate a touchdown in the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium on September 14, 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana. (Photo by Justin Casterline/Getty Images) /
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LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 14: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Oklahoma Sooners calls a play during the first half of a game against the UCLA Bruins on at the Rose Bowl on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – SEPTEMBER 14: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Oklahoma Sooners calls a play during the first half of a game against the UCLA Bruins on at the Rose Bowl on September 14, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images) /

Q: Who comes out of the Big 12 at this point in time?

Right now I still like Oklahoma to come out of the Big 12. Jalen Hurts is excelling in Lincoln Riley’s offense and putting up huge numbers. No more SEC defenses for him as no one in the Big 12 has shown signs of being able to slow him down.

I do, however, foresee Oklahoma and Texas splitting, but the Sooners will win the conference and return to the College Football Playoff.

Q: How legitimate is it for two teams from the SEC ending up in the College Football Playoff? 

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The threat of two SEC teams ending up in the College Football Playoff is real. If there’s a slip up somewhere along the way in any of the other three remaining Power 5 conferences in contention, the SEC will capitalize.

There’s a real possibility of three teams finishing with a single loss — those losses would come in round robin form all to each other and create a triangle of madness. That’s the scenario teams like a potential 1-loss Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma should worry about, though I think Ohio State is in as long as it’s not a horrible loss like in year’s past.

Alabama does have real threats this year and if they don’t figure out how to average more than 4.0 yards per carry against a Power 5 team soon, watch out for Joe Burrow and LSU walking into Tuscaloosa and leaving with a victory. The same goes for playing Georgia, but that game may not even happen, so we can’t live in hypotheticals just yet.

dark. Next. 3 reasons why Buckeyes will beat the Cornhuskers

The Buckeyes, Sooners and Crimson Tide will all be challenged, but in the end I see them all prevailing and clinching bids in the College Football Playoff.