Ohio State Football: Can the Buckeyes afford a loss?

The Ohio State football team is the most dominating team so far but the schedule is getting tougher. Can the Buckeyes afford a loss and still make the CFP?

Can the Ohio State football team afford losing a game this college football season is the million dollar question for Buckeye fans. In this age of final four football where you really can’t lose, it puts teams in tough spots in search of perfection.

Before this week the answer to this question was yes because of the strength of schedule and total domination the Buckeyes have completed this year. However, Tua Tagovailoa’s injury threw a monkey wrench into this situation.

Let’s look at it this way, Tua misses the LSU game or isn’t 100 percent and Alabama loses. Later, Tua returns and the Tide run the table with their loss being to SEC Champion LSU without their starting QB. I would assume the committee “forgives” Alabama for their loss and argues to sneak them in at No. 4.

This can only happen, though, if two Power 5 Champions have at least one loss. Oregon is the PAC-12’s only hope, but what about Ohio State, Clemson, and Oklahoma? The Tigers have an atrocious schedule so I don’t see them losing, so there’s two spots — SEC Champion and Clemson.

Oklahoma, like Ohio State, has shown to be head and shoulders above their conference. Moreover, the Buckeyes do have teams closer in comparison than the Sooners because of strength of conference. It is quite possible and not too far off for Oklahoma to also go undefeated as their defense is far improved from a year ago.

This leaves room for the Big Ten Champion, Ohio State, and non division champion, Alabama. Both of these teams are the only two to ever make the playoff without winning their own division oddly enough. In my opinion, the Big Ten Champion, especially if it’s the Buckeyes with the gauntlet schedule they have to play, should be in the CFP ranked either No. 1 or No. 2.

I honestly believe Ohio State is the only Power 5 team who could survive a loss and still get in the playoff over an 11-1 Alabama who lost without their Heisman caliber quarterback. However, this would be a situation that would bring worry because of the brands.

In the scenario above, I would take a hard look at undefeated Clemson and leave them in the debate with Alabama as opposed to a one loss Ohio State. The Playoff Committee has been all about making statements and putting in the four “best teams,” not four “most deserving.”

Want to make a statement, committee? Leave out undefeated and reigning National Champion Clemson if you’re stuck in this predicament. The Tigers haven’t looked the part to be a playoff team and will only clinch a berth because of a severely weakened and abysmal conference of which they’ve carried for the past three years.

So yes, it is my belief that Ohio State would be able to survive a loss and still make the college football playoff. Who knows, this scenario may not even happen and chaos may ensue where the script writes itself. But until then we can speculate and wildly debate what the future may hold.