Ohio State Football: 3 questions for the Playoff Committee

The College Football Playoff Committee’s job got a little easier for week three. The top four teams won and the two undefeated teams we all speculated would eventually lose finally lost.

Baylor might get a second shot at the Sooners to win the Big 12, but its playoff hopes are likely gone.

Minnesota fell victim to the Kinnick curse.  Barring a complete collapse, the Golden Gophers will beat Northwestern this week setting up the showdown with Wisconsin in two weeks. They have an outside chance of making the playoff.

Utah and Oregon stayed on course to meet up in the Pac-12 easily beating UCLA and Arizona respectively. If the Utes win out, they remove the one obstacle that the SEC apologists are clinging too as justification for getting two teams in the playoff, Auburn’s win over Oregon.

I think it is absurd that any conference would get two teams in a four-team invitational anyway.

It is more absurd if a 12-1 conference champion is left out in favor of a second team from another conference making he playoff.  The only asterisk I would put there is if those two teams actually played each other in the regular season.

Since the drama is light this week, here are three off-beat questions I have for the Committee:

Will  you finally stop using Texas as a quality win?

LSU does not need to point to its win over Texas to justify its No. 1 ranking.  The Longhorns are barely an average team.  They were not good in September, they are not good now.

On a side note, their fans should be concerned that in year three of Tom Herman”s tenure, the program has not made much progress.

Maybe he’s better suited to be a position coach or coordinator.

Do you view beating Auburn similar to beating Iowa?

Both teams are 7-3.  Both have phenomenal defenses and mediocre offenses.

Iowa has beaten Iowa State and Minnesota.  Auburn has beaten Oregon.

Iowa lost close games to Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State.  Auburn lost close games to Florida, LSU and Georgia.

I think wins over both teams should be weighted the same way.

Must read: Buckeyes legacy defined over next two weeks

Should Clemson be the No. 1 team?

Everyone is saying Ohio State has the most complete team.  The Buckeyes can certainly prove that over the next two weeks, but I am thinking Clemson should be No. 1 until it loses.

I realize ACC is awful, but Clemson’s defense is better than LSU’s. I would bet in favor of Brent Venables finding a way to slow down Joe Burrow more than I would bet Dave Aranda finding a way to slow down Trevor Lawrence and Travis Ettiene.

I know the likelihood of the Tigers losing would be greater playing in another Power Five Conference, but they would also be afforded a little wiggle room too. Besides, since the close win over North Carolina, Clemson has been killing everybody and rounding into championship form.