Ohio State football: OSU’s CFP chances if a game gets canceled

COVID has made everything unpredictable, including how to play football games safely. Ohio State may end up having a game canceled because of it. What are their chances to make the CFP if that happens?

Ohio State is getting a later start than all of the other national championship contenders this year. They don’t start for another month. Meanwhile, Clemson has already played and won two games. The Buckeyes are already behind the eight ball when it comes to the number of games needed for the CFP.

That would only get worse if they had a game canceled due to COVID. Right now, they would play a total of nine games no matter what. That is still three less than what other conference champions play. If they lose a game due to COVID, then they would play 1/4 fewer games than those other teams.

Would 7 or 8 games played be enough for Ohio State to make the playoff? It depends on what happens around them. First off, they would have to go undefeated. That remains the case even in the nine-game schedule. Any loss would immediately eliminate them.

Secondly, it would depend on which game is canceled. If they lost the Rutgers game, for example, it might not matter much. Ohio State would likely destroy them if they did play. But if they lost the Penn State game, that would matter a whole lot since they are the second-best team in the Big Ten.

Finally, if they play less than the nine games they are slated to play right now, it would depend on what other teams did in their games. If all of the other three power conferences have an undefeated champion and then there is a one-loss SEC team, there might be a problem.

This year will be the most subjective selection the CFP committee has ever done. Only time will tell if they get it right.