Ohio State Football: Schedule sets up well for deep run

Scheduling is a delicate thing for a college football program to balance. Some teams want to have a good non-conference schedule to challenge themselves before conference play starts. Other teams want the easiest road possible to the College Football Playoff. The Ohio State football team has somewhere in between.

Ohio State’s non-conference is certainly easy after the opening game. The opener against Notre Dame will be no cakewalk though and they know it. The conference schedule is pretty forgiving too because all of their hard games are at home.

In fact, the Ohio State football team plays eight games at home this season, including their first five. They get Notre Dame, Wisconsin, and TTUN all at home. That leaves only Penn State and Michigan State as tough road games, and Penn State has sucked the last two years.

This schedule is extremely favorable to the Buckeyes and sets them up well for a deep run this year. I know that every year that Ohio State doesn’t make the CFP is a disappointment, but if they don’t make it this year that’s a disappointment of epic proportions.

Ohio State has the talent, the schedule, and the head coach to make a run at the CFP and the national championship. Anything less than a CFP berth this season is a failure, it’s as simple as that. Ohio State should be favored in every single game they play this year.

I expect Ohio State to make a return trip to the College Football Playoff. As of right now, I expect them to play in the national championship too. I haven’t fully formed my opinion on if they are going to win it or not, and my opinion on them getting that far may still change between now and September.

One thing is for sure. Ohio State has been presented with a great opportunity to do some damage.