Ohio State Football: No divisions helps the Buckeyes

The Ohio State football team learned who their 2024 and 2025 Big Ten opponents will be. A big part of that schedule reveal is that there will be no divisions anymore. Gone are the days of the Big Ten East and Big Ten West. Now, the two best teams in the conference will be in the Big Ten Championship.

You would think that would make the path to a Big Ten Championship harder for the Ohio State football team. That is the case, but it’s not all bad. In fact, this move is good for the Buckeyes. Why would a move that would make it harder for them to win the conference be a good thing?

It’s a good thing because now they don’t have to win the conference to make the College Football Playoff. Once it expands to 12, that wasn’t going to be necessary anyway. Adding two tougher teams in USC and UCLA to the conference along with playing a really good team in the Big Ten Championship, Ohio State would get more leeway if they lost a game.

Of course, we fans don’t want to ever see them lose a game in a season. We have high expectations for this Ohio State football program. At the same time, A loss to a great USC, TTUN, or Penn State team wouldn’t sink them as it has in the past.

Now the Buckeyes can afford a loss and maybe even two and still get a chance to play for a national championship. Does that devalue the regular season? Absolutely it does. But that gets the Buckeyes a better shot to win it all, which is all we really care about right?

I actually wish that the CFP hadn’t expanded because of that devaluation of the regular season, but we are way past that point. Having no divisions gives the Big Ten the best chance to get multiple teams into the current CFP as well as the future expanded one.