As Ohio State prepares to take on Tennessee on Saturday night at home in Ohio Stadium, Buckeye Nation is going through all the possibilities and all the possible outcomes and what they could mean for their beloved Buckeyes. Here’s how the chips could fall.
The first, foremost, and best-case scenario is obvious. Ohio State winning the entire playoff and becoming national champions is the best possible outcome. This would be the Buckeyes' ninth national championship. It would also show without a doubt that the reputation of struggles and losses in big games that have been on Ohio State’s back for the last six seasons is dead and buried.
After that, it becomes more difficult to gauge. What would be enough to show a corner has been turned and losses like the season finale of this regular season are done? Would winning the Rose Bowl against an Oregon team the Bucks almost beat by one in their house be enough?
What about then beating Texas or Oregon? With this team, at this point, with this bracket, there isn’t really a victory to be had short of a national title that would wipe away the recent failures. Nor the reputation that has come with them.
Losing to Tennessee to have a 10-5 overall record in the last 15 games would be bad, but not the worst-case scenario. The worst-case scenario isn’t getting bounced from the playoff at home by an SEC team. That could be a catalyst for the change many Buckeyes fans believe is necessary for the program to move onward.
The worst-case scenario would be a couple of playoff wins that show none of the changes Ohio State so desperately needs. Those wins then being used to justify the continuation of the status quo, which is clearly not good enough, would be worse than being eliminated in the first round at home.
Ohio State Athletic Director Ross Bjork has publicly stated he and Ryan Day are buddies and that the outcome of the playoff will not change Day’s status as the Buckeyes’ head coach. However, that is always the case in situations like this until it isn’t.
When the pressure of a fan base that has moved on (whether school leadership has or not) becomes a reality and no longer theoretical, all bets are off. It is even more true in the new climate of NIL and the transfer portal driving rosters and programs. Because if money and star players begin to walk, school administrators' choices start to get made for them.
Ohio State is in a unique position in that they are equally likely to begin a march to a national championship or a program-shifting decision on the head coach position. The pressure has been building for years now, and it comes to a head on Saturday night.