Did Urban Meyer Contribute to LSU Passing Ohio State for No. 1?
You can't see what footwear Urban Meyer is wearing when he serves as a studio analyst on Fox-TV's Big Noon Kickoff or its halftime and post-game shows.
Chances are, Saturday night at the Big Ten championship game, he was wearing flip-flops.
Meyer, like most Ohio State fans, thought the unbeaten Buckeyes (13-0) released their hold on the final No. 1 spot in the College Football Playoff Rankings by falling into a 21-7 halftime deficit against Wisconsin.
"I think LSU, unless something happens in this second half, LSU is going to be No. 1," Meyer said. "However, what's going on in that (Ohio State) locker room, heck with any Committees.
"You are in a fight of fights now....The mind is an amazing thing. As an athlete and a coach, you better worry about beating Wisconsin. Right now, you're getting beat up and down the field. That's a problem."
OSU held the Badgers scoreless in the second half, scored 24 points and won going away, 34-21.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day then joined Meyer and other Fox hosts on their set and made his case for OSU finishing No. 1.
Meyer, asked shortly afterward how he would order the Top 4, said:
"At halftime, I'd have gone, LSU No. 1, Ohio State No. 2. The way (OSU) played in the second half, Ohio State No. 1, LSU No. 2, Clemson, Oklahoma."
But before Fox closed it's coverage, Meyer accented something on LSU's resume that OSU lacks.
"Don't forget, they played Texas on the road to start the season," Meyer said of the Tigers. "You have to give them credit. I'm going to be beating that forever, saying 'They went on the road and played a Power 5 school.' Good for them."
Meyer didn't mention that LSU also played one FCS opponent and OSU did not, nor that the Buckeyes three non-conference opponents -- none of them Power 5 schools -- each reached their respective conference championship game.
How much impact his words had, if any, on the 13 Committee members in their presumably close decision to elevate LSU over Ohio State will likely never be known.
The Committee does not share detailed specifics of its debate or its final voting totals, but it's clear from spokesman and Committee member Rob Mullens that the vote for No. 1 was much closer to 7-6 in favor of LSU than it was, 13-0.
"LSU's dominating performance against an excellent Georgia team was a final piece of information that influenced the committee's vote," Mullens said. "LSU's wins were against Georgia, Florida, Auburn and Alabama, ranked 5, 9, 12 and 13.
"The committee favorably compared that to Ohio State's wins against Wisconsin twice, Penn State, Michigan and Cincinnati, ranked 8, 10, 14 and 21."
By the time OSU played in the Big Ten title game, Committee members had watched LSU dominate Georgia, 37-10.
Then they turned their attention to the game in Indianapolis, where after two quarters, Meyer -- as ardent a supporter of Ohio State as there is -- threw his support behind LSU passing OSU.
Did that hurt Ohio State?
Maybe the best way to answer that is to ask another question:
Could it possibly help OSU to have Meyer give Committee members cover to make the switch it did at the top of the poll?
Meyer, after all, is a guy with three national championship rings who would have reason to know the nuances of the Committee's decision-process, given his 2014 Ohio State team jumped from No. 6 to No. 4 in the final week and his teams in 2018 (No. 6) and 2017 (No. 5) finished just out of the Playoff.
Meyer's opinion matters to millions or Fox wouldn't have him on its broadcast.
How much it mattered to the Committee is a mystery for the ages.
"LSU's performance against a No. 4 ranked Georgia propelled the committee to put them just ahead of Ohio State in 1 versus 2," Mullens said. "Did (Saturday's) games play a role? Sure they did. Every game plays a role, and I think it was more about LSU's strong dominant performance over a No. 4 ranked team that elevated them to No. 1."
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