Should the Buckeyes Worry About Initial College Football Playoff Ranking?
Absolutely not.
No. 4 Ohio State is in a great position as Tuesday's first release of the College Football Playoff Rankings were announced live on ESPN.
Here are a few thoughts about the rankings that were unveiled Tuesday night for the first time this year:
1) If Ohio State wins the remainder of its games, there is no reality that exists in which it misses out on the CFP. An unbeaten Ohio State team is never going to be bounced out of the playoff. The Buckeyes have Illinois, Michigan State and Michigan left on the schedule and they are extremely likely to play in the Big Ten championship game (and their opponent is extremely likely to be Northwestern).
Iowa athletic director Gary Barta is the Selection Committee Chair. He said on ESPN Tuesday night that the selection committee "embraced the chaos" of putting together this first ranking. ESPN's Rece Davis asked Barta about how contentious the decision was between where to rank Clemson and Ohio State.
"Clemson has really dominated every team they've played against, other than Notre Dame" said Barta, noting that the Tigers were short-handed in that loss to the Irish. "The committee just decided that Clemson deserved that No. 3 slot."
2) The fact of the matter is that a Clemson vs. Notre Dame rematch seems very likely in the ACC championship game in a few weeks. Should the Irish beat Clemson a second time, the Tigers are going to end up on the outside looking in. If Clemson beats Notre Dame and the Irish are undefeated going into that game, it will be a much different conversation and they could both make a case for being included in the postseason.
Ohio State Athletics
3) There are a number of tough decisions on where to slot teams and this has to be the hardest year the committee has ever had doing this job. Teams are playing a varying number of games, there have been very little non-conference matchups (especially between Power 5 ranked teams) to judge off of. The committee really has to dive into the tape to determine who the four best teams are—the eye test matters this year more than any other, in my opinion.
Ohio State's defense the last couple weeks has had moments of greatness and others of weakness. Indiana (which I think is ranked too low at No. 12 behind 2-loss Georgia and 2-loss Oklahoma) played very well in the second half against the Buckeyes and those are the kinds of things that can stick out when you're trying to split hairs between great teams.
4) If you're looking for a good omen, no team that has ever debuted at No. 3 in the initial rankings has gone on to actually make the playoff. I guess we'll find out if that holds true again in 2020.
Ohio State Athletics
5) It's worth repeating. If you win out, you're in. Simple as that. The first rankings are a reflection of the perception thus far, not the end result. Remember, the Buckeyes won the inaugural CFP national championship in 2014 and they were the No. 4 seed that year. So even if it works out that way again in 2020, perhaps that's not the end of the world either.
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