2017 Buckeyes Football

[col63onel]

It's not even a question in my eyes. It never was.

Christ we're already back to #6 in the polls. 6!

Just win, everything else will fall into place.

I'm really convinced the Pac 12 and Big 12 may have a 2 loss conference champ.

I think this board is really underselling the upsets of the previous weeks. Great news for OSU.

Oklahoma lost to a mediocre team. If they win out, then everyone else in the B12 will have at least 2 losses. Decent chance of a 2 loss champ here.

And even if it isn't, Pac12 really cannibalized itself. 2 loss champ very possible here. No team really has a good OOC win. Stanford could easily emerge as a 2-loss champ in that conference. USC is my only concern if they beat ND and ND ends up 10-2. Other than that, Pac12 needs a lot of help, and that's if it squeezes out a 1 loss champ.

An 11-1 ND would give me concern, but the chances of them getting there are slim. USC, NCST, Miami, Stanford and Navy are all solid teams. If ND beats all of them, then they have good resume with blowout wins vs BC and MSU and a 1 pt loss to Georgia.

And now the ACC is weird. Only undefeated team is Miami, and a whole bunch of the 1 loss teams still have to play each other. If Clemson's QB injury woes continue, a 2 loss champ seems very possible as well.

 

[Ohio]

I think this board is really underselling the upsets of the previous weeks. Great news for OSU.

Oklahoma lost to a mediocre team. If they win out, then everyone else in the B12 will have at least 2 losses. Decent chance of a 2 loss champ here.

And even if it isn't, Pac12 really cannibalized itself. 2 loss champ very possible here. No team really has a good OOC win. Stanford could easily emerge as a 2-loss champ in that conference. USC is my only concern if they beat ND and ND ends up 10-2. Other than that, Pac12 needs a lot of help, and that's if it squeezes out a 1 loss champ.

An 11-1 ND would give me concern, but the chances of them getting there are slim. USC, NCST, Miami, Stanford and Navy are all solid teams. If ND beats all of them, then they have good resume with blowout wins vs BC and MSU and a 1 pt loss to Georgia.

And now the ACC is weird. Only undefeated team is Miami, and a whole bunch of the 1 loss teams still have to play each other. If Clemson's QB injury woes continue, a 2 loss champ seems very possible as well.

I seriously think it is possible we could see an SEC vs Big Ten playoff.

1 Bama vs 4 PSU
2 OSU vs 3 UGA

 

[Wulfgar1224]

I think this board is really underselling the upsets of the previous weeks. Great news for OSU.

Oklahoma lost to a mediocre team. If they win out, then everyone else in the B12 will have at least 2 losses. Decent chance of a 2 loss champ here.

And even if it isn't, Pac12 really cannibalized itself. 2 loss champ very possible here. No team really has a good OOC win. Stanford could easily emerge as a 2-loss champ in that conference. USC is my only concern if they beat ND and ND ends up 10-2. Other than that, Pac12 needs a lot of help, and that's if it squeezes out a 1 loss champ.

An 11-1 ND would give me concern, but the chances of them getting there are slim. USC, NCST, Miami, Stanford and Navy are all solid teams. If ND beats all of them, then they have good resume with blowout wins vs BC and MSU and a 1 pt loss to Georgia.

And now the ACC is weird. Only undefeated team is Miami, and a whole bunch of the 1 loss teams still have to play each other. If Clemson's QB injury woes continue, a 2 loss champ seems very possible as well.

You've given thought to the scenarios and your post makes sense as far as OSU's chances to make the playoff if they win out. I guess the question I have is do people here have faith that the Buckeyes can compete with a team like Alabama? I'd be lying if I said my confidence wasn't shaken with their performance against Clemson last year and the Sooners this season.

 

[NorthCoastBias]

You've given thought to the scenarios and your post makes sense as far as OSU's chances to make the playoff if they win out. I guess the question I have is do people here have faith that the Buckeyes can compete with a team like Alabama? I'd be lying if I said my confidence wasn't shaken with their performance against Clemson last year and the Sooners this season.

If they win out, they'll have beaten Penn State, Iowa (on the road), Michigan State, Michigan (on the road) and, most likely, Wisconsin (B1G title game). I'll feel pretty good about their chances to hang with anyone if they make it through that stretch unscathed.

 

[Kbiz]

You've given thought to the scenarios and your post makes sense as far as OSU's chances to make the playoff if they win out. I guess the question I have is do people here have faith that the Buckeyes can compete with a team like Alabama? I'd be lying if I said my confidence wasn't shaken with their performance against Clemson last year and the Sooners this season.

I didn't feel confident at all going into the Clemson game last year. I knew our defense would keep us in it (which they did for almost the entire first half) but i had little faith in the offense outside of Weber.

While our defense has looked pretty awful at times this year, our passing game is lightyears ahead of where it was this time last year, even with the occasional boneheaded Barrett miss. He's spreading the ball around to multiple guys. We've got 5 WR's who are all on pace for 400+ receiving yards. Last year, outside of Samuel, the only guy to eclipse that mark was Noah Brown.

Not having a sure thing at H-back is actually benefitting our offense. Dumping it off to a guy like Samuel and hoping he makes a play is easy to game plan against when you have equally athletic guys on the defensive side of the ball. This team is absolutely STACKED with WR talent, it's just unproven. If the timing in the passing game, like we saw this past week, is there against the tough teams on our schedule, look out.

Our biggest weaknesses right now are special teams and penalties, two things that are easier to fix than a vanilla offense. Our LB play has gotten much better throughout the season. If our secondary can get a few feel-good plays against McSorely, this team could start to roll at the perfect time.

 

[natedagg]

If they win out, they'll have beaten Penn State, Iowa (on the road), Michigan State, Michigan (on the road) and, most likely, Wisconsin (B1G title game). I'll feel pretty good about their chances to hang with anyone if they make it through that stretch unscathed.

This. If we can handle our business, we're in. Other "unstoppable" undefeated teams will lose, just like Clemson, Wash, WSU did. It always happens. Worrying about the polls and our position in the rankings is missing the fun. The real fun is the games - the road tests, hard hits, big 3rd down conversions. It's really, really tough to lose only 1 game against the level of competition that our schedule provides this year, it's just that we're completely spoiled by Urban Meyer. The chance of a heartbreaker (not making the playoff after winning all of those games) is minimal; it's more about some luck, skill, and consistency of these 20 year olds over the course of the next ~half dozen games.

 

[col63onel]

You've given thought to the scenarios and your post makes sense as far as OSU's chances to make the playoff if they win out. I guess the question I have is do people here have faith that the Buckeyes can compete with a team like Alabama? I'd be lying if I said my confidence wasn't shaken with their performance against Clemson last year and the Sooners this season.

That is a great question. Iowa, PSU, MSU, Michigan and Wisky all have pretty solid defenses. If we continue to put up big numbers against those teams (like we did vs MSU, Michigan and Wisconsin in 14), then I certainly have some confidence vs a CFP opponent.

But if we're winning turnover filled, low scoring affairs, like the 2nd half of last year, then it'd be hard to feel confident.

 

[Huber.]

I seriously think it is possible we could see an SEC vs Big Ten playoff.

1 Bama vs 4 PSU
2 OSU vs 3 UGA

You think they would put a team in coming off a loss? (the loser of the Bama vs UGA SEC title game)

 

[Ohio]

You think they would put a team in coming off a loss? (the loser of the Bama vs UGA SEC title game)

If both are undefeated and the other conference's have 2 loss teams?

Absolutely.

 

[Huber.]

If both are undefeated and the other conference's have 2 loss teams?

Absolutely.

I don't think that will happen. I think another conference will have a one loss team.

 

[Ohio]

I don't think that will happen. I think another conference will have a one loss team.

That is more likely, yes.

But with all the upsets the last few weeks, it's definitely possible.

Two teams from one conference at least is absolutely possible the way things look right now.

 

[col63onel]

It really is looking like the Pac12 champ will have 2 losses, especially if ND beats USC tomorrow.

Wasington, Wazzu and Stanford all still have to play each other. Then, the winner would (likely) play USC in the P12 champ game. Can either of Wazzu or Washington win all 3 of those? And if they lose to USC, can USC navigate the rest of their schedule undefeated?

 

[MGMT]

That Oklahoma loss right now tho

 

[BimboColesHair]

That Oklahoma loss right now tho

Doesn't matter if they take care of their own business.

 

[MGMT]

Doesn't matter if they take care of their own business.

You're right for sure, I guess I was speaking more to the nosedive they've taken assuming they don't come back.