Did Ohio State Deserve The Playoffs?

Are Ohio State’s failures the reason or were their victories not good enough

Did+Ohio+State+Deserve+The+Playoffs%3F

Sean Nickol, Staff Writer

Now the end of the season is here, Ohio State sticks to 6th place in the rankings and faces Washington in the Rose Bowl, but that may not be what the Buckeyes fans have wanted. Some may feel they deserve due to how they defeated Michigan with a score of 62 – 39. Some also may believe due to how Ohio State beat Northwestern by 21 and won the BIG Championship that they should make the playoffs but do they really? Let’s take everything into account.

Loss To Purdue

Want to know what set Ohio State into their downfall? Just check week 8 where OSU lost to the Purdue Boilermakers, 49 – 20, looking a lot like their loss against Iowa in 2017. This would be the only game Ohio State lost this year but it was a big hit; it was a reality check that Ohio State needed. Ohio State beat Nebraska by one score that next week, 36 – 31. Ohio State later in the month barely beat Maryland by 1 point.

Urban Meyer’s Retirement

I wouldn’t be surprised if a few fans would feel entitled to make the playoffs especially when it was announced by Urban Meyer that he’s retiring. The fairytale ending was there, but it wasn’t. Peyton Manning won the Super Bowl in 2016, then retired as predicted, and some may have wanted for one of if not the best coach OSU has ever had.

Momentum

Going into the selection, Ohio State would definitely have all the momentum in the world to beat Oklahoma and possibly Georgia. Possibly. This would go into some people’s argument of a wild card, an 8 team playoff, or even a 6 team playoff. Ohio State is coming off a Northwestern win, but Oklahoma got their win back against Texas. And the week before that, OSU shocked everyone by embarrassing Michigan while Oklahoma barely beat #13 West Virginia.

Even though we didn’t make it, we’ll be in the Rose Bowl on January 1st with Urban Meyer’s last game. Oh yeah, before I forget #HaskinsForHeismin