3 teams that need to impress the College Football Playoff committee in Week 9

Ohio State Buckeyes

On Sep. 9, the Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the Oklahoma Sooners. The Sooners won 31-16, wrecking the Buckeyes in Columbus. OSU hasn’t lost since, but their best win to this point is… Army? Quality wins have been hard to come by in the opening stretch of Big Ten play. But, fear not, as a huge opportunity awaits this weekend. That’s because the Penn State Nittany Lions are coming to town.

The 2nd-ranked Nittany Lions have been outstanding this season. Saquon Barkley, the Heisman frontrunner, has been running all over everybody it seems. This figures to be the best Big Ten matchup this season, and can and should only benefit both squads if they came away with a win. But with that loss to Oklahoma in mind, Ohio State can reestablish themselves in the discussion with a victory on Saturday afternoon. They haven’t played anybody of note since that loss to the Sooners, and so a Top 2 win against their Big Ten rival would be exactly what they need.

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And remember, it was Penn State that defeated Ohio State last year in Happy Valley. The Buckeyes haven’t forgotten about that, even if it didn’t matter in the long run. The Buckeyes wound up making the CFB Playoff anyway, but they will certainly be out for revenge in Columbus. With any luck, they may impress the committee enough to get them in the Top 4 on Tuesday.