These three teams benefit the most from No. 6 Ohio State’s shocking loss at Iowa on Saturday afternoon.
Week 10 brought plenty of chaos to the College Football Playoff race, with no more important result than Ohio State’s upset at Iowa on Saturday afternoon.
After a competitive first quarter, the Hawkeyes took a 31-17 lead into the break on three Nathan Stanley touchdown passes. Unlike last week’s incredible comeback win at Penn State, the Buckeyes were unable to mount a rally this time, as Iowa reeled off 17 straight points out of the half to eventually seal a 55-24 win.
While there’s no shame in losing at Kinnick Stadium, it was a big shock to see an Urban Meyer team get completely blown out. Ohio State’s defense surrendered 487 yards to a not particularly explosive Iowa offense, and quarterback J.T. Barrett lost his Heisman lead with four interceptions.
With their second loss of the season to go along with an earlier home defeat against Oklahoma, the Buckeyes are now out of the College Football Playoff race barring a miracle. Ohio State’s major bowl hopes also took a hit, as it will now likely have to beat Michigan State next weekend to win the Big Ten East.
That’s bad news for Buckeyes fans, but the shocking upset worked to the benefit of a few other teams in the College Football Playoff hunt. Here are the three teams who got the most help from Iowa’s upset of Ohio State on Saturday.
Clemson Tigers
The defending national champions are thrilled to see the Buckeyes drop out of playoff contention, as a debate between one-loss Clemson and one-loss Ohio State at the end of the year
While Clemson debuted at No. 4 in the initial College Football Playoff rankings, it didn’t have the resume to match that lofty spot. The Tigers’ defeat at Syracuse was far worse than Ohio State’s lone loss prior to Saturday, and they likely would have been leapfrogged by the Big Ten champion eventually with a soft schedule to close out the year.
There’s no longer nearly that much pressure following Saturday’s developments in Iowa City. In addition, Clemson picked up a nice road win at No. 20 NC State, and has to feel good about outlasting the rest of the one-loss field should it reel off four more wins to end the season.
If Alabama, Georgia and Notre Dame each earn a College Football Playoff berth, three Power Five conferences will be left out of the national semifinal. It’s looking more and more like one of those conferences will be the Big Ten, which works to Clemson and the ACC’s advantage.