Fans up in Columbus were up in arms when they found out that Ohio State was left out of the College Football Playoff despite winning the Big Ten.
Heading into Conference Championship Week, the top four teams were Clemson, Oklahoma, Auburn and Wisconsin. As long as those four teams held serve the College Football Playoff Committee had an easy decision to make. But with Georgia beating Auburn, theyāre in. The toughest decision they had to make was whether Alabama or Ohio State should get that last spot.
Even though a two-loss team has never made the Playoff, many believed Ohio State would get in. They got the benefit of the doubt in 2014 when they made it over TCU, and in 2016 when they got in despite not winning their own conference. The Playoff Committee face a very similar decision this year, in that they have to choose between a two-loss conference champion or a one-loss team thatās better on paper.
In the end, the Committee went with Alabama at No. 4, setting up a trilogy match between them and Clemson.
And youād best believe Buckeyes fans had a lot to say.
By leaving Ohio State and and putting Alabama in, the College Football Playoff committee snubbed the Big Ten entirely while having two SEC teams. It may not seem fair, but thatās the direction they were going in for much of the season when they started ranking.
In the end, the Playoff committee took the safer approach. They let in a team with one loss instead of two, and a team whose worst loss came to Auburn instead of Iowa.
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Ohio State fans may feel hard done by, but letās not forget that they were on the other end of this equation a year ago. With that in mind, theyāll surely be rooting for Clemson to take down Alabama 31-0 now.