Ohio State Bowl projections: Can the Buckeyes still get a CFP bye?
By Austen Bundy
The No. 4-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes got an important 21-17 win on Week 9 Saturday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. It was much needed one game and two weeks removed from their devastating 32-31 loss to Big Ten foes Oregon, removing them from the top spot in the conference standings.
But only defeating Nebraska by four points when it needed a convincing win coming off bye doesn't instill much confidence in the program going forward this season.
On top of winning out its games (handily), Ohio State will need help from multiple teams if it wants to get back to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game. No. 1 Oregon (8-0), No. 3 Penn State (7-0) and No. 13 Indiana (8-0) all won on Saturday, meaning the Buckeyes made up virtually zero ground in both the conference and College Football Playoff race.
2024 Ohio State bowl projections: CFP bye berth slipping away
In a survey of six major bowl projections, all still had the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff but it's looking less and less likely by the week that they can secure a first-round bye as Big Ten champions.
Outlet | Bowl | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
Brad Crawford, 247 Sports | CFP first round (No. 5 seed) | No. 12 Boise State |
John Leuzzi, USA Today | CFP first round (No. 6 seed) | No. 11 Texas A&M |
Brett McMurphy, Action Network | CFP first round (No. 5 seed) | No. 12 Boise State |
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN | CFP first round (No. 7 seed) | No. 10 Texas A&M |
Mark Schlabach, ESPN | CFP first round (No. 6 seed) | No. 11 Notre Dame |
Jerry Palm, CBS Sports | Rose Bowl (No. 2 seed) | TBD |
It appears CBS Sports' Jerry Palm is the lone major pundit who is still holding out hope that the Buckeyes will make it to Indianapolis and walk out Big Ten champions. Everyone else seems to have resigned to the assumption that Ohio State will be playing an extra game in Columbus as part of the playoff.
Having said that, the other major takeaway from these projections is that all six pundits have the Buckeyes firmly in the College Football Playoff. That's not a hot take, to say the least, but with looming matchups against Penn State, Indiana and rival Michigan still awaiting the Buckeyes, that's still not a formality.
That doesn't mean its national title hopes have evaporated but it certainly makes things a lot harder as there would be more snaps and more opportunities for players to get injured. However, if there's any team that's built for a long run such as playing four postseason games en route to lifting a trophy, it would be the Ohio State Buckeyes.
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