COLUMBUS – Ohio State landed at No. 8 in the college football polls, second-highest ranked of the teams with two losses, and some observers say, if the best Buckeye team shows for up for three more games, they could be back in the playoff conversation.
No. 13 (CFP) Ohio St. (8-2, 6-1 Big Ten) vs. Illinois (2-8, 0-7); Ohio Stadium; Sat., 3:30 p.m./ABC
Ohio State’s highest high of the season so far came Saturday when they blasted Michigan State by 45 points. That came a week after Ohio State hit bottom, losing by 31 at Iowa, which followed an emotional comeback win over Penn State that.
The win left OSU atop the Big Ten East Division standings with regular season games against Illinois and Michigan and a likely appearance in the Big Ten Championship game on Dec. 2 against Wisconsin.
The three-week stretch left fans, the media and members of the College Football Playoff ranking committee asking “would the real Ohio State Buckeyes please stand up?”
Are the real Buckeyes the ones who lost at home to Oklahoma? Or the ones that won their next five games convincingly over inferior opponents?
Or the ones who showed up for the last five minutes of the Penn State game to rescue victory from the jaws of defeat?
Or was that the real team at Kinnick Stadium, soundly beaten the following week by a mediocre team?
Or was it the real Buckeyes who rebounded with that 48-3 trouncing of a supposedly solid Michigan State team at Ohio Stadium on Saturday?
When the new playoff rankings are released Tuesday, following a chaotic weekend in college football, Ohio State could find itself back on the rise and at just the right time.
The 9-0 Miami Hurricanes climbed to the No. 2 spots after beating Notre Dame, one of just four unbeaten teams in the top 25. Top-ranked Alabama is 10-0 following Saturday’s fourth-quarter rally against Mississippi State.
Oklahoma moved up two spots to third and Clemson stayed fourth in the AP poll and moved up to third in the coaches’ poll while Big Ten West Division champ Wisconsin cracked the top four.
Auburn, Georgia, the Buckeyes, Notre Dame and Oklahoma State round out the top 10 in both polls.