COLUMBUS – The Buckeyes were among the biggest beneficiaries from a wild night of upsets in college football.
Ohio State (9-1, 6-1 Big Ten) and Louisville moved up behind No. 1 Alabama in both major college football polls after three of the top four – Michigan (9-1, 6-1), Clemson and Washington – lost to unranked opponents. Those teams are also among the top four in the College Football Playoff rankings, which will no doubt look differently when the new version is released Tuesday night.
Michigan’s loss is not unequivocally good news for Buckeye fans because it makes three-way tie between OSU, Michigan and Penn State (8-2, 6-1) for the top spot in the Big Ten East Division standings. In the case of a tie among those teams, Ohio State would advance to the conference championship game on Dec. 3.
However, the Buckeyes lose a two-way tie with the Nittany Lions because Ohio State lost at Penn State on Oct. 23. Buckeye fans need Penn State to lose this weekend at Rutgers (2-8, 0-7) or to Michigan State (3-7, 1-6) on Nov. 26 for OSU to win the division outright.
However, Buckeye victories against the Spartans this Saturday (Noon/ESPN) and the Wolverines on Nov. 26 (Noon/ABC or ESPN) could make Ohio State’s place in the top four of the playoff standings so secure that a failure to appear in the conference championship will not eliminate them from a semifinal.
The fly in the ointment? The Wisconsin Badgers (8-2, 5-2), tied for first place in the West Division with Nebraska (8-2, 5-2), who lost in Madison.
Wisconsin is No. 6 in the polls and could replace Ohio State in the CFP rankings with a victory in the conference title game. Wisconsin still must travel to Purdue (3-7, 1-6) and host Minnesota (7-3, 4-3) Nov. 26 in the battle for Paul Bunyan’s Axe and a loss in either game could scuttle the Badgers’ chances.
Game Notes (Maryland):
J.T. Barrett accounted for four more touchdowns in Saturday’s 62-3 win over Maryland, bringing his school-record total to 98. That total ranks second all-time in Big Ten history and he is now eight shy of the conference record of 106 held by Purdue’s Drew Brees
Freshman Mike Weber rushed 12 times for 93 yards. Weber is just 65 yards from 1,000 with 935 yards. Weber is seeking to become the third Ohio State freshman to rush for 1,000 yards. Robert Smith (1990) and Maurice Clarett (2002) are the other two.
Ohio State’s defense has given up just 10 touchdowns this season and has allowed just three rushing touchdowns on the season, the fewest in the FBS. They also have scored six defensive TDs on the season, second best in the FBS.