Bowl Projections: Why Ohio State's chances at the playoff are slim to none
Sorry, Ohio State. Your chances of making the College Football Playoff are still really slim with a win against Wisconsin.
The Buckeyes came in at No. 8 in Tuesday night’s rankings. That’s three spots below No. 5 Alabama and five spots below No. 3 Oklahoma. That’s important if there’s chaos on championship Saturday.
Right now, the four teams in the playoff are Clemson, Auburn, Oklahoma and Wisconsin. This last set of bowl projections pencils them all in the playoff. If Ohio State beats Wisconsin and Oklahoma wins, will it jump over a one-loss Alabama team? We don’t think so. If the committee thought Ohio State and Alabama were of similar quality, it wouldn’t be three spots apart in the rankings.
What about if Oklahoma loses? Well, the Sooners pose a problem there too. Oklahoma beat Ohio State in Week 2. If the two teams end with the same record, shouldn’t the head-to-head win by Oklahoma on the road outweigh the conference championship Ohio State has and keep the Sooners ahead of the Buckeyes? We certainly think so.
Here are our final bowl projections of the season. With more teams eligible for bowls than there are spots, there are going to be some teams left out when the bowls are chosen Sunday. That doesn’t bode well for the MAC, which has seven bowl eligible teams and only five bowl tie-ins available.
New Orleans Bowl, Dec. 16
Southern Miss vs. Troy
Cure Bowl, Dec. 16
Georgia State vs. Marshall
Las Vegas Bowl, Dec. 16
Boise State vs. Arizona State
New Mexico Bowl, Dec. 16
Texas-San Antonio vs. Fresno State
Camellia Bowl, Dec. 16
Akron vs. Appalachian State
Boca Raton Bowl, Dec. 19
Temple vs. Florida International
Frisco Bowl, Dec. 20
SMU vs. North Texas
St. Petersburg Bowl, Dec. 21
South Florida vs. Florida Atlantic
Bahamas Bowl, Dec. 22
Ohio vs. UAB
Potato Bowl, Dec. 22
Northern Illinois vs. Wyoming
Birmingham Bowl, Dec. 23
Houston vs. Central Michigan
Armed Forces Bowl, Dec. 23
Army vs. Middle Tennessee State
Dollar General Bowl, Dec. 23
Toledo vs. Arkansas State
Hawaii Bowl, Dec. 24
Memphis vs. San Diego State
Quick Lane Bowl, Dec. 26
Duke vs. Purdue
Heart of Dallas Bowl, Dec. 26
Texas Tech vs. Western Kentucky
Cactus Bowl, Dec. 26
West Virginia vs. Utah
Independence Bowl, Dec. 27
Florida State vs. Louisiana Tech
Pinstripe Bowl, Dec. 27
Boston College vs. Iowa
Foster Farms Bowl, Dec. 27
Oregon vs. Northwestern
Texas Bowl, Dec. 27
Texas vs. UCLA
Holiday Bowl, Dec. 28
Stanford vs. Michigan State
Military Bowl, Dec. 28
Navy vs. Virginia
Camping World Bowl, Dec. 28
Virginia Tech vs. Iowa State
Alamo Bowl, Dec. 28
Oklahoma State vs. Washington State
Belk Bowl, Dec. 29
Wake Forest vs. Kentucky
Sun Bowl, Dec. 29
N.C. State vs. Arizona
Music City Bowl, Dec. 29
Louisville vs. Texas A&M
Cotton Bowl, Dec. 29
TCU vs. Washington
Arizona Bowl, Dec. 30
Colorado State vs. New Mexico State
TaxSlayer Bowl, Dec. 30
South Carolina vs. Michigan
Liberty Bowl, Dec. 30
Kansas State vs. Missouri
Fiesta Bowl, Dec. 30
USC vs. Georgia
Orange Bowl, Dec. 30
Miami vs. Penn State
Outback Bowl, Jan. 1
Mississippi State vs. Ohio State
Peach Bowl, Jan. 1
Central Florida vs. Alabama
Citrus Bowl, Jan. 1
Notre Dame vs. LSU
Rose Bowl, Jan. 1 [College Football Playoff Semifinal]
Auburn vs. Oklahoma
Sugar Bowl, Jan. 1 [College Football Playoff Semifinal]
Clemson vs. Wisconsin
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Nick Bromberg is the editor of Dr. Saturday and From the Marbles on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at nickbromberg@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
