I figured I'd get this posted prior to the Clemson/Ohio State game kicking off, otherwise I'd risk being overtly self-serving.
Swinney, Clemson's head coach, took all kinds of heat for ranking Ohio State eleventh in the final Coaches Poll. Swinney defended his decision logically and concisely in an interview with Sam Cooper for Yahoo Sports. Basically, Swinney said that he couldn't put Ohio State in the top 10 because they simply hadn't played enough games.
Rather than criticizing Swinney, I'm going to argue here that Swinney probably OVER-rated Ohio State. Unless you consider the 2020 Ohio State team as a clone of the 2019 team, which evidently the "committee" does, there is absolutely zero reason to place the 2020 Ohio State squad in the top 10, much less the college football playoff. This Ohio State team has demonstrated nothing against a pitiful schedule. The 2020 Buckeye defense is very ordinary. Without their quarterback, they are a .500 team in the SEC or Big 12. With their quarterback, well, I'm not sure.
In 2011, Ohio State president Gordon Gee claimed Ohio State deserved title game consideration because the Buckeyes, unlike TCU and Boise State, didn't play "the Little Sisters of the Poor." Well, looking at Ohio State's 2020 schedule, the Buckeyes have faced the blind orphaned children of the Little Sisters of the Poor.
I love the way Northwestern plays, and I actually had them at 200-1 to win the Big 10. But realistically, Northwestern may have been the best team Ohio State played, and that isn't saying a whole lot. The Buckeyes didn't face Iowa or Wisconsin. They played a really lousy slate of opponents. No computer using 2020 numbers could put Ohio State in the top six or seven teams.
Ohio State going to the playoff is all brand name and television ratings. It's just another example of monopolization and venality, of networks putting heavy thumbs on the decision-making scales because they pay the bills. It's crony monopoly capitalism at its most venal. But Howard Cosell isn't on the broadcast teams, so that probably won't get a mention.
Swinney was, I think, overly generous in his evaluation of Ohio State. The Buckeyes' schedule merited a spot in the Liberty Bowl or thereabouts. Three of the four playoff teams, Clemson included, have jury-rigged silo-scheduling resumes. That, however, is a tale for another day. For now, I'll just say that Swinney got the Ohio State ranking correct, and he should be saluted.
Bob Dietz
January 1, 2021
