With USC losing to Utah in the Pac-12 Championship Game last night, the door has been knocked wide open for Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes to get into the College Football Playoff. And Day knows it too.
Appearing on College GameDay this morning, Day was gracious for his Buckeyes being given new life by USC’s loss. He said that it was an emotional roller coaster for him after feeling like the season was over with their loss to Michigan last week.
“You get an opportunity to go play in this thing, you’re two games away from a national championship after feeling like, a few days ago, your season was over,” Day said. “It has been an emotional roller coaster. When you go through a few days where you think maybe your whole season is gone and all of a sudden, you start to build hope and start to see the opportunity where everything is right in front of you.”
Ohio State loss by 22 points at home to Michigan last week, dropping from No. 2 to No. 5 in the College Football Playoff ranking. But despite falling out of the top four, the Selection Committee left the door open for them to come in if USC suffered their second loss of the season.
Now that the Trojans have two losses on the season, it’s impossible to justify putting them in over Ohio State.
That isn’t to say that Ohio State is a lock to get into the College Football Playoff now. While it would be unprecedented, there’s still a chance that the Selection Committee opts to put 10-2 Alabama in over the Buckeyes.
It’s unlikely, but there’s been enough craziness in college football this season to suggest that nothing is impossible.
Will the Buckeyes get into the College Football Playoff now?
Do they deserve to get in?
We’ll find out soon.