The Big Ten has decided that Ohio State will be eligible for its conference championship game despite playing only a five-game schedule. Now that the Buckeyes are going to face Northwestern for the Big Ten championship, the question is whether or not a win would be enough to justify including them in the College Football Playoff.
Dabo Swinney does not think the Buckeyes deserve to get in.
Swinney spoke at length about the College Football Playoff debate during an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show” on Thursday. The Clemson coach said he would rather have a two-loss team in the playoff than a team like Ohio State that only played six games.
“I just think there has to be some type of standard. If I was on the committee, it would be hard for me to leave out a 10-1 Texas A&M or an 11-game Florida team over a team that’s played six games,” Swinney said, as transcribed by Brendan Gulick of Sports Illustrated. “That would be hard for me if I was on a committee, but I’m not on the committee. So it doesn’t really matter.”
Swinney said his opinion has nothing to do with whether he believes the Buckeyes are talented enough to win the title. He simply feels the College Football Playoff Committee should “lean toward rewarding the teams that have been all in.”
Of course, Swinney’s view on the situation is self-serving. Clemson has one loss heading into their Dec. 19 ACC Championship Game against Notre Dame. If the Irish beat them again, the Tigers will be 9-2. It goes without saying that Swinney hopes the committee might eliminate Ohio State from the conversation, which would make more room for Clemson to get in.
Ohio State has considered a game against a last-second opponent for Saturday, but that did not come together. There is going to be some serious controversy surrounding the CFP no matter what happens over the next two weeks.
