FederateStatesofAmerica wrote:I'm actually 100% convinced at this point you only hate the CFP because OSU won. Please, OSU was clearly the best team in the country. There's no way you can argue around it. [...] You're upset, I get it. But there's no reason to act like you're this pretentious expert on CFP, when clearly you're not.
Bythyrona wrote:That's probably why I'm in the military instead of scouting in the NFL, then, right? I'm as unprofessional and unpaid as they come, but everything I post is with some conviction that it nears the truth more than vaguaries of ESPN.
lol. It's a repeat of the 2011 Alabama-LSU situation. OSU did not deserve to be in the CFP in the first place.
Ohio State got stomped the fuck out 35-21 by a team that has two wins in the ACC.
One game is NOT A WHOLE SCHEDULE. OHIO STATE STILL GOT DEMOLISHED BY A .500 ACC TEAM. FUCKING FUCK.
TCU's one loss was to a top ten team at Baylor by a field goal (and due in part to awful late game officiating). OSU's one loss was to a 7-6 ACC team by two touchdowns... at the Horseshoe.
There's plenty of doubt in my mind Ohio State deserved to be in the CFP. We encountered a similar situation in 2011 where Alabama lost to LSU in the regular season and did not deserve to be in the BCS title game, but despite my bitching and moaning about blatant SEC bias and how you can't have a team that didn't even win its own DIVISION playing for a national title AND how Bama got rewarded for losing while LSU had to play Georgia for the SEC title... we all still saw LSU shit the bed. (...fuck you, ESPN... I ended up splitting the title between the two teams. Still makes me sick.)
I don't care why the [VTech] loss happened or when the loss happened - it was still, at the end of the day, a two touchdown loss to a middling Virginia Tech team AT HOME.
OSU was not a serious playoff contender until conference championship week. Let's review:
-In an early scare against Navy, OSU was down 7-6 at halftime, and clinging to a field goal lead with 13:54 remaining. The Buckeyes indeed surged late, but this game was easily the first upset alert of the year. OSU also surrendered 370 rushing yards this game.
-Next, we have the aforementioned two touchdown loss at The 'Shoe to a middling-at-best VTech team.
-Fast forward a week past a pasting of Kent State to the Cincinnati game; OSU's defense was again shredded, this time through the air. ("The Buckeyes (3-1), who won their 40th consecutive game over an in-state opponent, totaled 710 yards. But their defense couldn't stop the Bearcats, who had wide-out Chris Moore catch three passes for TDs of 60, 83 and 78 yards. Not until Barrett hit Devin Smith with a 29-yard scoring pass early in the fourth quarter was it clear the Buckeyes would survive. That made it 50-28 and finally eased the anxiety of the huge crowd.")
-OSU then played two games against two teams that don't belong in the Big Ten and proceeded to dominate as they should have. Unfortunately, Penn State refused to let them off the hook, and the Buckeyes escaped by the skin of their teeth in second overtime after their defense again collapsed. Rivalry or not, the Nittany Lions were 7-6 this year as Christian Hackenberg was totally lost in the sauce. This game is easily the biggest non-loss argument against Ohio State's worth.
-Ohio State proceeded to demolish the Illini and ruined the illusion of Michigan State's defensive domination... but unfortunately for the Bucks the week after, however, they almost allowed Minnesota back in the game late with sloppy play, managing to get a one touchdown win. (Admittedly, the Gophers would've needed luck to tie the game up late, but the fact that they were permitted to reduce the lead to a single score doesn't look good.)
-Next, they pulled away late from the very upset-minded Indiana Hoosiers, who led 20-14 midway through the third quarter and were behind by just 28-20 with four minutes left. OSU was favored by 34 points...
-And in the final week of the regular season, the Buckeyes were again forced to pour it on late, this time against a pathetically anemic Michigan squad - the teams were tied at halftime, and the Wolverines were behind just a touchdown at the close of the third quarter.
