The Spread, Week 7: Bye

Bye weeks are a mixed bag for college football fans. On one hand, the wait to watch your favorite team play is extended to a nearly unbearable length of time. (That’s why Christmas is scheduled during the off-period between the regular season and bowl games. Otherwise, nobody would get anything because when would we shop?) On the other hand, it’s nice sometimes to have a break to watch other teams struggle and fail without worrying about what your own team is doing. And after a couple of health-threatening games, most Buckeye fans are feeling pretty okay with not playing again this week.

Our bye comes right in the middle of our regular season and while things didn’t exactly go as expected, we are exactly where we want to be: 6-0. Undefeated. In the mix for a national championship.

Right?

Well, hopefully. I don’t need to tell you about the weekly articles about how overrated Ohio State is and how “down” the Big Ten is that started before any games had even been played and won’t stop unless we lose a game. Here’s this week’s version that hits on all your favorite anti-Buckeye/Urban talking points.

While the current flood of unbeaten teams is daunting, it’s unlikely that the season will end with more than two. And if we’re one of those two, we’ll be in the title game, no matter how many hearts it breaks. A one-loss Alabama (Or Oregon or Clemson or Oklahoma) isn’t going to be ranked ahead of an undefeated Ohio State at the end of any season. Ever.

The only thing that will keep us out of the title game (should we be fortunate enough to go 13-0) is the small chance that there are multiple other major undefeated teams. If Alabama and Oregon don’t lose, we’re out. But if that happens, then what? We go to the Rose Bowl against the Pac-12’s runner-up with a pretty good shot at yet another undefeated season. While getting shut out of the national title game would be disappointing, 26-0 is going to feel good no matter how we get it.

If the playoff were in place this year, we wouldn’t even be worried. It’s hard to even imagine a scenario where we wouldn’t make it into a four-team field at 13-0. That’s probably why it’s so easy for me to not stress over our potential impending snub. These BCS titles are about to be viewed in the same way as the pre-BCS titles are now: a legitimate source of pride, sure, but with the acknowledgement that they are open to debate. That won’t be the case with the playoff, even if there are some quibbles with the make-up of the field.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

%d bloggers like this: