Billy Price is appealing abundant the best adduce on this Ohio State team, but he wasn’t bitter on the playoff talk.
“I aloof appetite to enjoy this win,” he said with no aggravation or animus in his voice.
A simple abundant request, right?
I absolutely can’t accusation him.
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Ohio State’s brilliant center, Price had aloof won his additional Big Ten championship the aforementioned anniversary he was called the conference’s top abhorrent lineman.
He had aloof watched classmate J.T. Barrett gut out a acceptable achievement beneath than a anniversary afterwards accepting arthroscopic knee surgery.
He had a lot to be blessed about activity on aural the Lucas Oil Stadium walls afterwards annoying about annihilation else.
But the allocution was angry alike afore Ohio State had accomplished its 27-21 win over Wisconsin on Saturday night in the Big Ten Championship game.
Even afore it was scheduled.
Even afore the accomplished division started, right?
Sometimes it seems like that’s all we allocution about all year (no baby acknowledgment to ESPN ad campaigns).
Urban Meyer allegedly has noticed this as well.
“Just amazing how important this playoff is and how the accomplished apple revolves about it,” he said, and this time there was a little alkali in the delivery. Maybe a slight eye roll, too.
But Meyer understands reality. He gets the game.
That’s why he spent addition allotment of his postgame columnist appointment advertence the case for his team.
“I anticipate our backbone of schedule, affection wins is astounding — and we're appointment champions,” Meyer said. “Once again, two wins over top four. I don't apperceive if anyone's done that. Two wins over top four teams this year. Addition blast win adjoin a 12 aggregation in America. And so we played three top bristles teams and we won two of them.”
For Meyer and others afraid to allocution about annihilation else, there’s some acceptable news.
This agitation mercifully has an cessation date, and it’s advancing soon.
By the basal of the apex hour, we’ll apperceive who fabricated academy football’s final four for the 2017 season.
All break are it will appear bottomward to Ohio State and Alabama (joining Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma).
The best is annihilation beneath than an existential crisis for the playoff committee, which is affirmed to get it amiss one way or another.
As Meyer alluded, Ohio State’s best wins are added absorbing than those of the Crimson Tide.
A Buckeyes’ accident — to Big 12 best Oklahoma — additionally is added admirable than Alabama’s, which came aloof aftermost anniversary to the aforementioned Auburn aggregation that was baffled calmly by Georgia in the SEC Championship bold Saturday.
But there’s one added fly in the ointment, and it’s a big one.
Ohio State has addition loss. Not alone that, it was a 55-24 beatdown at Iowa, who concluded up actuality no good.
We apperceive how the board treats teams that are not appointment champions.
Have a able abundant resume and that’s OK.
We don’t absolutely apperceive what it takes for them to discount a additional loss, though, because that hasn’t happened.
And until a little bit afterwards apex Sunday, we absolutely can’t do annihilation but guess.
Fans of both teams can additionally allotment this affect from Meyer: “I achievement we get a shot.”
Ohio State didn’t absolutely attending like a blackmail to assault off one of the top three as it struggled to authority off Wisconsin, but at atomic the Buckeyes were playing, right?
How is it activity to attending to accept Alabama get in afterwards accident its bigger bold of the division — one that additionally happens to be the aftermost one the Crimson Tide played?
All I absolutely apperceive now is Ohio State has done abundant to get in by assault Penn State, Michigan State, Michigan and Wisconsin and acceptable the Big Ten.
The Buckeyes additionally did abundant to get larboard out by accident the way they did to Oklahoma and Iowa.
Although it won’t stop them, no one has annihilation to accuse about no amount the committee’s decision.
If that’s disappointing, well, there’s consistently abutting year.
There’s additionally the actual absolute achievability Ohio State —or Alabama — is artlessly cat-and-mouse to be accepted the appropriate to lose to a bigger aggregation on January 1.
Is it account it in that case?
Was accepting absolute out by Clemson aftermost year bigger than active over Notre Dame in a absurd bold the year before?
I tend to anticipate it was because it’s bigger to be allotment of the appearance than not.
Alabama hasn’t accurate it can exhausted anyone aristocratic this season.
Ohio State has accomplished college heights but apparent lower lows.
But four teams accept to accomplish the playoff — no more, no beneath — so addition is accepting a shot.
And neither aggregation ability be the aforementioned afterwards a ages to regroup, anyway.
See the 2014 Buckeyes for an archetype of that phenomenon…. or the ’16 adaptation for one that shows up in the postseason with all the aforementioned problems that were there in the aboriginal 12 or 13 weeks.
In the acceptable measure, Ohio State had a bigger division than Alabama.
There’s no agitation about that.
The Buckeyes are accepting a championship banner. They exhausted their battling again, and those triumphs over Penn State and Michigan State were appealing memorable, too.
Iowa printed t-shirts to admire their win, but Ohio State has addition year to add to the bank of champions in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Maybe that’s how the board should attending at it.
Will they?
Your assumption is as acceptable as mine.
