After practice Tuesdays, Ohio State’s coaches and players gather for team dinner at about the same time the weekly edition of the latest College Football Playoff rankings are unveiled.
It wasn’t planned that way, but the Buckeyes are fittingly together to watch a selection committee’s slow but sure process that will ultimately determine a fate that binds them.
“We have TVs up there, we’re all up eating dinner and we all watch it,” redshirt sophomore guard Pat Elflein said. “Everyone’s always up there watching it.”
What they saw last night was their soaring stock rise some more after a hearty road win against No. 25 Minnesota last weekend in arctic weather conditions.
As the sixth-ranked team in the nation, Ohio State is still outside looking in when it comes to the four-team playoff. But finally, its nose is pressed against the glass.
With the regular season nearing an end, the Buckeyes are making their final push to break through that barrier. A win against Indiana this weekend can clinch a spot in the Big Ten championship game and potential date with No. 16 Wisconsin.
If they win out and maximize those opportunities, there is a general sense head coach Urban Meyer’s crew will have as good a shot as any to make the playoff. It’s a different script than one a few weeks ago where little would be enough to shed the hulking anchor that’s been a miserable loss to Virginia Tech in September.
It’s because the battle of perception — perhaps a more important struggle in a larger arena has already been won.
“Ohio State has had two impressive road wins inside the Big Ten. That made a very positive statement,” committee chair and Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said during ESPN's telecast.
“We're very impressed with the work they have done the last two weeks, particularly because it was on the road.”
The win against the Gophers was undoubtedly solid. Yet in its immediate aftermath, the triumph seemed imperfect. Turnovers made the contest look closer than the final score indicated and — in the eyes of an all-seeing selection committee evaluating their every move — the Buckeyes looked like they might’ve missed a critical chance to impress it.
We know that’s not the case, but of greatest interest is why it’s not.
“I am changing my opinion on how much Virginia Tech loss should hurt Ohio State a little bit. I am not going to hold it against them as much,” ESPN pundit David Pollack said during the network’s broadcast.
But why?
Why doesn’t it look so terrible anymore?
Why was winning out not good enough to leapfrog other one-loss teams before? Why is it enough to suddenly jump Baylor now?
Since when are wins against Minnesota important enough to be called impressive? Why didn't the committee drop the Gophers from the rankings for losing to the Buckeyes?
Perception.
Because for as bad as the Big Ten has been in recent years — including a dismal non-conference showing earlier this season — the Buckeyes either aren’t being punished for the rest of the league's shortcomings or the committee takes favor on the conference.
The latter's not as big of a stretch as you probably think it is: Michigan State's ranked 11th, the Badgers 16th, Nebraska 23rd and Minnesota 25th
It's why back-to-back wins against ranked opponents in the Spartans and Gophers have vaulted Ohio State back into the national conversation — an unthinkable feat nine weeks ago.
But here we are in mid-November and here we are talking about the Buckeyes as one of the top teams in the country.
The difference between that team — the one that coiled away after it took a punch to the face from the Hokies — and the team that’s rolling with a explosive offense and confident defense is remarkable.
“We are lights out a much better football team than we were at the beginning of the season,” Meyer said.
The Big Ten still has a lot to prove on the national stage, but its futility hasn’t made climbing back into the playoffs for Ohio State an impossible ascent.
