In case you live under a rock, Ohio State made the 2016 College Football Playoff. The No. 3 Buckeyes are set to play No. 2 Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The selection committee set a new precedent by inserting the Buckeyes into the top four even though they did not win their conference. Still, a resume that included three wins over top-10 teams ended up being enough.
Fresh off becoming a new grandfather, Urban Meyer met with the assembled media on Sunday in the team room at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Notes:
- Meyer: "Obviously, a special day."
- Meyer said his family planned to have dinner on Saturday night before getting a phone call from his daughter who was on her way to the hospital. Shelley got to the hospital around 4 a.m., daughter gave birth around 5:30 a.m. and Meyer watched the selection show from the maternity ward.
- "I understand that these are all gifts."
- Meyer said he plans to send a text out to every player and coach on his team to inform them to approach this opportunity with "great humility and class."
- "It was a bizarre year ... we won the rivalry game, had a recruiting dinner that night and then the next day we were all on planes recruiting."
- Meyer said he and some other members of the staff are "a little under the weather" because of being on the road right after beating Michigan and recruiting.
- "Lot of anxiety, lot of hope because we are certainly one of the best teams in the country, but there are some great teams out there."
- Meyer: "You just don't know until you know."
- Meyer said it will be "all hands on deck" this week because of recruiting and finals week approaching for his players.
- Ohio State will focus fully on fundamentals for the next week before flipping to game planning the week before Christmas and then shortly after into game week before the New Year's Eve matchup. The Buckeyes plan to practice two or three times this week.
- On Clemson: "I know a lot of their personnel, we know them, a lot of respect for them. We know exactly what we're getting into."
- Meyer called Tiger quarterback Deshaun Watson "not a good player, a great player." Said he and Ohio State tried to get into his recruitment, but "it was over. He committed and was set on Clemson."
- Meyer said he watched Clemson beat Virginia Tech last night in addition to the Big Ten Championship.
- "These are the golden years of college football. What I watched last night, it doesn't get any better."
- Meyer called the Big Ten the best conference in the game multiple times.
- Meyer said he thinks his team got to its current point "a year early." Said he and his staff did not believe guys like Malik Hooker, Jerome Baker, Mike Weber, etc. would develop so quickly: "You don't really think that far ahead because you don't have time, but now I can reflect on the season I'm very proud of the progress."
- Meyer noted how the game at Oklahoma "kind of turned out to be a difference in this situation."
- Meyer said "the reason you go to work every day" is to win the Big Ten: "I think it's extremely important."
- Meyer said the Playoff is "great" for the sport but is very hard on the players because there are two extra games for the wear and tear: "I don't use that word 'fun' very often. It's very rewarding and it's why you come to Ohio State ... we're going to try and come off the field victorious. There is nothing better about doing that."
- On playing in a dome, Meyer said he hasn't thought much about how his offense seems to perform better in a weather-controlled environment.
- On Clemson, Meyer said the skill set on offense "is over the top. They're all NFL players."
- Meyer said Ohio State "has to get much better" and the challenge has already been laid across the table in front of his coaches: "We have 27 days to get to be nine strong."
- Meyer said he'd much rather play in a conference championship game because it gives his team another opportunity to play and get better: "I think that's a big deal."
- Meyer brought up the 2006 season when he was at Florida and how the Gators had to play another game before facing Ohio State for the national title, which had been off for six weeks: "We were still going. I have to somehow find a way to simulate that in practice."
- Meyer called who teams play in the beginning season "critical." Noted how well Oklahoma is playing right now and the fact it is a conference champion: "They're playing as well as anybody in the country right now but that game [against Ohio State] made a difference for the Playoff."
