In an effort to channel the collective Buckeye Nation's focus towards what matters this Saturday, I thought I'd mention a few things I've discussed off site about why The Game is the only thing we have to worry about to take care of business and secure our chance at a national championship. Obviously this will primarily center around discussing why the perceived threat of Penn State is a non-factor to us, but I want to bring up a few points that people aren't talking about right now.
1) The Joe Paterno situation. Before you pull out your pitchforks and eye rolls , let me remind you that it's a committee of humans that makes these decisions now. They are not prepared to have an institution like Penn State be a potential representative of college football around the world so soon after uncovering decades of child abuse. This isn't stopping Penn State from making the playoff, but if they have any reason to leave them out you can bet your golden pants they will do so without hesitation.
2) Brand. There are only two coaches at two schools that have won the college football playoff. In year three, nothing will draw more ratings than a rematch of Urban Meyer and Nick Saban, the only two playoff winners and the best in the game. College football is a business whether anyone wants to admit it or not, and this is too great of an investment to pass up.
3) Penn State lost by 39 points, and they lost twice. Early losses can be forgiven, but the potential best team in the country doesn't lose by 39 points to anyone. Those two losses are also leaving Penn State stuck in the conversation alongside teams like USC and Oklahoma, playing some of the best football in the country but sitting outside the playoff bubble. The difference is, nobody is looking at Penn State and saying they are playing at the same level. They're coasting on a win over Ohio State and nothing else.
4) Finally, a reminder. Head to head and conference championships are tiebreakers, not prerequisites. Our resume and level of play is not even comparable to Penn State. If this becomes a discussion, our best wins will be Michigan, @Wisconsin, @Oklahoma, and Nebraska. Penn State's will be Ohio State, Iowa(?), Temple(??), and Minnesota(???).
Hopefully this has convinced some of you that nothing else matters except this Saturday. Win and we're in. Go Bucks, it's coming up on 4:00 PM and Michigan still sucks.
