Gene Smith Doesn’t Think Ohio State Should Host College Football Playoff Games in Winter Weather

During a press conference at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on Wednesday, Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said he would not favor hosting a CFP game at the Shoe in bad weather. Instead, Smith would recommend playing the game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, believing it would be better for the Buckeyes to play the game in a “clean environment.”

“I don't want a hard surface for the players,” Smith said. “And I know the fans would love to have it in the Shoe and maybe it’s snowing or we’re playing whoever, but that surface is a whole new ballgame. And I would prefer to have the indoor elements and have a clean field. If it was this year, I would want (Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud) to have good weather. It’s just that simple.”

While Smith’s comments were immediately met with plenty of opposition on social media, he said he believes playing a CFP game indoors in Indianapolis rather than outdoors in Columbus would not subtract from the excitement of the game for Ohio State fans.

“We’ve been blessed to have experiences in (Lucas Oil Stadium) playing in the Big Ten championship and I think our fans understand that environment, they love the hotels, they love the restaurants and all that,” Smith said. “So while it's difficult to take it away from the Shoe, I still think that's the right thing to do for the players in the game.”

As part of the proposed College Football Playoff expansion model that would include first-round games hosted by the higher seeds, decision-makers have agreed on allowing northern teams to have the option to host those games in an indoor stadium of their choice rather than playing the games in adverse weather conditions. Smith said that was an important factor for schools in cold-weather climates as playoff discussions have continued.

“I know our fans rally around that, and they'd like to host Alabama up here. But now we have the flexibility to move into domes,” Smith said. “Now we can move into (Lucas Oil Stadium) or Ford Field (in Detroit) or Minneapolis or whatever if we ended up hosting. And I think that that's important, because who knows what the inclement weather could be like at that time of year in any of our places in the north. So we need that flexibility.”

He isn’t opposed to the idea of playing CFP games in Ohio Stadium if they are played early enough in December, but says decisions on where to play the games would have to be made well enough in advance to allow the proper time to prepare for hosting a playoff game.

“Pinpointing a date where this thing ends up, we may look at the historical calendar and say it's okay to play in Columbus,” Smith said. “But for us, it plays into the weather issue. The deeper you go in December, as you know, the more challenging it is here. 

“So I’m kind of anxious to see how this playoff schedule actually will end up. When will it actually start? So that's critical.”

Smith says he would not oppose teams in warm-weather climates hosting CFP games in their home stadiums even if Ohio State hosted a CFP game elsewhere.

“We would only do that because of weather,” said Smith, who was previously the athletic director at Arizona State before becoming Ohio State’s athletic director in 2005. “So I just want it for the north. I certainly wouldn’t want to go to Scottsdale and play in Glendale when you can play outdoors at Arizona State.”

“While it's difficult to take it away from the Shoe, I still think that's the right thing to do for the players in the game.”– Gene Smith on hosting a CFP game in Indianapolis over Ohio Stadium

Theoretically, Ohio State hosting a CFP game in Lucas Oil Stadium could mean playing two games in Indianapolis in a matter of weeks, as the annual Big Ten Championship Game is also played at Lucas Oil Stadium. That said, Smith says he believes there should be conversations about whether conference championship games are actually needed in an expanded playoff format, as eliminating those games could enable starting the playoff in early December.

“One of my concerns is the length of time that the playoff is going to take. We're going into the third week of January. Do we really need to do that to play the championship game?” Smith said. “Is that something that in a CFP calendar structure, is that still as valuable as it's been? So all that discussion is ongoing, and I really don't have a strong preference yet.”

Although CFP decision-makers have not yet come to an agreement on moving forward with playoff expansion, Smith still believes the playoff will expand to 12 teams and said he would be surprised if that does not happen, though he doesn’t know yet when it will happen.

“I think we're gonna get there, I just think we just got to keep working through these little interests that each conference has, and some people will have to sacrifice and give up some of those interests,” Smith said. “It’s a negotiation. So I think we'll get there. I hope we get there because I think it's a cool thing, I really do.”