Buckeyes outlast Northwestern: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
November 1, 2016Cleveland Browns Progress Report: Week 8
November 1, 2016After pulling through and beating the Northwestern Wildcats in a close game back in The Horseshoe Saturday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes moved up to No. 6 in the Associated Press poll and remained at No. 6 in the Coaches poll.
The Buckeyes may have struggled—again—but were able to do just enough to come out victorious. Even though they may have barely beaten an unranked Northwestern team, the scarlet and gray were able to make a case for themselves as one of the top teams in college football.
Heading into Week 10, five Big Ten teams are ranked, including the Buckeyes, in the Top 25, including four in the Top 10: (AP poll, Coaches poll)
- Michigan: No. 2, No. 2
- Wisconsin: No. 8, No. 9
- Nebraska: No. 9, No. 10
- Penn State: No. 20, No. 23
The Buckeyes are set to host the No. 9/10 Nebraska Cornhuskers Saturday night in their second biggest remaining regular season game. Nebraska’s lone loss of the season came this past Saturday at Wisconsin. Not only will the Big Ten standings be on the line, but if Ohio State wants any shot of making the College Football Playoff, they will have to take care of business from here on out, no matter who the opponent is.
Speaking of the Playoff, the first official College Football Playoff committee rankings will be revealed Tuesday night. While the AP and Coaches poll will continue to do their own rankings, the only ones that will matter the rest of the season are the committee’s rankings because they are the ones who choose the four teams who make the College Football Playoff.
Ahead of their game against Nebraska, the Buckeyes have beaten two ranked teams this season, both of which were on the road: Wisconsin (No. 8/9) and Oklahoma (No. 12/11); their lone loss came against Penn State (No. 20/23), which was also on the road. Their loss will hurt them, but that is still an above average resume, to say the least.
Ohio State and Nebraska are set to kickoff their Top 10 matchup at 8 p.m. ET Saturday night in Ohio Stadium.