An Argument to keep Indiana in the B1G Title Game
Now that the OSU game is officially canceled, I expect that the B1G will change the rules for OSU. The most obvious argument for that is that OSU beat Indiana, is undefeated, and is pretty obviously the best team. Hard to really push back much against that.
But, if you wanted to make the case for Indiana from a B1G perspective, I would argue there is a financial incentive to keeping Indiana in the championship game in that the B1G champion is guaranteed a NY6 bowl game and it doesn't look like a second B1G team has a realistic shot at one of those bowls if OSU is the B1G champ.
It seems likely that a 6-0 OSU with a win over Wisconsin or Iowa that isn't technically the B1G champ is just as likely as a 6-0 OSU with a win over Northwestern and a B1G championship to make the playoff.
I say give Indiana the shot, they'll probably never get another shot at it. Shame that the Rose Bowl is a semifinal this year so they won't get to play there.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
I upvoted this only out of obligation, not out of joy
December 8th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
its fitting because jim is wearing a dress
December 8th, 2020 at 2:06 PM ^
And is on his knees...
JFC
December 8th, 2020 at 2:08 PM ^
with his mouth... oh, never mind.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:07 PM ^
While handling balls
December 8th, 2020 at 2:08 PM ^
....and with his mouth open! But is he wearing cleats?
/I will show myself out now
December 8th, 2020 at 2:10 PM ^
Spectacular
December 8th, 2020 at 4:06 PM ^
Haha that gave me a much needed laugh. I know osu is good but I’ve had about enough of their bullshit.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:50 PM ^
You can't change the rules after the games were played.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:56 PM ^
Agree. Like it or not OSU is the best team in the Big Ten and deserves the CFP.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:18 PM ^
They sure do deserve it after playing that brutal schedule that involved all of 1 team with a winning record.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:54 PM ^
This.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
Did you know you can get a first down even if your knee is down before the ball crosses the first yard marker? But only if the game is on the line on 4th down with time expiring when OSU is playing Michigan. And only if the down player is an OSU player.
Pretty sure this is written in the fine print of the BIG 10 officiating rule book.
December 8th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
FFS.....don't give them ideas.
December 8th, 2020 at 2:15 PM ^
The obvious hold by #88. My lord. I hate watching but I'm a glutton for it.
December 8th, 2020 at 2:07 PM ^
You SHOULDN'T.....
but you can bet your ass they're going to try...
December 9th, 2020 at 11:34 AM ^
Of course you can. The rule was hastily written nonsense by an office that's screwed up every angle of this from the get go. Why should a Big 10 team get screwed out of a chance at a title just because the idiots running the league thought they could move the whole season to January without consulting any other leagues, then had to hastily backtrack and try to play the entire season in the middle of the worst period of outbreak instead of being able to space the season out like everyone else did.
Nobody on this board would say "rules are rules" if the roles were reversed and this was Michigan who was undefeated but couldn't meet some arbitrary games played limit.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:51 PM ^
There shouldn't even be an arguement. OSU shouldn't be in title game because it's against the rules they made for this exact senario like two months ago. They wouldn't bend it for Indiana if the roles were reversed. If they let OSU in, it's the kind of signal to the big ten that broke up the B12: really only one team matters and we'll give them whatever they want.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^
If you want to follow "the letter of the law" perfectly - fair enough.
But I don't think anyone can make a reasonable argument against this: "based on the data and the results of all the B1G games played thus far, Ohio State is the best football team in the B1G East in 2020."
OSU & Indiana went a combined 8-0 against the quintet of U-M, MSU, Maryland, PSU & Rutgers. OSU & Indiana are better than all 5 of those teams.
Between those 2, OSU beat Indiana head-to-head.
OSU is the best football team in the B1G East in 2020. As such, I'm fine using the "spirit of the law" and giving OSU a spot in the conference Title game.
December 8th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
The issue with one game, non-neutral site matchups is that one team always has homefield advantage. OSU winning by a touchdown at home is as close to even as you're gonna get. Further, you can argue that Indiana's win over Wisconsin is more impressive than anything OSU has done this year
They won't give it to IU, but they do have an argument
December 8th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
and remember IU is without Penix now which I would assume makes them not nearly as good as they were.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:51 PM ^
There you go! History repeats itself. Dennis Franklin broke his arm and OSU has a better chance to win the Rose Bowl so let’s vote to send them instead of Michigan even though they tied and OSU was there more recently!
December 8th, 2020 at 2:02 PM ^
Not sure you need to spell out the obvious.
We clearly want OSU to not qualify for the BIG 10 championship because we are bitter. That doesn't mean the argument that the league changing it's rules for OSU's favor is not a dangerous precedent. And if the goal is to maximize revenue, then it does make sense to let NU or IU go to a Rose bowl since OSU most definitely will be in the Playoffs anyways.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:28 PM ^
That's for the CFP committee to decide if they think ohio is a top4 team. Doesn't mean the conference should change its rules, which ohio had a large part in designing and agreeing to.
December 8th, 2020 at 4:00 PM ^
The CFP can use whatever criteria they want to select their invitees (which can be highly artibitrary and subjective, by design).
The conference rules were put down in writing and agreed to by all parties before the season even started. How is it fair to change them now simply because the outcome is not what everyone expected?
If I were in the Indiana AD, I would fight this tooth and nail.
Realistically, osu will probably schedule some big ten replacement at the last minute to check off their "sixth win" and render the argument moot.
December 8th, 2020 at 2:00 PM ^
there is also a rule that if 2 teams can't play because of covid, they can play each other
Purdue is having covid issues
IU and OSU might play again this weekend
December 8th, 2020 at 2:04 PM ^
If the role was reversed, you bet your ass the B1G would bend over for Indiana because Indiana would be in best position to get to the playoff so B1G would get a big payout. They'll do it for any B1G team who has a shot of making the playoff
December 8th, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
The only argument that I would make in OSU's defense is they only missed 1 game due to their own COVID-19 outbreak; the other two games were due to other teams' mistakes. I feel like the spirit of the rule was to punish teams that couldn't handle COVID-19 outbreaks (as near-sighted and illogical as that may be about a pandemic that is currently raging across the entire country), not necessarily teams that just had bad luck in terms of scheduling.
I still think bending the rule for OSU is a bad precedent, but I could see that being a rationalization for a change that wouldn't feel so egregiously pro-OSU.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:26 PM ^
i think that's one of 4 arguments i would make in osu's favor, the other three being:
1. it's nonsense that osu losing this week would be a better outcome for its conference title hopes
2. the "rule" being bent was created ad hoc like two months ago and could easily be changed ad hoc again now that new info has come to light and the application of the old rule would be insane
3. osu beat the other team involved h2h, and is undefeated
December 8th, 2020 at 3:53 PM ^
Heart to Heart?
I bet that would be deleted too.
December 9th, 2020 at 12:02 PM ^
I'm not sure screwing over the one school that consistently competes for national titles is the road to long term success for the Big 10.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
Because fuck Ohio State, that’s my argument. Gene Smith said 2 weeks ago Ohio State could have played Illinois but they canceled the game. It’s on them, don’t bend the rules now that they don’t meet the game quota.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:55 PM ^
Do you have a link to that? Genuinely haven't heard that before
December 8th, 2020 at 2:03 PM ^
Back story, I live in Columbus and they do a show on ABC called the Buckeye Football Fever from 11-noon on Saturday. 2 weeks ago they had a zoom call on with Gene Smith, two OSU reporters, and the OSU team doctor. Gene Smith said they could have played but chose not to. I’m sure there’s a video of it floating around somewhere, I saw it live on TV.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^
precisely my argument as well. Fuck Ohio State.
December 8th, 2020 at 7:14 PM ^
I don't like your sentiment.. but your username is pretty great. +1 for that at least.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:52 PM ^
I'd be absolutely shocked if Ohio State is not in the B1G Title Game. The B1G have caved to Ohio State before and they surely will again.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:58 PM ^
We should absolutely vote to give them our spot in the title game and give each and every one of our hard working boys a Participation Trophy and a M Varsity Mask!
December 8th, 2020 at 1:53 PM ^
I very much agree with this take. I'll add that the CFP committee constantly preaches that they're looking for the 4 best teams. They've even taken a team that didn't even win their division. So OSU beating Wisconsin should look better than OSU beating Northwestern, regardless of what that game happens to be called.
Also, I really don't want to take this special season away from Indiana. The rules were in place at the start of the season, they played by them, and now they have a chance at a Big Ten title. To change the rules to gift the championship to another team seems very anti-competitive, and certainly against the principles of integrity and whatever that these coaches and administrators say they're trying to instill in their student-athletes.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:54 PM ^
It's lame and shitty, but they will let OSU play because they will give the big ten a playoff team, full stop. We would be screaming if we were in there position (lol like that would happen)
It's a shame that Indiana's great season only got them so far, but that's why the big ten east is one of the toughest divisions in cfb. There's literally zero margin for error
December 8th, 2020 at 1:59 PM ^
This is the correct take. Can you imagine if UM beat OSU head to head, was undefeated, and OSU was given the playoff because UM played one too few games? This place would melt down.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:19 PM ^
But this isn't for a spot in the playoffs, this is for the BTCG. If OSU wins their crossover game, they're getting a spot in the playoff over IU, even if IU wins the B1G.
December 8th, 2020 at 3:45 PM ^
I meant to say B1G Championship, that was just user error haha. Either way, if anyone (not singling out UM) was in the position of OSU, they would be screaming from the mountaintops that it's not right.
December 8th, 2020 at 1:57 PM ^
OSU should NOT be in the B1G title game, per the rules that were agreed to at the beginning of the season.
OSU SHOULD be in the playoffs, as they are one of the 4 best teams.
December 8th, 2020 at 2:11 PM ^
So, pretty much a repeat of 2016.
Should OSU nation really be furious that their consolation prize is going to be a playoff birth?
December 8th, 2020 at 2:46 PM ^
OSU would then be worried, and rightfully so, about getting jumped by a 0 or 1 loss team that has played a full or nearly full slate of games, like Florida or Texas A&M, or even Cincy. Conf championships games might sort some of that out but not all.
The B1G made their bed by starting two weeks later than they should have.