B1G Champs/College Football Playoff STATEment

Last night, the Buckeyes made an Ohio STATEment with a 59-0 clobbering of the Wisconsin Badgers to win the 2014 Big Ten Championship.

The Buckeyes did it without the quarterback that they originally thought would be starting the season, a player who was considered a Heisman Trophy front runner: Braxton Miller. They did it without their second string quarterback, who became a Heisman Trophy candidate and broke Big Ten and Ohio State records throughout the season: JT Barrett.

So then who did they do it with? Their third string quarterback, Cardale Jones, who was the MVP of the Big Ten Championship Game after tossing three TD passes.

I guess the Buckeyes just stockpile talented quarterbacks.

Ezekiel Elliot ran for a Big Ten Championship Game record 220 yards and added another couple of touchdowns.

They did all of this against the #2 defense in college football. They put up a brick wall against the NCAA's leading rusher, Melvin Gordon, who they held to 76 yards on 26 carries and no touchdowns. Gordon had seven consecutive 100 yard games coming into this one. On top of that, as mentioned before, Elliot broke the record for most rush yards in a Big Ten Championship Game...a record that was held by Gordon. I think it's safe to say that Gordon has a really bad night.

Urban Meyer won his first Big Ten Championship as Ohio State head coach. This was the type of game everyone expected Meyer's teams to put up.

Now the question is, was it enough to put the Buckeyes in the one of the four College Football Playoff spots?

The three teams that are definetly in: SEC Champion Alabama, Pac-12 Champion Oregon, and ACC Champion Florida State,

The battle for the fourth spot is between Big 12 Co-Champions TCU and Baylor, and Big Ten Champion Ohio State.

It's been said that conference championships are going to play a big role in choosing the four teams to make the Playoff. And if that's the case, I don't see how you can leave Ohio State out. They have a conference championship, the Big 12 doesn't have a conference champion, they have co-champions. You can't put two teams in one playoff spot.

If the College Football Playoff committee wants to put the best four teams in college football right now in the Playoff, then I don't see how you leave Ohio State out, especially with what they just did to Wisconsin.

It's obvious the committee doesn't respect Baylor's head-to-head win against TCU, seeing how they've had the Horned Frogs ahead of the Bears and even put them in the top four last week.

So if that's the case. how can you hold Ohio State's week two loss against Virginia Tech against them? This is a completely different Ohio State team than back in week two, literally and figuratively.

If they leave Ohio State out, I think they will have failed at putting the four best teams in college football in the playoff. If they put them in, I still think they should expand the College Football Playoff to eight teams.

Buckeyes beat *ichigan, but suffer a big loss

On Saturday, the 29th of November 2014, the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the *ichigan Wolverines 42-28....but also suffered a big loss.

On the first play of the fourth quarter, Quarterback J.T. Barrett took off running and was tackled awkwardly, his right leg crumpling underneath him. He was carted off the field, leg in an air cast. It was announced later in the evening, the redshirt freshman sensation who was a candidate to win the Heisman Trophy, broke his ankle and would miss the Big Ten Championship Game and any bowl game(s) the Buckeyes would play in.

Before the injury, Barrett threw for one touchdown and ran for two more scores. That gives him an Ohio State record of 34 touchdown passes in a single season, and when you add the 11 rushing touchdowns a Big Ten record of 44 touchdowns responsible for in a single season (former record holder: Drew Brees, Purdue).

Cardale Jones replaces Barrett, and lead the Buckeyes to a TD on a long run by Ezekiel Elliot. The defense also returned a fumble for a touchdown to give you the final Buckeyes total.

It was Meyer's third consecutive win against That Team Up North, still undefeated in The Game.

Jones is now the QB for the remainder of the season, and nobody knows what to expect from him. He doesn't have a lot of experience, this year he is 10/17 for 118 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Last season he was 1/2 for 3 yards, 0 touchdowns and interceptions, he did have a rushing touchdown last season.

Coach Meyer says that Cardale Jones can throw it and throw it well, and he can run too. A lot of people expected Jones to replace Braxton Miller, mostly because many in Ohio knew who he was in part because he played at Glenville High School in Cleveland...the same school that gave the Buckeyes players like Troy Smith, Ted Ginn Jr., and Donte Whitner.

Jones knows the playbook and has been practicing. Nobody knew what to expect from Barrett and many people thought this would be a 3-4 loss season without Miller on the field. Instead, Barrett would have been in New York for the Heisman Trophy Presentation and was likely going to lead the Buckeyes into the inaugural College Football Playoff.

The Buckeyes take on the Wisconsin Badgers next week in the Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Buckeyes win this game, they win an outright Big Ten Championship and with that, should be in the College Football Playoff with Mississippi State losing to Ole Miss yesterday. They might not be in the top four this week, but they should be no worse than 5th with TCU in as the fourth team. But an outright conference championship, especially if the offense stays hot with Jones at QB, should give them the edge over TCU to make the final four in the final CFP standings.

Honestly, all the Buckeyes have to do to get into that final four is just....win!