Ohio State football: What help is needed to make the playoffs?

The dream of Ohio State to make the playoffs this year is still alive but it will not be easy to accomplish.

Ohio State‘s football season is starting to wrap up. They now just have to take on Michigan next week, Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship, and then at least one bowl game.

That bowl game could turn into games but a lot has to happen right for Ohio State first.

First and foremost, Ohio State must defeat both Michigan and Wisconsin.

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Not only that but both games need to be ideally in a completely dominating fashion like they did versus Illinois. In addition, it would look better if the Badgers are undefeated heading into the championship game.

If Ohio State suffers a third loss in either of those games, then their dream of the playoffs will be gone.

Currently listed ninth, they technically are the only one in the top nine that doesn’t control their destiny. Of course Notre Dame, who is eighth, does not have a conference championship game, but they could be the committee’s preference over a two-loss Buckeyes team.

Speaking of Notre Dame, they scored a fourth quarter game-winning touchdown to knock off Navy. Given their struggles on Saturday, I expect them to fall below Ohio State when Tuesday’s newest rankings are unveiled.

From there, Ohio State’s best case scenario is locking up the fourth spot in the playoffs. To accomplish that though, they will need Alabama to defeat both Auburn and Georgia.

Miami (FL) will need to defeat Clemson in the ACC championship game. Although Oklahoma defeated OSU earlier this season, they will also need to win out. Better safe than sorry too, it would be great to see Stanford upset Notre Dame just in case.

Even if all of those outcomes happen, Ohio State is not guaranteed a seat in the playoffs, but that is their best case scenario. The committee could decide to choose a one-loss team that is a non-champion or a two-loss non-SEC champion team depending on how close games are.

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There is a lot of football left to be played out and the breakdown described above very well could happen. A playoffs with Alabama, Miami (FL), Oklahoma, and Ohio State is not expected right now. However, as the next couple of weeks play out, that could very well be the playoff layout.