We’re still extremely hopeful that we’ll have a college football season this fall despite the recent spike in the COVID-19 numbers. To that end, ESPN has continued to roll out opinion pieces on several topics for the team in its top 25 preseason rankings.
The latest work (subscription required) takes a look at which game is the most important for all those ranked including, of course, No. 2 Ohio State. Tom VanHaaren has his opinion on which game could make or break the season, and it may not be the one you would initially think of.
With only four teams invited to the College Football Playoff, even one loss could derail national title hopes, let alone result in a watch-at-home-party for the Big Ten Championship Game in a tie-break sort of scenario. Hmmm, where have we seen that before?
And with all that in mind, which game does VanHaaren believe is the most important?
Next … Ohio State’s most important game in 2020 per ESPN
Sept. 12 – @ Oregon
What VanHaaren says
“Bill Connelly points out some of the stats below on why the Penn State game is so important for the Nittany Lions. It also, obviously, will be important for Ohio State, but just to have something different here, we’ll go with the Oregon game for the Buckeyes. The Ducks are going to have a really good, young defense as well as a new offensive coordinator in Joe Moorhead, who was the Penn State offensive coordinator from 2016 to 2017 and has some familiarity with Ohio State. To have that game as the second one of the season will be a good test for Ohio State, and it will be crucial for the Buckeyes to get a win if they want to get back in the College Football Playoff.”
Next … What we say
What we say
Yeah the Oregon game will be a big one, but it’s a non-conference game. The most important contest on Ohio State’s schedule without a doubt is the trip to Happy Valley to take on Penn State. The Buckeyes get Michigan at home and seem to have the upper hand there. However, going to Penn State (with fans or not), is a more daunting challenge because I expect the Nittany Lions to be a more formidable opponent than the Wolverines this season, and there’s still something about not having to travel, etc.
Lose that one, and then you have to hope for two-losses somewhere in the conference for Penn State, or OSU could be on the outside looking in again with a tie-break scenario. Of course the Michigan game is always huge, but losing an out-of-conference game like Oregon on the road and still taking care of business the rest of the way will still result in a likely College Football Playoff appearance. That’s less of a sure thing with a loss to a team like Penn State inside the division.
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