Remember when the worldwide leader in sports programming had Ohio State way outside of the teams in the race for the College Football Playoff? That seems so long ago now doesn’t it. As a reminder, ESPN had Ohio State missing in its original most likely teams to make the Playoff in the preseason.
Fast forward six weeks into the year, and all of a sudden — miraculously if you will — ESPN’s AllState Playoff Predictor now has the same Buckeye team as the squad with the best shot at getting in all of the fun.
And it’s not like whatever formula is getting punched in and run through the algorithms is giving Ohio State a modest chance, it’s significant. That’s right, the Buckeyes now have a downright ridiculous 74% Shot at getting into the College Football Playoff, ahead of second place Alabama at a 69% roll of the dice.
Followed closely behind are Clemson (65%) and another SEC team Georgia (46%). Also, for what it’s worth, both Penn State and Wisconsin have entered the fray, also appearing in the top ten.
Look, I guess this is great for Ohio State that the computers are starting to value what the Buckeyes have done over the first half of the season. But I’d take about as much stock in this as when the wacko formula had OSU as merely a footnote buried beyond all the hype.
