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A groundhog day scenario

Attention Ohio State fans looking for revenge and wanting it in the upcoming college football playoff, here is a scenario you should be rooting for when watching this week’s conference championship games.

Since the beloved Buckeyes have been ranked fifth in the latest College Football Playoff rankings and the top four ranked teams are playing, the only other Top 10 teams also on the field this weekend will be a decimated No. 9 Clemson team lining up against a 23rd ranked North Carolina squad for the ACC championship and three-loss and 10th-ranked Kansas State who is playing TCU in the Big 12 title tilt.

Clemson, with losses in the last month to Notre Dame and rival South Carolina, doesn’t have a chance to make the playoff and neither do the teams ranked sixth through nine who aren’t playing and can’t expect the College Football Playoff committee to jump any of the teams ranked 6 through 8 over an also idle Ohio State squad who are licking their wounds from a second straight defeat to that team up north.

So here is the scenario:

A.In the PAC-12 championship, Southern California loses a second time to a Utah squad that the Buckeyes have beat in 2022, only it was on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl to end a disappointing 2021 season.

B. In the Southeastern Conference championship, the LSU Tigers go into the Georgia Dome (or whatever corporate sponsor has paid the latest check to keep the lights on) and beats No. 1 Georgia.

C. In the Big Ten championship, Michigan runs roughshod over Purdue.

D. In the Big 12 championship, TCU holds serve and clobbers a good Kansas State team.

In their infinite wisdom, the CFP committee will have to put the Wolverines No. 1, put undefeated TCU number 2, and then drop a once-beaten and defendant Georgia to third place.

And guess who gets to take No. 4 and face the Wolverines on New Year’s Eve in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona, the site of some of the Buckeyes’ biggest wins and losses in the last 20 years.

Imagine all the hype that would go into the prelude to this game. Also imagine the tension if the Buckeyes again stumble around in the opening 30 minutes of the game, making false-start penalties and giving up one big play after another.

This scenario should contain a warning for Buckeye fans, similar to those cigarette packages, high-sugary-er energy drinks, or vape kits. Those Buckeye fans who need at least a month to get their blood pressure down to a healthy level and/or are willing to go all in on coach Ryan Day’s future in the state of Ohio may want to consider another scenario.

All four top-ranked teams hold serve, sending the Buckeyes to a New Year’s Day matchup at the venue Woody Hayes always aspired to: Pasadena, California. This year’s run-for-the-roses opponent would be none other than coach Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide.

What a way to start the sports betting history for the state of Ohio. I know I would want to get a seat at the new sports betting venue on the second floor of the Hollywood Racino at the Mahoning Valley Race Course!

Maybe these fine people could get Jim Tressel and wouldn’t it be something if ole’ Tress would use it as an occasion to announce he is interested in becoming the new president of the Ohio State University? And he can start off his pre-game speech to the crowd of sports betters with these words:

“I can assure you that you will be proud of your young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 300 and some days in Ann Arbor, Michigan.”

Where and when did I hear those words before?

Vogrin covers crime and courts for the Vindicator and the Tribune Chronicle. In his spare time, he veges out on his couch watching sports on the tube.

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