J.T. Barrett thinks Ohio State should make Playoff, even without playing for Big Ten title

Even if Ohio State doesn’t play for the Big Ten title, J.T. Barrett thinks his team should make it to the College Football Playoff.

Because of Michigan’s loss to Iowa over the weekend, Ohio State’s chances to win the Big Ten East shrunk significantly. UM (9-1), OSU (9-1) and Penn State (8-2) all have 6-1 conference records, but Penn State holds the division tiebreaker over the Buckeyes because of the Nittany Lions’ win over OSU in Happy Valley last month. If PSU wins its last two games (against conference bottom feeders Rutgers and Michigan State) and the Buckeyes beat Michigan in a few weeks, the Nittany Lions would head to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game.

Got all that? Barrett, Ohio State’s junior quarterback, does. Still, if the Buckeyes win their final two games he doesn’t see a realistic way the CFP selection committee could keep them out of the top four.

“I see it like this: If we win out all our games, Big Ten Championship or not, you’re not gonna put us in? Like you’re going to leave Ohio State out?” Barrett said per Cleveland.com. “That’s how I see it. That doesn’t make sense to me.”

Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett combined for four touchdowns in a 62-3 win over Maryland.

Ohio State, of course, still has a path to Indy. If Penn State drops a game, OSU simply has to win out to clinch the East. The fact is, OSU needs help, and the CFP committee’s selection protocol places an emphasis on conference championships. But to Barrett, it should be about the four best teams.

“I know Big Ten Championships and conference championships is a major thing, but then you’re talking about one of those two-loss teams and things like that. It’s something totally different,” Barrett said.

“I think if we won our games, that’s the only thing we can control, the only thing we can handle,” Barrett said. “And (the playoff) is left to somebody else, people on the committee and things like that. At the end of the day, it’s one of those things of, ‘We can’t control that.’ We control winning games, and if we do that, I feel like we’ve done our part.”

A lot still has to play out, but Barrett raises a good point. Would the committee really pick a Big Ten team with two losses (like Penn State or West division leader Wisconsin) ahead of one-loss Ohio State? Who knows. But there’s one thing we do know: the committee members are not exactly in an enviable position. Beyond Alabama, the entire playoff field is a mess.

Will any clarity present itself in Week 12? Maybe. Week 11 is a perfect example of the unpredictability of college football. A lot can still happen.