Kirk Herbstreit Makes Valid Case That Ohio State Getting Home Game In CFB Playoff Could Be A Bad Thing
The College Football Playoff committee elected not to punish Ohio State as severely as some predicted it would after the Buckeyes' embarrassing home loss to Michigan to close the regular season.
The Buckeyes were handed the No. 8 seed and will host No. 9 Tennessee in the opening round of the Playoff, yet Kirk Herbstreit thinks it would have better suited Ohio State to go on the road in round one, and his argument makes plenty of sense.
"After the way Ohio State's season ended against Michigan, I don't know if it would have been better for Ohio State to go on the road to get away from their home crowd that'll be booing after their third down, not converting and their punter comes out," Herbstreit said Sunday's selection show.
"Booing Ryan Day, they'll have to rally and have a good start to that game or it could turn sideways with the home crowd, in my opinion," he continued.
Kirk Herbstreit thinks Ohio State getting a road game instead of a home game to begin the CFB Playoffs would have been beneficial. Mandatory Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images
To Herbstreit's point, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day may be the most hated man in the state of Ohio at this point after being on the losing end of ‘The Game’ for the fourth year in a row.
Sure, the Buckeye's first-round matchup against Tennessee will take place nearly a full month removed from Ohio State's loss to the Wolverines, but fans are nowhere close to forgetting and forgiving yet another loss to their bitter rival.
Ohio State could have its hands full against Tennessee's nasty defensive front, and if the Buckeyes' struggle at the line of scrimmage and come out with a pedestrian offense their home crowd fans will let them and Ryan Day hear it right from the get-go.
It's bizarre to say given that Day is 66-10 during his time as the head coach of Ohio State, but without at least a trip to the national championship game this season, his future in Columbus could be completely up in the air this offseason.
You can't lose four straight times to Michigan, not win a Big Ten title in that stretch, and have zero championship rings to show for it if you want real job security at Ohio State.