Oklahoma Sooners or Buckeyes from Ohio?



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All it took was a potentially decisive victory for the Ohio State. Thanks to that, the 13 members of the selection committee of the university football qualifiers will finally have a debate – and this should be a good debate.

Oklahoma or Ohio State? Two teams that have been defined as much by their faults as their greatest victories.

For three consecutive weeks, we found ourselves in the same top four: No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson, No. 3 Notre Dame and No. 4 Michigan. That will change Tuesday in fifth place on the six-man committee, while Ohio State's 62-39 home victory over its Michigan rival should bring the Wolverines down from fourth place, opening the door to 5th place Georgia. Overall, the 10th state of Ohio deeply embarrassed Michigan, setting fourth place for a difficult decision on the day of the draw if the Buckeyes and Sooners win the conference title. Or maybe both will be left out.

If Alabama loses a tight game against Georgia in the SEC championship game, the Bulldogs will likely end up among the top four as SEC champions, but the committee will also consider a defender position, the 39, Alabama, for a place in the semifinals at the expense of both teams. Big 12 and Big Ten Champions.

The Buckeyes and Sooners standings on Tuesday could prefigure fourth place on the day of the selection. It will not be a definitive answer, but it would certainly help to understand how the committee could rely on December 2. The Big 12 Championship game will be an opportunity for Oklahoma to show the committee that it can beat Texas and take revenge on its opponents. only loss of the season, which was against Longhorns 48-45 on October 6th. If Texas wins again, the Big 12 will likely be eliminated from consideration, as the Longhorns have three losses this season.

Ohio State's last chance to impress the selection committee will be against a North West ranked team in the Big Ten Championship, and the impact of the OU and the Ohio State Saturday – dominating or lucky – could be important.

Kyler Murray of Oklahoma and Dwayne Haskins of Ohio State participated in the conversation for the Heisman Trophy all season. Ben Queen-USA TODAY Sports

Ohio State spent the entire season following Oklahoma in the CFP standings and was also eliminated by undefeated UCF and # 9 last week, but the Buckeyes simply mistreated Team # 1. 4 of the committee, beating the Wolverines in a no doubt impressive performance. the season and on the biggest stage. Dwayne Haskins became the first player to score five touchdowns against Michigan. Already!

Haskins said the Buckeyes showed "we, bad boys".

"We are explosive, we are going to play games and, honestly, we are blessed, man," Haskins said after the match. "We have a lot of ball to play on the left and we can go a lot better, it's scary, and once we get it all figured out, we'll be pretty dangerous."

This is undoubtedly the first time this season that the Ohio State remotely resembles one of the top four teams. The Buckeyes were severely criticized for their 49-20 loss to Purdue, a non-ranked team, who finished 6-6. They also had the chance to defeat Nebraska, eight losses, their ugly Michigan State victory, and the defense was like a sieve in a 52-51 overtime victory in Maryland last week. All of this will surely be part of the conversation in the committee meeting room on Sunday.

Until Saturday, there was not much comparable between the Ohio State and Oklahoma.

Now?

Ohio State has the best win – but the worst defeat.

Oklahoma has the best attack – but a worse defense.

Both teams have three wins against Power 5 opponents with record wins, including two of the top 25 PCF teams. ESPN's statistics are very close, as the Top 25 average team would only have 8% of chances to run 11-1 or better against the Ohio State record and 10.8% of chances to do so. likewise against the Sooners calendar.

Both have electric quarterbacks who have supported their teams at this point. They also have a common opponent in the TCU, a factor considered by the committee, and even a little similar, with the Ohio State defense awarding 28 points to the Horned Frogs and 27 to the Sooners.

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The Sooners' 59-56 win on Friday night against West Virginia was their best of the season … but Ohio State's Saturday win was better.

Last week, the chairman of the selection committee, Rob Mullens, was questioned specifically about the separation between the state of Ohio and Oklahoma. He replied, "We do not put measures of separation."

"When we look at their full-body resume, with Oklahoma, we see one of the country's main offenses with a dynamic quarterback, understanding that their struggles for defense and their only loss are against a Texas team ranked on a neutral site, "said Mullens. I said. "We understand that the state of Ohio has a quality win on the road against the state of Penn. They continue to find a way to win, a victory in overtime near Maryland, again. once, with their attack carrying the weight. "

Oklahoma has lost at least 40 points in four consecutive games and has won them all. No other team at the time of the AP polls even won three times in a row with 40 points. The state of Ohio has a defensive efficiency slightly above the FBS average (48th to 61.2 entering Saturday), while Oklahoma is 90th to 42.1.

On the other hand, no offense has been more productive than the Sooners. Oklahoma's 97.1 offensive efficiency would be the highest of the 14-year history of metrics (at the limit of Sooners of last year).

Mullens said the committee recognized the defensive struggles of the OU, but "this is counterbalanced by the dynamic offense that drives them and by their ability to find a way to win this attack".

The question is whether the Sooners can rank in the top four.

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