Ohio State presents persuasive evidence to Playoff group

INDIANAPOLIS — Awash in confetti, Urban Meyer ascended to the trophy dais at the center of Lucas Oil Stadium and made his closing argument.

The jury sat in a conference room miles away, reclining in soft-backed chairs, glued to television screens broadcasting each of the games relevant to the College Football Playoff conversation — Ohio State and Wisconsin, Baylor and Kansas State, Florida State and Georgia Tech.

The eventual verdict stands with this selection committee, 12 not-so-angry men and women tasked with culling through various data, numbers and metrics in the search for college football's very best.

It won't be an easy task: Each of the top six teams in the recent Playoff rankings — Alabama, Oregon, TCU, Florida State, Ohio State and Baylor — held serve on Friday and Saturday, robbing the committee of a no-brainer top four and leaving those on the outside, led by the Buckeyes, to make their own case.

Ohio State's defense rests, as does its offense, but not before putting on a show.

"We just won 59-0 against one of the top teams in America," said Meyer. "I've been around teams that have competed and won national championships. This team, the way it's playing right now, is one of the top teams in America."

Ohio State's leading evidence: Saturday's win against Wisconsin tied for the second-largest shutout victory against a top-15 opponent in college football history.

Wisconsin had won seven games in a row since a loss to Northwestern to open October, including two victories against ranked teams, Nebraska and Minnesota, in the previous three weeks. Only one win during this seven-game stretch came by single digits; three came by 35 or more points.

The offense was led by the nation's leading rusher, Melvin Gordon. The defense entered the Big Ten championship ranked second nationally in yards allowed per game, second in passing yards allowed per game and fourth in scoring.

Gordon's 26 carries resulted in just 76 yards, by 46 yards his lowest output of the season against Football Bowl Subdivision competition. The Badgers gained 71 yards on the ground altogether; that was 259 yards below their average in conference play.

Wisconsin had allowed 260.3 yards per game in winning the Big Ten West Division. Ohio State exceeded that average early in the second quarter, left it in the dust by halftime and ended with 558 yards, the most allowed by Wisconsin's defense since the 2011 Rose Bowl.

This was the performance of a team at the top of its game, of a coaching staff at its scheming best. It might also be the performance that gets Ohio State into the Playoff.

"They might tell us to watch what we say about that," defensive tackle Michael Bennett said, "but I think after beating Wisconsin 59-0, you kind of have to take a step back and realize, it's not like Wisconsin's a bad team. They're in the Big Ten Championship and they've done really well all season."

All that's left are the following steps: wait, pray, cross your fingers, hope for the best … and, like Baylor to the southwest, politick.

"When you think about the adversity that this coaching staff and this team has went through, from the beginning of the season to just this past week, the job that they've done, this is a championship team," Ohio State athletics director Gene Smith told Paste BN Sports.

"I've been doing this for 30 years. Played the game, coached the game, won two national championships myself. This is a championship team. They deserve to be in."

We proved ourselves, tight end Nick Vannett said.

"They were ranked 10th in the nation. Putting points up on them, I think we had 500-plus yards against them. We proved the point that we are one of the better teams in the country. I think we made a case tonight, so we'll see.

"I think we'll be upset if we don't make it. To be 12-1 now, outside of the Virginia Tech loss, you couldn't ask for a better season."

This might not be enough to lift Ohio State into the top four — but the Buckeyes couldn't have done more.

They saved their best for last, giving the selection committee a lasting image to take into Sunday's final deliberations. They answered the committee's lingering concern: That the Buckeyes needed to prove their Playoff credentials without redshirt freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett, a Heisman Trophy contender who suffered a season-ending ankle injury in a victory against Michigan on Nov. 29.

Barrett's replacement, Cardale Jones, tossed nearly as many touchdowns, three, as incomplete passes, five. In doing so, the Buckeyes might have extinguished that existing doubt from the minds of the committee.

"Whatever people decide about us tomorrow, there will be guys that grind and work," Ohio State secondary coach Kerry Coombs told Paste BN Sports. "No question this will be one of the great, great teams. I know we stumbled, but this is one of the great teams.

"Our kids are resilient. If the country hasn't learned anything else about them, they're resilient. So whatever they can't control, they won't control. Just like losing quarterbacks. You can't control that; you just go."

But after a stunning win, optimism reigns in Columbus.

"I've got to be honest with you, I can't imagine we would be out," said Coombs. "I think they're going to get good news tomorrow."