The Ohio State Buckeyes entered Saturday night’s road showdown with the No. 4 Texas Longhorns as the No. 1 team in the country and largely played well in the game, losing 24-23 after a late touchdown from Texas helped them overcome a 20-point deficit.
After the loss, Ohio State fell from No. 1 in the AP Poll all the way down to No. 6 in the rankings. Kirk Herbstreit is not happy about that.
‘Makes no sense’
While Herbstreit understands that Ohio State should have fallen in the AP Poll after the loss to Texas, he thinks that the Buckeyes falling all the way to No. 6 in the poll is excessive.
“I don’t agree with it. … Ohio State was No. 1 coming into the game; they played really well for three quarters and then the game, to Texas’ credit, Texas beat Ohio State,” Herbstreit told Joey Galloway on Nonstop. “People can say all they want about how Ohio State got conservative [or] they played not to lose, whatever the case may be. They were dominating a football game 23-3 heading into the fourth quarter, and Texas ends up coming back to win the game.
“Yeah, you should be penalized for losing a game. But it’s kind of silly to drop all the way down to six after playing the way they did, coming in at No. 1. … I just don’t like the natural reaction, ‘Well, they lost. Down they go.’ I think that’s silly. If they dropped them to 3, I think that would make sense, maybe, 2 or 3. That’s just like 1970s way of polling. It makes no sense to me at all. But I think it’ll work itself out.”
Steve Sarkisian Thinks Ohio State Should be Rewarded
Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian seemingly agrees with Herbstreit, as he said after Saturday’s game that he thinks Ohio State should be “rewarded” for scheduling a game against Texas, not punished by falling in the rankings.
“Quite frankly, Ohio State should be rewarded for playing in this game against us, and so that’s my goal,” Sarkisian said, per The Athletic’s Ralph Russo. “Time will tell, you know. And this isn’t crying over spilled milk. I don’t think we got rewarded for going to Columbus last year in Week 1.”
The reality is that many teams do not play a high-profile non-conference opponent and simply rely on the nine-game conference schedule to bolster their resume. Sarkisian thinks playing a game like this should be rewarded, even if it results in a team having one more loss than other teams it could be competing against.
“I hope Ohio State does not get punished for that game Saturday night,” Sarkisian said, per On3’s Tyler Horka. “They played a heck of a game… I hope if they end up being a 9-3 team the committee can appreciate the fact they came to Austin, Texas, in September.”
Ultimately, this doesn’t matter all that much as Ohio State’s postseason fate will hinge on how well it performs the rest of the season.
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