Is Nebraska Standing in the Way of Ohio State Winning the Big Ten or Getting to the College Football Playoff in 2019?

Over the past few years it was not a Big Ten East foe which has been the stumbling block for Ohio State to get into the College Football Playoff. In fact, it was one of the teams from the “weaker” division which has crushed the CFP hopes of the Buckeyes.

Last year it was the up and coming Purdue Boilermakers. The year before that it was the team 95 miles east of Iowa State which upset Ohio State. So it has to happen again for the third year in a row right?

Well if it will happen then that team from the west division which could again break the CFP spirit of Ohio State could end up being Nebraska according to Geoff Hammersley of Land-Grant Holy Land:

Nebraska is the fifth game of the season, but OSU may have some struggles getting the Ryan Day era off and running. A new quarterback (Justin Fields) is taking over, and a non-conference game with Cincinnati, who is doing pretty good since Luke Fickell took over the program, may give Ohio State a scare in the very early going. Michigan State is the week after Nebraska, so there’s also a chance that Day and the squad get caught in the ‘look ahead’ when facing a revenge seeking Scott Frost.

Okay. Fair enough. Nebraska could end up being the stumbling block for Ohio State to get to the College Football Playoff. I mean it is hard to be competing for two spots in the four team playoff since Clemson and Alabama are nearly requirements to take up two of those spots.

But could Nebraska actually be in Ohio State’s way of winning the Big Ten Conference?Austin Ward of Lettermen Row says yes.

If Ohio State is going to win a third consecutive Big Ten title, the road is going through Lincoln. And if the Buckeyes can survive that trip, they might just have to beat Nebraska again on a neutral field to claim the conference crown.

Just to be clear. These are two writers that cover Ohio State football. They are not trying to “sell papers” in Lincoln and Omaha. Their readership is made up of mostly Buckeye fans.

The road to win a Big Ten title goes through Lincoln, NE for the Buckeyes.

If you don’t know what that sound is, it is the sound of Nebraska fans everywhere spitting and choking on their drink as they heard or read that sentence. If they didn’t, then they walked across the hall to the water cooler and filled their cup up with water. Then they turned around and walked back to their seat. Did a few neck stretches and read that sentence again, “the road is going through Lincoln.”

There is now water everywhere. Thank you very much. Now I have to take the day off from work because I’m traumatized that my computer is ruined and all of the work I have been doing this past week to prepare for the very important meeting on Monday is destroyed.

The hype train for Nebraska football this coming season is getting a little out-of-hand. It is mostly from college football writers from outside of the state. I don’t blame them. Scott Frost went 12-0 two seasons after Central Florida went 0-12.

So I think some believe that the turnaround is repeatable. I do not. However, having Adrian Martinez surely doesn’t hurt.

To be fair both Geoff Hammersley and Austin Ward are not picking Nebraska to beat Ohio State. They are merely choosing a team which will either ruin the CFP chances for OSU (Hammersley) or will stop the Buckeyes from winning a third straight Big Ten Title (Ward).

However, when a team wins four games in 2018 almost anything feels like unearned hype.

Until Nebraska has earned the respect we hope is coming, treat any and all hype for 2019 like a fly should treat a bug zapper.

Don’t go towards the light.