‘That Mentality Cannot Be Allowed’ — Josh Pate Boldly Defends Ohio State Amid Dicey College Football Playoff Conversation

The Ohio State Buckeyes demolished the Maryland Terrapins 45-16 to improve to 5-1 and continue their recovery from a 24-23 loss at Texas in their second game of the season. The No. 4 Buckeyes’ Big Ten credentials will be tested severely in Week 7 when they travel to Bloomington to face the reigning national champions, the No. 5 Indiana Hoosiers.

This week, analyst Josh Pate dismissed suggestions that the Buckeyes could miss the College Football Playoff should they lose to the Hoosiers this weekend.

Josh Pate Defends Ohio State Over Possible CFP Exclusion

During Thursday’s segment of the “Get Up” show, Pate argued that Ohio State’s overall résumé and difficult schedule should protect the Buckeyes from missing the 12-team field even if they lose to Indiana.

“If they do, it’s a dereliction of duty to everybody in that selection room ’cause I will tell you this, I don’t even care if Ohio State’s strength of record doesn’t quite measure up at the finish line to what you thought it was gonna be at the starting line,” Pate said.

He added, “Here’s the absence of intellect sometimes in this conversation that people will end up fooling themselves into having. They’ll think you either played top-10 teams or you played nobody.”

According to ESPN’s College Football Power Index, the Buckeyes have the most difficult remaining strength of schedule nationally. The Buckeyes will be on the road for marquee clashes against the Hoosiers, USC Trojans and the resilient Nebraska Cornhuskers. Coach Ryan Day’s team will host the Oregon Ducks, Northwestern Wildcats and bitter rivals, the Michigan Wolverines in Columbus.

Pate further defended the Buckeyes’ worthiness to be included in the College Football Playoff and put the committee on notice about possibly leaving out Ohio State on Selection Sunday after the Big Ten giants had scheduled strong teams. Pate praised Day’s team for passing the Iowa Hawkeyes test on the road and used it as an example of the Buckeyes’ competency.

“Ohio State went to Iowa, I’m just gonna give you this as an example,” Pate added. “And they handled Iowa in their home building. The very next week, Iowa goes to Seattle and dismantles Washington. Iowa’s not a top-10 team. If Iowa’s floating in that 25-30 range at the end of the year, that’s a very quality win, especially when you got it on the road. What’s the alternative here? To just schedule tomato cans and one or two teams?”

He continued, saying, “And make sure you get one of the two, and you’re in? That mentality cannot be allowed to take root. I know it comes down conditionally to what the rest of the field looks like. But if you were to tell me they lose this Saturday, which by the way I’m picking Indiana to win. If you were to flash forward to December and say, ‘Hey, Josh, 10-2 Ohio State, misses the playoff,’ I would be utterly stunned by that.”

PREDICT THE CFB SEASON:PFN’s Free CFB Playoff Predictor

The strength-of-schedule issue was heavily debated throughout last season’s playoff race, with Texas arguing that its difficult schedule, including a road loss to Ohio State, should not count against its CFP case. The 10-2 Notre Dame Fighting Irish being left out of the field also inspired widespread debate as the Miami Hurricanes slipped past them in the final rankings to get in.

The committee’s decision-making is under the spotlight as conferences and programs reshape their schedules around competitive balance and College Football Playoff positioning, with some marquee nonconference series being canceled amid expanded conference schedules.

According to PFN’s CFB Playoff Meter, Ohio State has a 60.6% chance of playing in the Big Ten championship game, an 80.6% chance of getting into the playoff field, and a 24.4% chance of reaching the national championship game.

This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.