The Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Ohio State Buckeyes meet on Monday night for the College Football Playoff National Championship. While Big 12 fans won’t have a dog in the fight, there are plenty of reasons why Big 12 fans should be rooting for the Buckeyes in this game.
I know, it sounds weird to say Big 12 fans should root for a Big Ten blue blood, but, let me explain the “why” behind this.
1. Will Howard
Ohio State is led by quarterback Will Howard, who spent his career at Kansas State before electing to play his final season of college football with the Buckeyes. Howard was never the best quarterback in the Big 12 during any of his four seasons in Manhattan.
Getting to see a former three-star recruit who spent the bulk of his career in the Big 12 looks good on the Big 12, especially since while Howard was a really solid player, he never dominated the conference on a consistent basis.
But now, to see him hoisting the National Championship trophy? That would be a win for the Big 12.
2. SEC Bias
The SEC is not playing in a National Championship Game for a second-straight season, which is the first time that’s happened in 20 years. Ohio State winning this game would give the Big Ten the juice to argue it’s the better, and deeper, conference than the SEC. The Big Ten can argue is has more top-tier teams (Ohio State, Penn State, Oregon), while also having more depth, based on some of what happened in the bowl season: Illinois over South Carolina and Michigan over Alabama come to mind.
As a Big 12 fan, you might say, “why not root for the independent”… I understand the sentiment, but right now anything that hurts the SEC is good for college football. It’s that simple.
Plus, I don’t want to reward the independent team, which I explain in my next point.
3. Don’t Reward Notre Dame’s Scheduling
Notre Dame’s scheduling is a joke. They insist on having one foot in the ACC and one foot out. This way they can preserve their rivalries, which mostly means getting to beat up on schools like Stanford and the military academies.
Also, Notre Dame doesn’t bother playing in a conference championship. Basically, if Notre Dame goes 11-1, and possibly 10-2, every season, they are a lock for the College Football Playoff, under the current format. Notre Dame is also collecting massive checks by getting to win Playoff games as an independent.
They’ve gamed the system, and sure, it’s brilliant. But it’s completely unfair.
Related: Notre Dame Has the Best Scam Going in College Football
Meantime, the Big Ten is the only other Power conference playing nine league games, along with the Big 12. That’s respectable.
If Notre Dame wins, it will justify their scheduling plans, while also giving the SEC some juice to say, “Why would we drop our two FCS games?” They never will, and a Notre Dame win would just make them double down on their softer scheduling as well.
