Paul Finebaum has spent years steeped in SEC football, but after Week 6, his attention drifted north. On The Matt Barrie Show, the ESPN voice zeroed in on Ohio State and Indiana, two Big Ten teams heading into a Week 7 clash that suddenly looks like one of the season’s most important games.
"I'm really fired up about Ohio State and Indiana because I want to make sure I'm not wrong again... about Ohio State," said Finebaum. "Indiana.... they won back a lot of me yesterday."
That reaction came after Indiana survived a scare against Nebraska and kept its unbeaten season alive with a 20-17 win. The Hoosiers had been staring at a loss when Nebraska surged ahead 17-6 with 12:01 left, but Indiana found a way back. Finebaum had been talking about the matchup with Barrie beforehand, and Nebraska’s collapse clearly left an impression.
"I've always liked Matt Rhule," Finebaum said of the Nebraska head coach. "Yesterday, I finally believed in him.
I said, 'Matt Rhule's got this.' And of course, Nebraska never has it anymore.
That defeat extended Nebraska’s misery to 31 straight losses against ranked opponents, while Indiana walked away with a win that set up a top-end Big Ten showdown with Ohio State in Week 7.
Around the league, the early picture has been messy. Penn State and Oregon have both disappointed, and USC, despite a 6-1 start, still does not look like a true College Football Playoff team.
ESPN’s FPI currently gives Indiana an 87.4% shot at making the Playoff, with Ohio State at 76.9%. The next Big Ten team in line, according to FPI, is No.
12 UCLA, an unbeaten 5-0 squad with a 28.6% chance.
Ohio State’s season has one obvious blemish: the Week 2 loss to Texas. It played out in painful fashion, with the Buckeyes ahead 23-3 to start the fourth quarter before falling 24-23. Even so, in the 12-team Playoff era, that defeat does not knock Ohio State out of the race.
Still, the Big Ten’s best teams have been the one steady part of a league that has won the last three CFP titles. Finebaum may be watching Week 7 with more than casual interest, because Indiana has a chance to put real pressure on Ohio State’s position. A 10-2 Ohio State team would still likely get into the Playoff, but another loss would leave the Buckeyes with almost no room to breathe before a difficult stretch that includes ranked USC and Northwestern, a dangerous Oregon team, and the annual meeting with Michigan.
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Ohio State Enters Brutal Stretch With One Worry Fans Cant Ignore
Rainy conditions and a depleted lineup did little to slow Ohio State in its 45-16 win over Maryland, a result that kept the Buckeyes moving forward even as the injury and illness list trimmed key pieces from the rotation. Several starters were out, including multiple offensive linemen and wide receivers, but the group that did suit up handled the circumstances well enough to leave Saturday with a comfortable conference win.
Indiana now looms as the next test, and the Buckeyes are still projecting confidence heading into that matchup. The concern for fans is hard to miss, though: Ohio State is entering a demanding stretch while still waiting to get healthier up front and back on the perimeter, and that makes the coming days worth watching closely. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Got A New Ranking Test Before Indiana
Georgias win over Alabama shook up the top of both major college football polls, and Ohio State came out of the weekend a little higher in the conversation as a result. The Buckeyes climbed to No. 4 in the AP Poll and No. 5 in the Coaches Poll, keeping them firmly in the national title mix while the rest of the Top 5 continued to shuffle around them.
The new placement only adds more weight to what is coming next, because Ohio State is headed toward a Top-5 matchup with Indiana. With the rankings tightening and the stakes rising, the Buckeyes now have an even clearer read on where they stand, and a bigger test waiting to show whether this bump in the polls matches the on-field reality. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Just Turned Up The Heat On Two Committed 2027 Targets
A recent visit tied to Ohio States game against Maryland doubled as another reminder that the Buckeyes are already digging deep into the 2027 class. The program extended football scholarship offers to linebacker James Conrad and running back Kingston Allen, giving both prospects a fresh point of contact with one of the sports standard-bearers and putting two committed players on the radar in a very real way.
Conrad, who had been pledged to Buffalo, landed his first Power 4 offer from Ohio State, while Allen arrived in Columbus as a Wisconsin commit and left with an offer of his own. Both are regarded as highly ranked prospects with strong high school rsums, and the Buckeyes have clearly decided theyre worth pushing on early even with their current commitments elsewhere. [Read more 🡒]