Ohio State coach Ryan Day welcomes an NFL vibe to college football’s postseason

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football coach Ryan Day is open to an expansion to the current Big Ten Conference schedule — as long as the other leagues are playing by the same rules. Earlier this week on Joel Klatt’s Big Noon Coversation podcast, Day spoke with pride of the Big Ten’s nine-game schedule. He said he believed that access to quality wins will be important in the 12-team playoff era. The College Football Playoff committee has taken strength of schedule into its rankings in the past and will presumably continue to do so. What Day does not want is an uneven playing field. The Southeastern Conference, for example, has for years operated with an eight-game schedule. It will have one again through 2024 when Texas and Oklahoma join the league. It is unclear if the league will move to nine after that. “Now you can put your schedule in such a way that you can set it up so that you get a certain amount of wins and at the end of the year, that looks better than a one or two-loss team — but they may be better in the end,” Day said. “The idea is to get the best teams into the playoffs. “Having a nine-game conference schedule — or maybe even down the road a 10-game conference schedule — is a great thing. As long as it’s consistent across the board.” Day has long welcomed playoff expansion as the end of the era where one loss can knock a team out of national championship contention. He said game prep for last season’s opener against Notre Dame began in June because the ramifications of any single loss are so great. Day cited the 2021 Los Angeles Rams as an example of the NFL model’s superiority That team lost three straight games midseason, then went on to win the Super Bowl. “How you approach the season is going to completely change,” Day said. “... A lot of NFL teams would probably tell you they’re kind of feeling their way around in September, they find their identity of October and they kind of turn it on in November. Not that that’s the way it’s going to be in college football, but I think it’s going to be more that way.” Ohio State’s goal will be to win the Big Ten championship to contend for one of the four first-round byes in the expanded playoff. A consolation prize, however, would be the chance to host a first-round game at Ohio Stadium. Day said he and athletic director Gene Smith had talked through the pros and cons. It sure sounded, though, like the coach wasn’t overly worried about chilly weather and cold, hard playing surfaces. “Playing a home game in Columbus in December’s going to be fun,” Day said. If you or a loved one has questions and needs to talk to a professional about gambling, call the Ohio Problem Gambling Helpline at 1-800-589-9966 or the National Council on Program Gambling Helpline (NCPG) at 1-800-522-4700 or visit 1800gambler.net for more information. 21+ and present in Ohio. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-Gambler.