When the 2nd best team you played(regular season) was NW, you know you got some schedule breaks. We got credit for what at least appeared to be a tough schedule even if in the end it really wasn't.
- We got Michigan at home in the first game with a new qb. As it were, it is likely Michigan would have been picked over us, absent an epic meltdown vs OSU.
- Stanford, USC, and FSU were down.
- We got lucky when a good Syracuse lost it's best player, the qb, in the 1st qtr.
- We struggled to beat Vanderbilt, Ball State and Pitt, pretty weak teams, all in all.
Yes, I knew that is the way college football sometimes rolls, but getting in the playoff was more a result of being last man standing than really earning it. The 6 thru 9 teams were 10-3, 11-3, and 10-4.
I suspect we won't be so lucky schedule-wise in 2019.