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Post being replied to

Not a close call based on the established criteria. by rockmcd

(1) 12-game regular season record? Tie
(2) Head-to-head? MSU
(3) Won their division? MSU, as a result of #2.
(4) Won their conference? MSU, as a result of #2 and #3.
(5) Tougher schedule? MSU slightly through 12 games, and decisively after 13 games as a result of #2 and #3.

Based on all that, MSU was the clear choice and I was happy for them.
But who do I think was a better team? OSU.

The point I'm trying to make is that the head-to-head tiebreaker is what separated them that year. Consider that after the regular season ended these teams were ranked #5 and #6, with overrated Iowa at #4. At that moment, it WAS a close call. If there had been a 3-way tie instead of a 2-way tie, with Ohio State winning the tiebreaker, then Ohio State would have probably beaten Iowa the following week and leapfrogged MSU into the #4 spot. All because of a tiebreaker.

[And yes, this whole discussion is a bunch of wankery.]