"Easy" in this case would've meant winning a layup game at home against a bad Michigan team, getting vengeance against the Oregon Ducks in the Big Ten Championship, and then sitting pretty for a few weeks with a playoff bye while the rest of the country sorted itself out.

None of that is actually easy (The Game is a monster all its own, Oregon remains pretty clearly the best team in the country). But it feels like pretty much any other outcome than what actually transpired would've been a lot more relaxing than the two weeks of angst over things like: losing to That Team Up North, the future of Ryan Day, a terrible overall record against the SEC, tickets being snatched up by Tennessee fans, the offense looking like hot garbage, the inevitable heat death of the universe, etc.

And then, in about 12 minutes and after three touchdowns, all of that was gone. Under the most pressure they've had to deal with in years, with the most to lose for Ryan Day as Ohio State's head coach, they came out against the Tennessee Volunteers like an angry, greased up javelina holding a machete in its mouth. In retrospect this was probably predictable (though I, uh... did not predict it) because Ohio State's M.O. since pretty much the beginning of time is to back itself into a corner and then come out swinging. In general, not the best approach to life, but in a playoff scenario it's not a bad quality to have.

It'd probably be a lot less stressful for everybody if this version of the Buckeyes showed up every week. But hell, I'll take this too.

And that's it! Next up is a rematch with Oregon in the Rose Bowl, which feels like fate. See you on January 2nd!