The Big One remains a big problem for Ryan Day. Following No. 4 Ohio State’s 32-31 road loss to No. 2 Oregon on Saturday in a top-five clash, the same familiar narrative that’s hovered over him stemming from his struggles against Michigan reemerged.
Ryan Day can’t win The Big One.
The trends immediately flooded social media. As Oregon fans swarmed the turf at Autzen Stadium and Dan Lanning smiled into the television cameras letting potential recruits know that this was why you come to Oregon, tweets and graphics showing Day’s record against top-five opponents were everywhere. He’s lost four straight and is 2-6 at Ohio State against such foes.
They’re facts that cannot be argued, and they’re ammunition for any Ohio State fan who believes it’s impetus to fire a coach who has lost only nine of the 70 games he’s coached at Ohio State.
He can’t win The Big One.
But as is often the case, facts often need context, so how about I provide some? You know what’s not uncommon? Coaches, even great ones, having a losing record against top-five teams. Do you know why that is? It’s simple: Top-five teams don’t lose often. If they did, they wouldn’t be ranked in the top five. In the College Football Playoff era, teams ranked anywhere between Nos. 1 through 5 in a given week have a record of 603-130. That’s a winning percentage of 82.3%.