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OSU in wait-and-see mode after big win

COLUMBUS — And now Ohio State waits.

The Buckeyes hope they will be one of the four teams invited to the College Football Playoff.

Those teams will be announced Sunday. The question facing Ohio State is if the playoff committee will include it even though it did not qualify for the Big Ten championship game this Saturday because of losing the Big Ten East Division championship to Penn State on a head-to-head tie-breaker.

If the Buckeyes had won their division and won the championship game, they would have been a slam dunk to be invited to the playoff.

But a 24-21 loss to Penn State in game in which the Nittany Lions got the winning touchdown by returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown kept OSU out of the conference championship game.

The Buckeyes’ last hope to get to the championship game was for Michigan State to beat Penn State on Saturday night. But after trailing early, Penn State rolled to a 45-12 win, shutting down that avenue to the playoffs for OSU.

So now the speculation begins.

Liberty falls in D-I state semifinal

MANSFIELD — Cleveland St. Ignatius took advantage of field position in the first half to build a two-touchdown lead and held on for a 24-14 win to end Olentangy Liberty’s best season in school history.

Patrick Ryan threw for a touchdown and ran for another and Mark Bobinski had a touchdown run and a couple of key punt returns to lead the Wildcats to a Division I football state semifinal win Friday night at Arlin Field in Mansfield.

“Our kids never quit,” Patriots coach Steve Hale said. “(St. Ignatius is) just really good. The front six is as good as we’ve seen anywhere … ever. They’re just really strong, really good football players.”

Torrid-shooting Titans top Ohio Wesleyan

Junior guard Seth Clark (Lewis Center/Olentangy) drove for a lay-in that brought the eighth-ranked Ohio Wesleyan men’s basketball team to within a single point, but Illinois Wesleyan hit 8 consecutive shots from the field to open up a lead and went on a 14-2 run to extend the margin to double digits on the way to an 88-70 non-conference win over the Bishops on Saturday at Branch Rickey Arena.

Jaylen Beasley misfired on a 3-pointer for Illinois Wesleyan during the opening minute of the game, but the Titans would connect on their next 8 field goal attempts. Andy Stempel sank a pair of 3-pointers and a jumper from inside the arc, and a Brady Rose 3-pointer gave the visitors a 15-10 lead with 13:32 left in the first half.

Senior post Ben Simpson (Lake Bluff, Ill./Lake Forest) hit a pair of free throws to bring the Bishops within 15-12, but Illinois Wesleyan answered with a 3-pointer by Nick Coleman and a Tyler Burdine jumper from the lane to conclude its run of 8 consecutive field goals.

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