STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Enjoy the newfound respect for the Big Ten. It comes with a price.
Saturday night.
No. 2 Ohio State's 24-21 loss to Penn State was the culmination of a conference on the rise. It was a repeat of a rivalry that still lives as long as Beaver Stadium packs in the fans for the most important game on the Nittany Lions' schedule.
Unranked Penn State is not a better team than No. 10 Wisconsin, which, by the way, beat Iowa on Saturday. But dealing with Penn State, the week after an overtime road win at Wisconsin that got the Buckeyes back to Columbus at 5 a.m. Sunday morning and forced a change in their practice schedule, was more difficult.
Wisconsin on Oct. 15 made Ohio State a bit worse for Oct. 22. And that made Penn State better.
It's what the SEC has dealt with many weeks for many years. There's a valid argument about over-ranking middling SEC teams, with southern powerhouse reputations keeping a lot of familiar SEC names in the 20s of the AP poll each season.
But here are the numbers. Alabama the last three weeks beat No. 16 Arkansas 49-30; No. 9 Tennessee 49-10; and No. 6 Texas A&M 33-14.
In the recent past, Ohio State couldn't have matched that. Last season, the Buckeyes didn't face a ranked team until the loss to Michigan State in the 11th game of the year.
Now? The current stretch Ohio State is facing -- what then was No. 6 Wisconsin, Penn State, Northwestern and No. 8 Nebraska -- may wear down the Buckeyes every bit as much as what the Crimson Tide faces.
Next week Ohio State hosts Northwestern, a West Division contender that has won four of its last five after an awful start to the season. The following week, the Buckeyes will see Nebraska visit, with the Cornhuskers either rolling in undefeated or potentially ticked after a loss to Wisconsin. (Nebraska visits the Badgers next week in the game that should determine the eventual West champ.)
Any Saturday, any week, you wouldn't pick Wisconsin, Penn State, Northwestern or Nebraska to beat Ohio State. But add those teams together?
That's the meat grinder.
Like so many Ohio State foes, Penn State was a team in parts. The defense was ranked 73rd in the country entering Saturday, and had allowed 42 points to Pitt and 49 points to Michigan in Penn State's two losses.
With its starting linebackers returning to health, Penn State's defense played as well as it had all year. The same thing happened with Wisconsin's offense a week ago.
The Badgers were scuffling on offense before rediscovering their run blocking a week ago and doing everything possible to make a freshman quarterback comfortable.
You knew Wisconsin's defense was good. You knew Penn State's offense, featuring star running back Saquon Barkley and a solid group of receivers, had potential this week.
The Badgers and Nittany Lions shared one other thing -- a bye week before hosting the Buckeyes. That's life, and defending a loss with a scheduling conspiracy won't make fans look good. But what would you have rather done last Saturday? Flown home in the middle of the night after a bruising overtime win, or taken the week off to rest and prep?
In the meat grinder, an opponent doesn't need to be perfect. It just needs to stick around. The Nittany Lions did that with their first touchdown in the final 10 seconds of the first half and their second touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
All of a sudden, it's third-and-10 with 12:11 to play, Ohio State is deep in its own territory and 107,000 people in white are screaming. J.T. Barrett scrambles short of the first down, the punt is blocked and Urban Meyer looks like he wants to smash his headset into a 107,000 pieces.
That's the meat grinder.
Ohio State's defense held Penn State to a field goal after that punt block and retained a four-point lead. So as the Buckeyes responded with their drive, they could breathe in a game that could have been tied but wasn't.
That's because Penn State had its opening field goal blocked. The Nittany Lions lost a fumbled punt. They gave up two points on a safety because of a wild punt snap.
But then the special teams game swung their way, a blocked field goal and 60-yard return for a touchdown finally putting the Buckeyes behind in the fourth quarter.
In the meat grinder, teams keep taking shots at you.
Here's the secret of the meat grinder, the secret that was true last week as well. The meat grinder can work for you, not only against you.
In this legitimately improved conference, you can mark it down that a one-loss Big Ten champ will make the College Football Playoff. That can still be Ohio State.
The Buckeyes' path is no different than if they had won. Beat Michigan. Win the Big Ten East. Win the Big Ten Championship. Make the playoff.
The margin for error is gone. Those white pom-pons wiped that away. The grinder goes on, the losing can't.
But enjoy the newfound respect of the Big Ten. It comes with a bonus. The Buckeyes lost. But they aren't dead.
Not in this meat grinder.