This is why you pencil Ohio State into the college football playoffs instead of writing it in ink.
Because 18- to 21-year-olds can be careless. Because banana peels are everywhere. And because, when mixed, those two realities produce slip-ups that create uncertainty out of certainty.
I’m not saying the Buckeyes won’t qualify for the four-team College Football Playoff. They probably will, but Thursday’s suspension of defensive end Joey Bosa, receiver Corey Smith and hybrid backs Dontre Wilson and Jalin Marshall for the Sept. 7 season opener at Virginia Tech shows why anyone guaranteeing such a spot should stay out of the prediction business.