Buckeyes ignoring first batch of College Football Playoff rankings
COLUMBUS — The first batch of College Football Playoff committee rankings have never really mattered for anyone other than the ESPN executives looking to score big ratings for 30 minutes a week on fall Tuesday nights.
But the committee and the Worldwide Leader in Sports decided to tell on themselves by making the first set of rankings become even more irrelevant this time around, dumping them on the night of the 2024 Presidential Election. Thanks for the even further proof that the initial rankings don’t mean a thing — especially for a team that controls its destiny for a first-round bye in the new 12-team format.
For the record: Ohio State checked in at No. 2 in the first CFP rankings. The Buckeyes just collected a signature road win over Penn State, which the committee deemed is No. 6 in the country. Ohio State has one loss, that being to the committee’s top-ranked team in Oregon — a loss that came by one point on the road.
Think Ohio State cares about the rankings? Think again. Buckeyes coach Ryan Day was asked about them on Tuesday during his weekly press conference, opting to take the question and turn it into a praise session for this week’s opponent: a 1-7 Purdue team that just lost at home to Northwestern.
“No. Just focused on Purdue,” Day said Tuesday afternoon. “That’s all that matters. Rankings right now, for us, don’t mean anything, because you’ve got to keep winning. And for us, every time we walk off the field on a Sunday, no matter what happened the game before, that game is over with. It’s on to Purdue. I think Purdue, their record may not say it, but they’ve been playing good football.
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“We’ve got to come in and play physical in this game, and we’ve got to continue to build on what happened last week. That’s what today’s going to be all about in a Tuesday practice. Because, you know, whatever rankings are, they are. As we always said: the ones that matter at the ones at the end of the year.”
Ohio State isn’t going to be paying attention to where the committee has it ranked this week, and neither should Buckeyes fans. Wait until the end of the season. If the Buckeyes win their games, they’ll be in the dance regardless of what the first top 25 looks like.
The committee is doing everything it can to make this rankings release irrelevant anyway.
The full initial College Football Playoff rankings can be found below. Teams in bold would be the conference champions, making them the automatic qualifying teams that receive a first-round bye in the new 12-team College Football Playoff.
College Football Playoff rankings (Nov. 5)
1. Oregon
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Miami
5. Texas
6. Penn State
7. Tennessee
8. Indiana
9. BYU
10. Notre Dame
11. Alabama
12. Boise State
13. SMU
14. Texas A&M
15. LSU
16. Ole Miss
17. Iowa State
18. Pittsburgh
19. Kansas State
20. Colorado
21. Washington State
22. Louisville
23. Clemson
24. Missouri
25. Army
