Buckeyes fall in penultimate College Football Playoff rankings
COLUMBUS — Ohio State had its chance last weekend to make sure there would be no controversy surrounding the Buckeyes and the College Football Playoff this season.
They lost to Michigan. Now they need a miracle in the form of chaos to help them sneak back into the four-team field.
The College Football Playoff field will be set Sunday after conference championship weekend, but the penultimate rankings came out Tuesday night. After the Buckeyes rivalry loss to Michigan, they have fallen out of the top four and into the No. 6 spot.
Georgia remained in the top spot. The Bulldogs are followed by Michigan, Washington and Florida State in the top four. All four are undefeated and will play this weekend.
Ohio State is No. 6 while one-loss Oregon is No. 5, one-loss Texas is No. 7 and one-loss Alabama is No. 8.
Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, crushed after the loss to Michigan last weekend, declined to give a definitive answer on whether he thinks Ohio State belongs in the CFP. But he did say he thinks the Buckeyes are among the best teams in the country.
“I believe in our players,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said following the loss Saturday. I think we have a veteran team. I think we have a team that is solid in all three phases. And I’d have to kind of see what else is out there, honestly. I’ve just been so focused on this game. I appreciate the question, I just don’t have a great answer for you right now.
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“But I do believe that this team can play with anybody in the country.”
Ohio State may not get the chance to do so, though. If championship weekend plays out how it is expected to, the Buckeyes will be out of the four-team field and likely in a consolation Orange Bowl. That’s certainly not where they wanted to be heading into Saturday’s edition of The Game against Michigan.
But the Buckeyes lost that game, and now they need a lot of help to get back in the national title picture.
“The worst part is that we kind of have to sit back now and see how everything shakes out,” Ohio State starting quarterback Kyle McCord said. “It’s out of our control.”
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Lettermen Row has the third set of College Football Playoff rankings below:
1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. Washington
4. Florida State
5. Oregon
6. Ohio State
7. Texas
8. Alabama
9. Missouri
10. Penn State
11. Ole Miss
12. Oklahoma
13. LSU
14. Louisville
15. Arizona
16. Iowa
17. Notre Dame
18. Oklahoma State
19. North Carolina State
20. Oregon State
21. Tennessee
22. Tulane
23. Clemson
24. Liberty
25. Kansas State
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