Let it out Ohio State Buckeyes fans, it’s okay. Be mad. Be upset. Hate the team up north. It’s fine.
Your team is still in the playoffs, right?
Will Ohio State Still Make the College Football Playoffs?
Ohio State is reeling. Columbus is hurting. There’s a stench in the air (trust me, I live here).
The Game went the way of the Wolverines yet again and Ohio State was eliminated from the Big Ten Championship Game picture as a result. But was their spot in the playoffs always seen as a lock?
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And to answer that pretty easily:
Yes, Ohio State is set to make the College Football Playoffs.
The Buckeyes will almost certainly make the playoffs as an at-large team, but now they are subject to the seeding by the college football playoff committee.
More importantly, where could they rank following the loss to Michigan?
To make this as educated of a guess as possible, we have to have some sort of historical precedent. Let’s go back a week ago when Indiana lost to Ohio State and fell from No. 5 to No. 10. Of course, Indiana lost to No. 2 Ohio State whereas the Buckeyes have lost to an unranked opponent in Michigan.
As a baseline, the Buckeyes are set to drop out of the top five spots. You can probably drop them to right around where Indiana sits now, landing right around No. 9 or No. 10 at the lowest.
Georgia and Tennessee, who sit at Nos. 7 and 8, respectively, won their games in Week 14 and are all but in the playoffs. SMU — at No. 9 — is on to the ACC Championship Game and likely has to win the ACC title to keep their spot in the top 10.
Because of that, it’s likely that OSU ranks right at No. 8. That would keep them above SMU and Indiana, but below Georgia and Tennessee.
This is, of course, assuming No. 3 Texas, No. 4 Penn State, No. 5 Notre Dame, and No. 6 Miami all win as well during Week 14.
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You’re looking at the No. 8 spot, Buckeyes, but it’s also not that simple. By virtue of the conference champions getting the top four seeds, that would push either Boise State or the winner of the Big 12 to the four seed and push the Buckeyes to the No. 9 seed when it comes to the bracket.
That means, most likely, Ohio State will have to travel in the opening round of the College Football Playoffs thanks to their loss to Michigan.
And that stings more than the pepper spray did on the field on Saturday.
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