College Football Playoff Rankings: OSU at 5; Hope?

The new College Football Playoff Rankings are out. The Ohio State Buckeyes, and their fans, were concerned that the committee would punish them due to the injury to J.T. Barrett. The Bucks were ranked #6 last week but #4 Mississippi State lost. The Bucks were sandwiched between two Big 12 teams, TCU and Baylor, who each had one loss but have no conference championship.

So where did the committee place our beloved Buckeyes? They were just announced in 5th place in the College Football Rankings. What is interesting is who the four teams are above the Bucks and in what order they are placed. Lets take a look at those four teams as well as the sixth ranked team who also only has one loss.

1. Alabama –The Crimson Tide stay at #1 in advance of their SEC Title game against�Missouri. Missouri is ranked #16 and come in with 2 losses. The Tigers have played well on the defense but struggled to score. Can the Tigers defense frustrate Blake Sims enough to knock off the Tide and possibly eliminate the SEC from the Playoffs?
2. Oregon –The high paced Ducks remain in the second spot as they prepare for the Pac-12 Title Game. The Ducks will face off with the Arizona Wildcats, the 7th ranked team, in that game. Arizona is the team that beat Oregon this year so the game could be a interesting one for the Bucks. The fast paced Wildcats should lead to a high scoring game with the Ducks.
3. TCU –At #3 is where things get very interesting. TCU jumps undefeated Florida State for the 3rd spot. As noted above.the Horned Frogs don’t have a title game instead they face 2 – 9 Iowa State in a game they should dominate.
4. Florida State –The undefeated, reigning champions drop another spot this week. FSU takes on Georgia Tech in the ACC Title game. The 11th ranked Yellow Jackets just lost their best wide receiver to injury but run a unique offense that could cause the champs trouble. Could the committee drop the Seminoles out of the playoffs if they struggle but win the ACC Title? They have already dropped them below three teams with one loss surprisingly.

• Baylor –The Bears are in the sixth spot, right below the Buckeyes. They are the only one loss team behind OSU but they won’t have a conference title game to give them a big boost. Instead they face off with the 9th ranked Kansas State Wildcats. An impressive win, to go along with their head to head win against TCU, could create some problems for the committee and the Buckeyes.

So do the Buckeyes have hope after the new College Football Rankings?

There is some hope because the Buckeyes, as the 5th ranked team, are only one spot away and could get a ton of credit for a conference title. They also benefit that 3 of the 4 teams above them have games that they could possibly lose, Oregon, FSU and Alabama in order of likelihood. With TCU and Baylor not having a conference title game, which the committee said is an important thing, the Bucks should benefit as well.

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On the other hand the new rankings do create some concerns about what happens if all of the teams win. It was realistic to believe that the Buckeyes could jump over TCU or Baylor, if they were ranked #4, if both teams won, based on the conference title. Now with the Seminoles at #4 it is much harder to see the committee knocking the undefeated, reigning National Champions out of the first ever College Football Playoffs. The Bucks could jump up to #3 if the committee sees a great outing in the Big 10 Title Game as enough to jump two teams.

All the Buckeyes need is to get up one spot. Beating the Wisconsin Badgers, the 13th ranked team, soundly with a new QB could help that process. The committee has made it clear that each week is treated as a completely new ranking. It is possible that FSU jumps back up to #1 or that any number of changes come out next week. As long as the Bucks are in the Top 4 that is all that matters.

Today’s new College Football Playoff Rankings created some intriguing possibilities for the Ohio State Buckeyes. There is some hope based on the new rankings but also some concerns. Going into the Big 10 Title Game hope is all we can ask for.

What do you think of the new College Football Playoff Rankings?