COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio State Buckeyes’ playoff chances have been growing week by week as they remain one of the top-ranked teams to make the first 12-team bracket.
Ohio State (9-1, 6-1) is ranked No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings for a third successive week before its anticipated showdown against No. 5 Indiana, one of the last three undefeated teams in the country. Even a loss to the Hoosiers on Saturday at noon is likely not to knock out the Buckeyes from the playoff picture.
One of the other undefeated teams is No. 1 Oregon, the lone squad to beat the Buckeyes and the reason Ohio State doesn’t occupy the No. 2 seed in the projected 12-team bracket. Because of the conference champion rules, the current rankings would put the Buckeyes into the No. 5 seed for the playoff. To see a full explanation on how the new 12-team format works, follow this link.
As the No. 5 seed, the Buckeyes would play a first-round game on Dec. 20 or 21 at Ohio Stadium against the 12-seed, which is currently Big 12 conference leader BYU. The winner would advance to play Boise State in a quarterfinal at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.
College Football Playoff poll (Nov. 19, 2024)
Teams in bold are in projected bracket. Bold number is projected seed.
| 1 | Oregon (1) |
| 2 | Ohio State (5) |
| 3 | Texas (2) |
| 4 | Penn State (6) |
| 5 | Indiana (7) |
| 6 | Notre Dame (8) |
| 7 | Alabama (9) |
| 8 | Miami (3) |
| 9 | Ole Miss (10) |
| 10 | Georgia (11) |
| 11 | Tennessee |
| 12 | Boise State (4) |
| 13 | SMU |
| 14 | BYU (12) |
| 15 | Texas A&M |
| 16 | Colorado |
| 17 | Clemson |
| 18 | South Carolina |
| 19 | Army |
| 20 | Tulane |
| 21 | Arizona State |
| 22 | Iowa State |
| 23 | Missouri |
| 24 | UNLV |
| 25 | Illinois |
College Football Playoff bracket
Losses last week by BYU and Tennessee have mixed up the bracket once again. The Cougars plummeted from the three-seed to the 12-seed as the lowest-ranked projected conference champion. Mountain West leaders Boise State are now projected to earn a bye as a non-Power Four conference champion.
The committee could face its most difficult dilemma to date with the parity seen in the Southeastern Conference, which currently has four teams projected into the field. Conference leaders Texas and Texas A&M have still yet to play each other and could create a kerfuffle. An Aggies victory in two weeks would guarantee the conference has no one-loss teams and the possibility of six 10-2 teams.
Among Ohio State, Oregon, Indiana or Penn State, one will earn a bye into a quarterfinal as the Big Ten champion. As it currently stands, and barring any upsets, the winner of the Ohio State-Indiana game on Saturday will play Oregon in the conference title game on Dec. 7 in Indianapolis.
The Big Ten announced Tuesday the Ducks have clinched a spot in the conference championship game as they are on a bye week. Penn State plays at Minnesota at 3:30 p.m. Saturday after the anticipated Ohio State-Indiana contest.
Conference title games
If the season ended today (Teams in bold have clinched conference title game spot)
- ACC: SMU vs. Clemson
- Big 12: BYU vs. Colorado
- Big Ten: Oregon vs. Indiana
- SEC: Texas vs. Texas A&M
- AAC: Army vs. Tulane
- C-USA: Jacksonville State vs. Western Kentucky
- MAC: Miami vs. Ohio
- Mountain West: Boise State vs. Colorado State
- Sun Belt: Marshall vs. Louisiana
