COLUMBUS – Ohio State was No. 5 on Tuesday night in the second-to-last College Football Playoff rankings, positioned to possibly take advantage if one of the top four slips up on championship weekend.
Georgia (12-0) was No. 1 again. No. 2 Michigan (12-0) and No. 3 TCU (12-0) both moved up a spot, and Southern California (11-1) climbed two spots into the fourth slot.
The Buckeyes (11-1) dropped three spots after losing 45-23 to the rival Wolverines on Saturday at home. That game was 24-20 heading into the fourth quarter and 31-23 with 7:23 to go before Michigan blew it open.
“It was talked about in the committee room that going into, really early in the fourth quarter, the game was still close,” said selection committee chairman Boo Corrigan, who is North Carolina State’s athletic director. “That being said, you can’t completely dismiss the way the fourth quarter ended with Michigan kind of taking over the game there late.”
The top four play in their conference championships game this weekend and the final rankings and the four-team playoff field will be set Sunday. The semifinals will be played Dec. 31 in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta and the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Arizona.
Georgia plays LSU (9-3) in the SEC title game, Michigan plays Purdue (8-4) for the Big Ten championship, TCU faces Kansas State in the Big 12 and USC plays Utah for the Pac 12 title.
Since the college football playoff started in 2014, only one team has moved from outside the top four to inside and was selected to play in the semifinals without playing on championship weekend.
Bowl outlook
If Ohio State doesn’t make it into the playoff, the Buckeyes could go to the Rose Bowl for the second straight season.
But with Penn State moving up to No. 8 this week, that opens up the possibility the Rose Bowl could select Penn State, leaving the Buckeyes to go to the Orange Bowl as the highest-ranked available Big Ten or SEC team, where they would face the winner of the Atlantic Coast Conference title game between Clemson and North Carolina.
Post-season plaudits
UPDATE 12/1/22 7:22 a.m.: The Big Ten has announced its offensive post-season honors.
Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud has been named the Big Ten’s offensive player of the year for the second straight season.
The conference announced its offensive awards on Wednesday, with Stroud extending to five years the Buckeyes’ streak of winning the top honor.
Stroud finished the regular season as the nation’s leader in efficiency rating (176.25) and co-leader in touchdown passes (37). He threw at least three TD passes in six games.
One of Stroud’s favorite targets, sophomore wide receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. was named the conference’s Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year, the first Buckeye to win the top receiver award.
Both Stroud and Harrison were joined on the All-Big Ten offensive first team by tackle Paris Johnson.
Three OSU defensive standouts were named first-team all-Big Ten Conference players Tuesday by league wide votes from the league’s head coaches and a media panel.
Linebacker Tommy Eichenberg, defensive end Zach Harrison, and defensive end JT Tuimoloau led a contingent of 13 Buckeyes on defense or special teams.
Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh is the conference coach of the year and Iowa linebacker Jack Campbell is defensive player of the year.