After losing to Michigan last weekend, it was always going to be an uphill climb against a stiff wind to make it into the College Football Playoff. The first of about four things that needed to take place for that to occur fell into place for the Buckeyes on Friday night when Washington beat Oregon in the Pac-12 Championship, taking the Ducks out of contention.
The optimism felt pretty pessimistic Saturday afternoon though when the Texas Longhorns blew the doors off of Oklahoma State in the Big 12 Championship game. Nevermind the fact that the Cowboys were 9-3, it gave one-loss Texas a conference championship as an extra data point that idle Ohio State — the only team in the top eight not playing in a conference title game — doesn’t have a chance to add to its resume.
So, though Texas isn’t a lock to make the playoff, it’s probably a lock to jump the Buckeyes. And when you consider that an undefeated Washington is all but guaranteed in along with Michigan (perhaps even with a loss to Iowa), spots are simply running out. Even if Florida State loses to Louisville or Georgia loses to Alabama in the SEC championship game, Ohio State will be the only one-loss team without a conference championship.
Ohio State joins Oregon as eliminated from College Football Playoff contention per @jppalmCBS.
Here's the paths for the five remaining contenders with Washington already clinched: https://t.co/5EE6nc57x9
— Adam Silverstein (@SilversteinAdam) December 2, 2023
So, where is OSU most likely headed then? It looks like the best bet at this point is that the Buckeyes will be headed to Miami to play in the Orange Bowl* opposite of the highest ranked ACC team not in the CFP. Right now, that looks like Louisville. There’s a chance that it could be against Florida State, but either way, get ready to make travel plans to South Beach and embrace it.
*Since publishing this, Alabama upset Georgia in the SEC Championship game. Because of that we’ve projected Ohio State to go bowling elsewhere.
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