College Football Playoff Rankings reactions: How No. 6 Ohio State still has path into four-team field

Ohio State No. 2 for late bidding Michigan On Saturday, he was stopped by the Ann Arbor Wolverines defensive end Rod Moore The Buckeyes chose a quarterback Kyle McCord At the Michigan 22 yard line with 25 seconds to play to ice a 30-24 win. In theory, the Buckeyes’ bid for College football The game is also loaded on ice. Or was it?

Ohio State finds itself in 6th place Improved college football game standards It was released before number 7 on Tuesday night Texas And number 8 Alabama. The Longhorns and Crimson Tide both play in conference championship games this weekend, with the one-loss Buckeyes already in the clubhouse and holding the best loss among real CFP contenders.

There’s still a way to make the CFP for the Buckeyes, and it doesn’t even involve total chaos. They just need a very different set of dominoes to fall.

First things first. Number 4 State of Florida He should lose to number 14. Louisville Saturday in the ACC Championship Game. One-loss Florida State, without a conference championship and an injured quarterback, has no chance of being ranked ahead of the Buckeyes. The Seminoles are only 2.5-point favorites over the Cardinals, so the chance of this domino falling is higher than the others.

Number 3 Washington Number 5 should be taken care of Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game on Friday. A Ducks team with two losses, both to the undefeated Huskies, is not ranked higher than Ohio State. Oddsmakers don’t feel like relying on this, though; Oregon is favored by 9.5 points despite coming off a head-to-head start this season.

No. 7 Texas should also be out of the way and No. 18 Oklahoma State Excited to be in the Big 12 Championship Game, the Longhorns’ final conference game before making the jump to the SEC next season. It’s a long shot, but it’s not a “no shot”. Doc Walker Award Finalist Ollie Gordon II And the Cowboys are 14.5-point underdogs to the Longhorns, but never count coach Mike Gundy out of respect.

Ultimately, No. 8 Alabama should fall to No. 1. Georgia The road to the CFP was complete for Ohio State in the SEC Championship Game. The Crimson Tide are 5.5-point underdogs against the Bulldogs in the 2022 College Football Playoff national championship rematch.

Below is the overall situation for the Buckeyes to have a legitimate chance to make the four-team field.

Simply put, Ohio State would be the lowest option for No. 4. The only other team in any sort of contention would be Florida State. But, again, the Seminoles’ resume pales in comparison to the Buckeyes.