Ohio State’s place in the first College Football Playoff rankings was as blunt as it was discouraging: No. 12.
That slot leaves the Buckeyes on the outside looking in after a season that has already swung from promising to precarious. The committee’s first look at the field made the situation plain. If the season ended today, Ohio State would not be in the final bracket.
The Buckeyes’ path to this point has been anything but smooth. It opened with a confusing loss to Texas, a game in which Ohio State controlled play for three quarters before everything unraveled. After that, the Buckeyes steadied themselves with four straight wins, including convincing performances against Illinois and Iowa that seemed to get the season back on track.
Then came Indiana, the game that was supposed to be the biggest one on the schedule. Ohio State went to Bloomington and escaped with a narrow win, but it came at a cost: quarterback Julian Sayin was lost in that game, just before the bye week.
That break gave the Buckeyes time to prepare a backup quarterback for a trip west and his first start of the season and of his career. But the rest of the team did not hold up its end in the critical moments against USC. Ohio State’s trip to Los Angeles ended in a lopsided loss, one of the worst the program has suffered in a long time.
The committee’s message was clear. Ohio State is not in the field right now, and with the 12-team Playoff also reserving a spot for the highest-ranked Group of Six team, there are no teams ahead of the Buckeyes in that category.
The margin for error is now razor thin. One more loss, and Ohio State is out of the College Football Playoff picture for good.
That reality is especially stark given how the team looked against the Trojans. The Buckeyes showed too many flaws, and those issues were exposed from start to finish. There is still a chance to win out, but there is also no game left on the schedule that feels safe.
The committee has spoken, and Ohio State knows exactly where it stands.
In Other News...
Ohio States CFP Ranking Just Reignited A Frustrating Committee Debate
The first College Football Playoff rankings of 2026 immediately stirred up the kind of familiar arguments that seem to arrive every November, and Ohio State fans know the drill well enough by now. Miami landed at No. 1, followed by Georgia, Utah, Indiana and Alabama, but the order raised fresh questions about how the committee is weighing head-to-head results, strength of schedule and the value of unbeaten records in a crowded field.
Hunter Yurachek tried to walk through the committees thinking, but the explanations only sharpened the debate around several placements, especially UCLA sitting behind teams with losses and Utah climbing so high with just one ranked win. For Ohio State, the broader concern is less about one specific slot than the same old uncertainty about what the rankings are really rewarding, and whether the committees logic will hold once the bracket starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Has A Legit CFP Ranking Complaint After First Bracket
The first College Football Playoff rankings of the 2026 season immediately stirred the usual arguments, with Alabama landing in the top five despite a mixed record against ranked opponents and Notre Dame showing up lower than it did in the AP poll. The committee also drew attention for the way it handled strength of schedule, a familiar flashpoint this time of year, and it did not take long for the Buckeyes to have a reason to feel slighted.
Hunter Yurachek said the committee did not consider Ohio States head-to-head win over Indiana when it made its first bracket. For a program that has spent the early part of the season trying to stack rsum points against quality competition, that omission stands out, especially when the rankings are already inviting scrutiny elsewhere. Ohio State may not love the opening picture, and this is the kind of detail that tends to linger until the committee explains itself a little more fully. [Read more 🡒]
Lincoln Riley Explains Tense Ohio State Exchange After USC Statement Win
USCs 30-18 win over Ohio State ended with a little more edge than the scoreboard alone suggested, as Trojans coach Lincoln Riley and Buckeyes athletic director Ross Bjork had a brief verbal exchange on the field afterward. Riley was asked about it later and downplayed the moment, saying it was simply part of the emotions that spill over after a game like that and that the two moved past it quickly.
For Ohio State, the exchange was a small postgame footnote to an outcome that already stung, but it still drew attention because it happened in plain view after a high-profile nonconference matchup. Riley did not get into what started it, leaving the specifics out of reach even as he tried to brush off any bigger meaning from the scene. [Read more 🡒]