Ohio State Football: What CFP rankings mean for top teams

The Ohio State football team took care of business in Lincoln and found itself ranked inside the CFP field. What does that mean for the Buckeyes and others?

The College Football Playoff Selection Committee released its second edition of rankings just hours ago. As expected, there were no significant moves at the top, excluding Michigan State, which lost to Purdue 40-29. The Ohio State football team finds itself inside the field of four, checking in at No. 4.

Cincinnati moved up to No. 5, which again marks the highest ranking for a non-Power 5 program. The Bearcats are within striking distance of the playoff with a real chance to break the glass ceiling. None of Alabama, Oregon, Ohio State, or Cincinnati played its best game last Saturday, which likely contributed to the pecking order holding.

Oklahoma was idle and remained at No. 8 but has multiple opportunities to right its wrongs in the season’s closing weeks, beginning this week against Baylor. What is the justification of the undefeated Sooners’ placement? Eye test? Lack of signature wins? We will get a clear message of how the committee perceives the Sooners if they can beat the Bears in Waco.

Like Oklahoma, Ohio State has opportunities to impress the 13 person group with matchups against ranked opponents the rest of the way. To the Buckeyes’ delight, the Boilermakers found themselves inside the Top 20, and rightly so. Purdue has earned their 19th spot and has given top teams all they can handle and then some.

The only difference is each time Purdue was unranked. Maybe a number in front of the name will take away whatever magic is in the train in West Lafayette; at least Ohio State football fans hope it will. The Buckeyes host Michigan State and then travel to Ann Arbor for The Game to finish the season.

This week, an interesting dynamic is the weight of head-to-head and losses-to as Oregon remained in front of Ohio State. However, Michigan slid in front of Michigan State after losing to the Spartans two weeks ago because most of the committee believes the Wolverines are a more complete team than MSU.

Side note: Penn State should be ranked if Auburn can finesse a spot.

Judging by that logic, Ohio State should likely leap Oregon if the Buckeyes can defeat Purdue and potentially Michigan State, too, despite the H2H favoring the Ducks. The committee set an intriguing precedent tonight that Oregon, Alabama, and Cincinnati should all keep their eyes on down the stretch.

Still, for Ohio State, the story remains: win and in. Game results remain solely a criterion of discussion, not an end all be all between two like-teams. Eventually, a team’s resume or the eye test can overtake head-to-head results. Regardless, the only rankings that matter are on December 5th, but it is still fun to entertain debates between now and then.