Ohio State had a chance to earn a ranked victory at home last weekend against Oregon in the Shoe. Instead, they were utterly embarrassed by the Ducks, making it the second huge loss in a row. The Buckeyes now have three losses, and the CFP chances look bleak.
After losing to the Ducks, the Buckeyes were expecting to take a pretty big tumble in the College Football Playoff rankings. After falling to Oregon, Ohio State fell all the way to 20th in the rankings. That means they're technically alive, but they would need a massive amount of help to make it.
Ohio State sits at 20th in CFP rankings
The Buckeyes sit at 20th, which means they need to get to at least 11th to have a shot at making the 12-team playoff. That 12th spot is going to go to the highest-rated G6 team. That means Ohio State needs nine teams ahead of them to lose, because they don't have the wins to make up ground.
Three teams that Ohio State has already played sit in the 15-18 range, which makes it even harder for them to make up that ground. Iowa, Oregon, and USC all sit ahead of Ohio State now. Indiana, which is Ohio State's strongest victory to this point, fell all the way to ninth, which also doesn't help.
It's almost impossible for Ohio State to have all of the teams ahead of them lose. The other teams in the 11-19 range are Kentucky, Texas Tech, Wake Forest, Houston, and South Carolina. Add in those three other Big Ten teams, and that's a mountain for the Buckeyes to climb.
Of course, that assumes that Ohio State doesn't lose another game this season. They still have to play Northwestern, Nebraska, and TTUN. Can they possibly lose one of those games? After what they have done in the last two weeks, that's certainly possible.
Oho State's CFP hopes are all but confirmed firnished after latest CFP rankings
Ohio State has an incredibly tough road ahead. After being ranked 20th, their chances of making the CFP are almost certainly finished. They might need some of the teams ahead of them to lose more than once in the final weeks, too. It's pretty clear that the Committee responded to some of the outcry from last week, too.
There's no other way to possibly explain that IU would fall four spots while on a bye week. Still, Ohio State needs some luck in order to possibly play for a national championship. It's unrealistic for fans to expect that to possibly happen, especially with how poorly they have played in the last two weeks.
The one thing that can give fans hope is that this is the craziest college football season since 2007. Top teams are losing almost every week, and Ohio State has been victim to some of those losses in the last two weeks. There might be the smallest chance possible, but fans need to come to grips with the fact that it's likely not happening.
Add us as a preferred source on Google