COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State football held its spot at No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings in a week where no team in the top 10 lost.
This week was easy for the selection committee. There actually wasn't a team in the top 13 that lost last week. So we expected little to no shakeup at the top of the rankings. There was a change in the top five, with unbeaten Miami moving ahead of Clemson, but that was it.
Miami moving up to No. 2 is probably not the best news for the Buckeyes, who are still holding out hope that a Big Ten Championship can get them into the playoff with two losses.
Miami and Clemson will meet in the ACC Championship on Dec. 2. Assuming both teams win this week, a Miami win over Clemson is good for Ohio State, putting the Buckeyes in a position to be compared to a two-loss Clemson team without a championship. A close Miami loss, though, could be problematic for Ohio State. That scenario could lead to two ACC teams making the playoff, and taking away Ohio State's spot.
The Buckeyes should hop Notre Dame and obviously Wisconsin should they win out. They should also hop over Georgia and Auburn assuming neither wins the SEC. Ohio State's spot mostly remained the same. There's a path to the playoff that includes Alabama, Oklahoma and Miami winning out. Anything short of that puts the Buckeyes in a more precarious position.
Here are the full playoff rankings for this week:
1. Alabama
2. Miami
3. Clemson
4. Oklahoma
5. Wisconsin
6. Auburn
7. Georgia
8. Notre Dame
9. Ohio State
10. Penn State
11. USC
12. TCU
13. Washington State
14. Mississippi State
15. UCF
16. Michigan State
17. Washington
18. LSU
19. Oklahoma State
20. Memphis
21. Stanford
22. Northwestern
23. Boise State
24. South Carolina
25. Virginia Tech