Ohio State Moves Up a Spot, From 6 to 5, in Football Playoff Rankings

Ohio State moved up a spot – from 6 to 5 – in the College Football Playoff rankings announced Tuesday evening on ESPN, though the significance of that one spot is uncertain.

The Buckeyes had a solid win over arch-rival Michigan 42-18 Saturday in Columbus, though they lost Heisman candidate freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

A Playoff Selection Committee spokesperson on the ESPN announcement show said the Playoff Selection Committee likely will not gauge the effect of the Buckeyes losing Barrett until if and when Ohio State defeats No. 13 Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game this Saturday.

The Buckeyes will still have to win and look good in that game, and then get help from other teams, to slide into the final four.

The rankings announced in the College Football Playoffs program Tuesday evening are, in the all-important four top spots, Alabama (1), Oregon (2), TCU (3) and Florida State (4).

Five through 10, in order, are Baylor, Arizona, Michigan State, Kansas State and Mississippi State.

Analysts on the ESPN program suggested that TCU’s moving ahead of Florida State is a negative for Ohio State, since it will be more difficult to for OSU to unseat unbeaten Florida State at 4 than it would have been one-loss TCU.

Several of the involved teams, including Ohio State, play in conference championship games this weekend, while others have finished their regular seasons.

The semifinal pairings and site selections will be announced by the College Football Selection Committee live on ESPN this Sunday at 12:45 p.m. ET.

At 2:45 p.m. ET, the Selection Committee will announce the Cotton, Fiesta and Peach Bowl pairings, as well as the final top 25 rankings. The Orange Bowl pairing also will be announced.