Ohio State still No. 1 in penultimate College Football Playoff rankings

COLUMBUS — Ohio State has been No. 1 in every College Football Playoff rankings release since they were first unveiled at the beginning of November. The Buckeyes have been at the top every Tuesday night.

Now they’re staying there ahead of conference title weekend, checking in at No. 1 in the penultimate CFP rankings on Tuesday night. Indiana, the Ohio State opponent in the Big Ten Championship Game this upcoming Saturday night (8 p.m., FOX), is No. 2, setting up an all-time edition of the league title game in Indianapolis.

“We wanted to get to Indy,” Day said. “Certainly, that was something that these guys haven’t done, haven’t been there, haven’t played in this game before. It’s an electric atmosphere. It’s a great venue. These guys want this opportunity, and this was on the list of our goals every year. 

“You can go 11-0 and then have the biggest games of the year show up, and now here we go. Now we’ve got a chance to get some hardware. There’s a lot at stake here.”

Following Texas A&M’s rivalry week loss to Texas, the Aggies were finally bumped off their perch at No. 3. The top five is now rounded out by Georgia, Texas Tech and Oregon.

Ohio State will be heading into the Big Ten title game with plenty of momentum after beating rival Michigan for the first time since 2019. The Wolverines dipped down to No. 19, down four spots after being No. 15 last week before the loss to the Buckeyes.

The final rankings will be released on Sunday afternoon once the dust settles on conference title weekend.

The last rankings release will come out this Sunday, Dec. 7, the day after conference championship games to set the CFP bracket.

What CFP bracket would look like

No. 9 Alabama at No. 8 Oklahoma (winner plays No. 1 Ohio State)
No. 10 Notre Dame at No. 7 Texas A&M (winner plays No. 2 Indiana)
No. 11 Conference Champ No. 4 at No. 6 Ole Miss (winner plays No. 3 Georgia)
No. 12 Conference Champ No. 5 at No. 5 Oregon (winner plays No. 4 Texas Tech)

The full College Football Playoff Poll can be found below.

College Football Playoff Rankings (Nov. 25) with conference title matchup

1. Ohio State (vs. No. 2 Indiana)
2. Indiana (vs. No. 1 Ohio State)
3. Georgia (vs. No. XX Alabama)
4. Texas Tech (vs. No. XX BYU)
5. Oregon
6. Ole Miss
7. Texas A&M
8. Oklahoma
9. Alabama (vs. No. 3 Georgia)
10. Notre Dame
11. BYU (vs. No. 4 Texas Tech)
12. Miami
13. Texas
14. Vanderbilt
15. Utah
16. USC
17. Virginia (vs. Duke)
18. Arizona
19. Michigan
20. Tulane (vs. North Texas)
21. Houston
22. Georgia Tech
23. Iowa
24. North Texas (vs. Tulane)
25. James Madison (vs. Troy)

Potential landing spots for Buckeyes

Win in Big Ten Championship Game: Go to Rose Bowl

Lose in Big Ten Championship Game: Likely go to Cotton Bowl