Ohio State still No. 1 in third set of College Football Playoff rankings

COLUMBUS — Ohio State was No. 1 in the first two releases of the College Football Playoff Rankings so far in November. And after a blowout home win over UCLA, the Buckeyes were never in danger of losing their spot at the top of the rankings, not that they mean anything to the program right now anyway.

But it still does serve as a mark of consistent excellence in the most important month of the regular season. Ohio State remains the top team in college football in the third release of the CFP rankings, topping the rest of the top five that includes No. 2 Indiana, No. 3 Texas A&M, No. 4 Georgia and No. 5 Texas Tech.

The top four seeds of the CFP rankings following conference championship weekend, regardless of conference, will receive a first-round bye into the quarterfinal. Last year, the top four conference championship winners received the bye. That is no longer the case, as the CFP has changed to a straight-seeding model.

But none of this matters to the 10-0 Buckeyes, who took care of business in primetime on Saturday with a 48-10 beatdown of UCLA that was worse than the final score indicated.

So while the Buckeyes keep working on stacking wins — especially the next two weeks against Rutgers and then on the road at Michigan — their spot at the top of the CFP rankings appears to be secure, so long as they win. Ohio State is still No. 1 three weeks into the process.

Only three rankings releases remain, one coming next Tuesday (Nov. 25), another the following Tuesday before conference championship weekend (Dec. 2) and the final CFP bracket release the day after conference championship games (Dec. 7).

What CFP bracket would look like

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

The full College Football Playoff Poll can be found below.

College Football Playoff Rankings (Nov. 18)

1. Ohio State
2. Indiana 
3. Texas A&M
4. Georgia
5. Texas Tech
6. Ole Miss
7. Oregon
8. Oklahoma
9. Notre Dame
10. Alabama
11. BYU
12. Utah
13. Miami
14. Vanderbilt
15. USC
16. Georgia Tech
17. Texas
18. Michigan
19. Virginia
20. Tennessee
21. Illinois
22. Missouri
23. Houston
24. Tulane
25. Arizona State

November schedule for Buckeyes

Nov. 1 — vs. Penn State (38-14 W)
Nov. 8 — at Purdue (34-10 W)
Nov. 15 — vs. UCLA (7:30 p.m., NBC)
Nov. 22 — vs. Rutgers (Noon, FOX)
Nov. 29 — at No. 21 Michigan (Noon, FOX)