Ohio State fans, welcome to #TeamChaos.
Your Buckeyes’ offensive explosion against hated rival Michigan on Saturday afternoon was impressive.
And although Michigan State smacked around Penn State later in the day to clinch the Big Ten East division, the rout of the Wolverines in Jim Harbaugh’s first Big Game at the Big House ensured Ohio State still has a chance to repeat as the national champion.
Ohio State entered the weekend at No. 8 in the College Football Playoff committee’s rankings. The team directly ahead of it, No. 7 Baylor, lost 28-21 in overtime to TCU in a monsoon Friday night.
The No. 6 team, Notre Dame, lost 38-36 on a last-second field goal by No. 9 Stanford.
Even through some closer-than-expected calls, the rest of the committee’s Top Five took care of business Saturday. Barring a surprise shakeup in the rankings, Ohio State will enter Week 14—conference championship week—as the No. 6 team in the country.
No. 3 Iowa and (presumably) No. 4 Michigan State will sort themselves out in Indianapolis next Saturday with a Big Ten Championship Game that should be a playoff play-in game.
That means Ohio State could be in the final top four from the committee with some more chaos, as Bleacher Report’s Ben Axelrod noted on Twitter:
No. 1 Clemson, which survived a scary road trip against three-win rival South Carolina on Saturday, faces one of the hottest teams in the country next weekend in the ACC Championship Game.
North Carolina entered the…
Continue Reading: Ohio State Still Has a Lifeline in Race to Repeat as CFP National Champion
