Surprising to some, unsurprising to others, the Buckeyes will not be taking part in the College Football Playoff this season.
Ultimately, the committee could not reconcile Ohio State’s loss to Iowa, and so when the playoff pairings were announced Sunday afternoon, it was Alabama in the No. 4 seed that OSU was vying for, and now the Buckeyes will wait to find out their bowl destination later in the day.
Despite securing a Big Ten title Saturday night over the No. 4 Wisconsin Badgers, it was OSU’s 55-24 loss at Iowa that just couldn’t be overcome. Perhaps a more impressive win over the Badgers could have put the Buckeyes in, but it just didn’t happen.
“The selection committee just favors Alabama’s full body of work over Ohio State,” selection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said on ESPN after the announcement. “Alabama was clearly the No. 4-ranked team in the country.”
Hocutt said they viewed Alabama’s body of work as better than Ohio State’s throughout the season.
The pairings will feature No. 1 Clemson vs. No. 4 Alabama and No. 2 Oklahoma vs. No. 3 Georgia.
The Buckeyes are still expected to take part in one of the New Year’s Six bowl games, which will be announced later in the day.