Buckeyes On the Outside of the First Official College Football Playoff Rankings

The Ohio State Buckeyes received their very first College Football Playoff ranking of the College Football season. 

The Buckeyes ' first-slot position this season is the No. 12 spot in the rankings after their incredibly disappointing loss to the USC Trojans. Ohio State's season has been quite the ride so far.

It began with a really confusing loss to the Texas Longhorns, in which they dominated for three quarters before they completely melted down. Then, they ripped off four straight wins with a couple of very convincing performances against Illinois and Iowa to get things back on track.

Then, they went to Indiana in what was scripted to be the biggest game of the season. The Buckeyes invaded Bloomington and narrowly squeaked out a victory by the thinnest of margins. In that game, they lost their quarterback, Julian Sayin, but thankfully, it was right before the bye week.

They went into the bye week knowing that they needed to get prepared with a backup quarterback and get him ready to head out west for his first start of the season and of his career.

They went with Luke Fahey and to be honest, he held his own.

The rest of the team let everyone down in critical moments that cost the Buckeyes a chance at a major win. Instead, they were handed one of the worst losses that they have had in a very long time, and now, the writing is absolutely on the wall.

The College Football Playoff committee said it very loud and clear. The Buckeyes are on the outside looking in at the College Football Playoff.

If the season were to end right now, the Buckeyes would not make the final bracket and would be left holding the bag.

Remember, the 12-team Playoff grants a spot to the highest-ranked Group of Six team, and there are none ranked ahead of the Buckeyes. 

The writing is on the wall. One more loss and the Ohio State Buckeyes are out of the college football playoff for good.

That is a daunting reality because, man, the vibe around this program is certainly a lot different after what they displayed on Saturday against the Trojans. This team has a lot of flaws, and they put them all on display.

There is no game on the rest of the schedule that the Buckeyes cannot lose. They certainly can win each one of them, but they absolutely can get beaten in any of them, too. 

The committee spoke, and the Buckeyes know exactly what they have to do for the remainder of the season.