The Ohio State Buckeyes, once again, find themselves at the top of the second edition of the College Football Playoff rankings.

Landing the top spot in the rankings was a surprise to absolutely no one, as Ohio State controls their own destiny for the remainder of the regular season.

However, spots 2-12 have sparked quite the conversation around the country. Every fanbase wants to be in that top 12, but the spots are limited, and the paths to this point are tangled.

Looking at this bracket from a Buckeyes perspective, the path in this second version of the rankings makes for an awesome second round matchup.

The No. 8 vs No. 9 matchup will be a competition to receive the opportunity to face off against the mighty Buckeyes. With how the second edition of the bracket fell, the game would be Oregon hosting the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, setting up for either a Rose Bowl Beatdown rematch or a National Championship rematch.

Sign me up.

If head coach Ryan Day and his squad get past that game, they will have either Alabama or (likely) Georgia. This sets up for yet another historical rematch in the Semifinal with the right to go to the National Championship. 

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This is yet another reminder of why the expanded playoff format is truly amazing, but there is an opportunity for it to get even better.

I'm in the camp that College Football needs to extend to a 16-team format to remove the first round byes. This would likely result in the elimination of the conference championship week, but who would really miss that?

That part is a song for another time. The reality of the current situation is that there is some heated debate on who should be in and who should be out, with the conversation beginning to surround the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Many argue that they need to be in a conference to try and make the playoff, and I don't know why that plays a factor. They compete against a team from conferences all throughout the country. 

The other part of that conversation is that there are several spots above the Miami Hurricanes, who beat them in Week 1. This is a tough conversation that Lane Kiffin even weighed in on yesterday. The eye test tells you that the Irish are a lock, and Miami has two horrific losses. So, the next question is, why play those tough games? 

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Texas A&M is the perfect example of this philosophy. They come into this week with an undefeated record with a win in South Bend over the Irish, who were ranked in the Top-10 at the time. How much different would A&M's ranking be if it hadn't played the Irish and played an inferior team?

The current rankings system proposes a fascinating case study. I initially thought that the 12-team playoff would encourage more marquee matchups, but I wonder if it will have the inverse effect as the years go on. 

Regardless, the top 12 is set, and whoever gets into the Playoffs will deserve it and will have an opportunity to hoist the Championship Trophy.