The Buckeyes appear to be first in line for the playoff if someone trips up on conference championship weekend.
Just like the USA Today Coaches Poll, which was released early Sunday afternoon, Ohio State dropped three spots to No. 5 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll following its 45-23 loss to Michigan.
While their Big Ten championship hopes were crushed with the loss to the Wolverines, their first in Columbus since 2000, the Buckeyes are still firmly in the mix for the College Football Playoff, assuming the rankings reflect the polls.
Ohio State trails top-ranked Georgia, No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 TCU and No. 4 USC, and a loss by either the Horned Frogs or Trojans in the Big XII and Pac-12 championship games could open the door for the Buckeyes to make the four-team field.
That said, the full Associated Press Top 25 poll can be found below, with first-place votes in parenthesis:
- Georgia (58)
- Michigan (5)
- TCU
- USC
- Ohio State
- Alabama
- Tennessee
- Penn State
- Washington
- Clemson
- LSU
- Utah
- Kansas State
- Florida State
- Oregon
- Oregon State
- UCLA
- Tulane
- Notre Dame
- South Carolina
- Texas
- UCF
- UTSA
- North Carolina
- Mississippi State
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