After beating Michigan State on the road, the Ohio State football team jumped six spots to No. 8 in the College Football Playoff standings, which were announced Tuesday night on ESPN.
Before the Buckeyes’ 49-37 win against the Spartans on Saturday, OSU was ranked No. 14 while Michigan State was No. 8. OSU (8-1, 5-0) is also ranked No. 8 in the Associated Press top 25 and No. 7 in the USA Today coaches poll.
OSU was No. 16 in the inaugural College Football Playoff rankings announced Oct. 28 before rising two spots last week.
Mississippi State checked in at No. 1 for the third consecutive week with Oregon at No. 2 and Florida State and Texas Christian University rounding out the first four. At season’s end, the top four teams in College Football Playoff standings are set to compete in the first-ever College Football Playoff.
OSU is one of five Big Ten teams in the top 25, with Michigan State falling to No. 12, Nebraska dropping to No. 16, Wisconsin checking in at No. 20 and Minnesota entering the poll at No. 25.
Michigan State and Minnesota are the only teams in the College Football Playoff rankings on OSU’s schedule this season.
The standings were decided by a panel of 12 members, including Wisconsin athletic director Barry Alvarez, Lt. Gen. Mike Gould and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In total, the panel is set to consist of 13 members, but former Mississippi and NFL quarterback Archie Manning is taking a leave of absence because of health concerns.
The Buckeyes are scheduled to return to the field on Saturday against Minnesota in Minneapolis. Kickoff is set for noon.
Complete Standings:
- Mississippi State
- Oregon
- Florida State
- Texas Christian University
- Alabama
- Arizona State
- Baylor
- Ohio State
- Auburn
- Mississippi
- UCLA
- Michigan State
- Kansas State
- Arizona
- Georgia
- Nebraska
- Louisiana State University
- Notre Dame
- Clemson
- Wisconsin
- Duke
- Georgia Tech
- Utah
- Texas A&M
- Minnesota
