OSU in playoff, will face Tennessee
COVER PHOTO: OSU wide receiver Emeka Egbuka points to the crowd after his second quarter touchdown catch against Indiana on Nov. 23. Picture by Sam Fahmi/Columbus Wired.
No shock here, Ohio State is in the college football playoff.
The question was, though: where would the Buckeyes land?
Well, that question was answered as the inaugural 12-team playoff was finalized on Sunday afternoon by the College Football Playoff committee who decided the Buckeyes (10-2, 7-2 Big Ten) were the sixth-best team in the FBS and will square off as the 8 seed against No. 7 Tennessee who got the 9 seed.
Both teams go into the playoff with an at-large bid.
The ranking also secures OSU a home game for the first round, which is hosted by teams seeded Nos. 5 through 8. This will be the first time they’ll host Tennessee in Ohio Stadium and is only the second time they’ve ever played.
Their lone matchup came on Jan. 1, 1996 in the Citrus Bowl where the Vols beat the Buckeyes, 20-14.
The Scarlet and Gray are coming off of a devastating 13-10 home loss to Michigan (7-5, 5-4) on Nov. 30, a loss that kept them out of the Big Ten championship game.
But the loss to the unranked Wolverines wasn’t enough to dissuade the committee from not only keeping the Buckeyes out of the playoff but dropping them below eighth, which would have meant they would’ve packed their bags for another school’s home field.
The Volunteers are coming off of two straight wins with their last loss being 31-17 to Georgia on Nov. 16. Their only other loss came in week 5 at Arkansas, 19-14.
The Volunteers finished 10-2 and tied-for second place with Georgia in the SEC at 6-2. The Bulldogs got a first round bye with a win over Texas in the SEC championship game on Saturday night.
Ohio State is 3-14 all-time against SEC teams in the postseason. The record includes two grandfathered wins against Texas A&M in the 1987 Cotton Bowl and 1999 Sugar Bowl when the Aggies were part of the Big 8 and Big 12, respectively. The Buckeyes' last win came against No. 1 Alabama, 42-35, in the semifinal Sugar Bowl of the inaugural FBS 4-team playoff for the 2014 season.
Kickoff will be on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. and will be simulcast on ABC and ESPN.