Ohio State sneaks into the College Football Playoff at No. 4

Dec 4, 2022 - 5:24 PM

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Well, well, well...

After Ohio State fans spent the last week picking up the pieces from the Buckeyes’ loss to Michigan and trying to figure out what comes next, it turns out there is still meaningful football left to be played. On Friday night, USC suffered its second loss of the season in a beatdown at the hands of Utah in the Pac-12 title game, opening the door for C.J. Stroud and company to get another shot at redemption and backdoor their way into the College Football Playoff. With two losses, few real signature wins and one of the worst statistical defensive units in the country, the Trojans have been superseded by the Buckeyes in the season’s final rankings.

As a result, the College Football Playoff will officially look as follows:

1. Georgia
2. Michigan
3. TCU
4. Ohio State

Ohio State now has a chance to set up the biggest edition of The Game in the storied history of the rivalry if the two teams meet in the national title, but they will first have to get past the defending champion Georgia Bulldogs. Despite losing a ton of talent to the NFL Draft after last year, Georgia once again features the nation’s top defense, allowing just 11.3 points per game to lead all of FBS. The Buckeyes will be hoping to get healthy over the next month in the lead up to the game, and getting guys like Miyan Williams, TreVeyon Henderson and maybe even Jaxon Smith-Njigba back on the field could go a long way in beginning Ryan Day’s redemption arc.

The other game will pit Big Ten Champion Michigan against Big 12 runner-up TCU. The Horned Frogs were undefeated heading into their conference title game against Kansas State, and despite the best efforts of Heisman candidate QB Max Duggan, fell just short to the Wildcats in overtime by a score of 31-28. The Wolverines, now officially without star RB Blake Corum the rest of the way, defeated Purdue in Indianapolis to secure their second-straight B1G title after knocking off the Buckeyes in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1999-2000. J.J. McCarthy and Donovan Edwards will look to lead UM to its first national title since 1997.

As of Sunday morning, here were the betting odds for the College Football Playoff, courtesy of the DraftKings Sportsbook:

Opening Odds:

• Georgia (-6.5) vs. Ohio State (o/u 60.5)
• Michigan (-9.5) vs. TCU (o/u 61)

To win the National Title

• Georgia -125
• Michigan +280
• Ohio State +340
• TCU +1600

Odds/lines subject to change. T&Cs apply. See draftkings.com/sportsbook for details.