Ohio State has earned a berth to the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff as the No. 8 seed in the bracket, where it is set to host No. 9 seed Tennessee in a first-round game at Ohio Stadium on Dec. 21 (8 p.m., ESPN/ABC).
This will mark the first December home game in Ohio State history.
After not participating in conference championship weekend for the fourth consecutive season due to their 13-10 loss to Michigan on Nov. 30, the Buckeyes remained the No. 8 seed by staying at No. 6 in the final CFP rankings.
Sitting just ahead of the Buckeyes in the bracket were No. 5 seed Texas, which no longer has a top-four seed and first-round bye after losing 22-19 to now-No. 2 seed (No. 2) Georgia in the SEC Championship Game in overtime, No. 6 seed (No. 4) Penn State, which fell 45-37 to No. 1 seed (No. 1) Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game and No. 7 seed (No. 5) Notre Dame, which was idle.
Oregon, Georgia, No. 3 seed (No. 9) Boise State and No. 4 seed (No. 12) Arizona State earned the top-four seeds and first-round byes. Both the Broncos and Sun Devils received byes after their 21-7 and 45-19 wins over UNLV and Iowa State in the Mountain West and Big 12 Championship Games, respectively.
These seedings now create an entertaining first round of the CFP that has Texas hosting No. 12 seed (No. 16) Clemson, which defeated SMU in the ACC Championship Game on a last-second field goal, Penn State hosting No. 11 seed SMU, which claimed the last spot in the CFP over Alabama despite its loss, Notre Dame hosting No. 10 seed (No. 8) Indiana and the Buckeyes hosting the Volunteers.
With the 12-team playoff now finalized, the Buckeyes now know their path to a championship. If they get past Tennessee at home, Ryan Day’s team would then face off against Oregon in the CFP quarterfinals on Jan. 1 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif., in a rematch of their Oct. 12 classic.
From there, the Buckeyes would then play either Texas, Clemson or Arizona State in the CFP semifinals in either the Orange Bowl on Jan. 9 or Cotton Bowl on Jan. 10, and then either Boise State, Penn State, SMU, Georgia, Notre Dame or Indiana in the national title game at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 20.
Before those potential games, however, Ohio State will first have to get past a Tennessee team who will enter Ohio Stadium with a 10-2 record and 6-2 mark in the SEC. The Volunteers, led by fourth-year head coach Josh Heupel and redshirt freshman quarterback Nico Iamaleava, own the nation’s eighth-best scoring offense (37.3 points scored per game) and fourth-best scoring defense (13.9 points allowed per game).
