As it turns out, a hardly impressive victory over Minnesota didn't really help, or hurt, the defending national champions of college football in the eyes of the College Football Playoff selection committee.
Ohio State defeated the Golden Gophers, 28-14, Saturday in Columbus and hold onto the No. 3 spot in the latest College Football Playoff rankings, released Tuesday. The Buckeyes debuted in the same spot one week ago.
The Buckeyes held a seven-point advantage with 2:10 to left against Minnesota after a Mitch Leidner touchdown pass, but won by double digits after Cardale Jones raced 38 yards to the end zone on the ensuing drive.
J.T. Barrett is set to return at quarterback from a one-game suspension for an OVI citation early on Halloween, looking to get the offense back in sync like it was against Rutgers and Penn State. Ohio State visits Illinois Saturday at noon.
The Big Ten lost an undefeated team last weekend when Michigan State dropped a 39-38 decision to Nebraska in Lincoln. The Spartans fell to No. 13 in this week's rankings, but weren't the only unbeaten team to lose in Week 10.
Oklahoma State trounced TCU, Navy rolled over Memphis, Toledo fell to Northern Illinois and Alabama downed Heisman Trophy favorite Leonard Fournette and LSU. As a result, the Crimson Tide replaced the Tigers at No. 2 in the week's rankings and the Bayou Bengals fell to No. 9.
The top six is as follows: Clemson, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Iowa and Baylor.
"Five through eight was where we spent the majority of our time debating and discussing and voting," Arkansas athletic director and Playoff committee chair Jeff Long said on ESPN. "Iowa, for us, they've showed consistent improvement, showed consistency on both sides of the ball."
Other Big Ten schools in the rankings moved up, with the Hawkeyes bumping up four spots from last week to No. 5, Michigan checking in at No. 14 and Northwestern sitting at No. 18. Wisconsin made its first appearance in the rankings as well, checking in at No. 25.
The full rankings can be seen here.
| Rank | Team | Conf. | Record | Key Games |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | CLEMSON | ACC | 9-0 | ACC CHAMPIONSHIP (12/5) |
| 2 | ALABAMA | SEC | 8-1 | @ MISSISSIPPI STATE (11/14) |
| 3 | OHIO STATE | BIG TEN | 9-0 | MICHIGAN STATE (11/21), @ MICHIGAN (11/28) |
| 4 | NOTRE DAME | IND | 8-1 | @ STANFORD (11/28) |
| 5 | IOWA | BIG TEN | 9-0 | @ NEBRASKA (11/27) |
| 6 | BAYLOR | BIG 12 | 8-0 | OKLAHOMA (11/14), @ OKLAHOMA STATE (11/21), @ TCU (11/27) |
| 7 | STANFORD | PAC-12 | 8-1 | OREGON (11/14), NOTRE DAME (11/28) |
| 8 | OKLAHOMA STATE | BIG 12 | 9-0 | BAYLOR (11/21), OKLAHOMA (11/28) |
| 9 | LSU | SEC | 7-1 | @ OLE MISS (11/21), TEXAS A&M (11/28) |
| 10 | UTAH | PAC-12 | 8-1 | UCLA (11/21) |
| 11 | FLORIDA | SEC | 8-1 | FLORIDA STATE (11/28) |
| 12 | OKLAHOMA | BIG 12 | 8-1 | @ BAYLOR (11/14), TCU (11/21), @ OKLAHOMA STATE (11/28) |
| 13 | MICHIGAN STATE | BIG TEN | 8-1 | @ OHIO STATE (11/21), PENN STATE (11/28) |
| 14 | MICHIGAN | BIG TEN | 7-2 | @ PENN STATE (11/21), OHIO STATE (11/28) |
| 15 | TCU | BIG 12 | 8-1 | @ OKLAHOMA (11/21), BAYLOR (11/27) |
| 16 | FLORIDA STATE | ACC | 7-2 | @ FLORIDA (11/28) |
| 17 | MISSISSIPPI STATE | SEC | 7-2 | ALABAMA (11/14), @ OLE MISS (11/28) |
| 18 | NORTHWESTERN | BIG TEN | 7-2 | @ WISCONSIN (11/21) |
| 19 | UCLA | PAC-12 | 7-2 | @ UTAH (11/21), @ USC (11/28) |
| 20 | NAVY | AAC | 7-1 | @ HOUSTON (11/27) |
| 21 | MEMPHIS | AAC | 8-1 | @ HOUSTON, (11/14) @ TEMPLE (11/21) |
| 22 | TEMPLE | AAC | 8-1 | MEMPHIS (11/21) |
| 23 | NORTH CAROLINA | ACC | 8-1 | VIRGINIA TECH (11/21), NORTH CAROLINA STATE (11/28) |
| 24 | HOUSTON | AAC | 9-0 | MEMPHIS (11/14), NAVY (11/27) |
| 25 | WISCONSIN | BIG TEN | 8-2 | NORTHWESTERN (11/21), MINNESOTA (11/28) |
