Ahead of College Football Playoff Selection Show, Ohio State Felt Confident It Had Done Enough

J.T. Barrett was, essentially, every Ohio State fan Sunday afternoon.

"I was at the house by myself," the Buckeyes' quarterback said, "watching on my couch eating some chicken wings."

Barrett's eyes were on the College Football Playoff selection show, too, of course, and he was obviously relieved to see his team included as one of the final four teams. Ohio State is the No. 3 seed and will face No. 2 Clemson on Dec. 31 in the Fiesta Bowl.

"When I saw it, I was obviously excited," Barrett said.

Were there any nerves for the Buckeyes, though?

Ohio State was the lone team selected to the College Football Playoff that did not play over the weekend. The Buckeyes sat and watched as Clemson, Alabama and Washington all claimed conference championships while Penn State knocked off Wisconsin to win the Big Ten.

Despite being the committee's No. 2-ranked team for the weeks leading up to Sunday's unveiling of the final rankings, there was a chance Ohio State could be left out of the final four after the Nittany Lions claimed the league crown. 

That didn't happen, however, as the Buckeyes claimed the No. 3 spot. Washington finished fourth and will play top-ranked Alabama while Penn State came in at No. 5.

Ohio State felt confident it would hear its name called going into Sunday's show, but there was no such thing as a sure thing.

“I had a good idea about it but you just don’t really know because there’s a lot of uncertainty to it," Buckeyes defensive end Tyquan Lewis said. "It’s not in your hands and it’s up to a committee to decide the best four teams. But all along, I believed that we were one of the best four teams in the country.”

"You just don't know until you know," head coach Urban Meyer added. "I found out today when they flashed our sign on ESPN. A lot of anxiety, a lot of hope, but I think we certainly are one of the best teams in the country."

Meyer had an interesting day. 

He said he watched the College Football Playoff selection show from the maternity ward at Riverside Hospital. His oldest daughter, Nicki, gave birth to Meyer's first grandson at 5:30 a.m. Sunday.

"We're going to do the best we can to represent," Meyer said.

There were ongoing discussions for the last three-plus weeks about whether or not Ohio State deserved one of these final four spots if it did not win the Big Ten title.

The Buckeyes' resume proved to be too strong, and the committee simply couldn't say no.

“I feel like we were in a pretty good spot," Barrett said. "When you think about our games and the competition we played, I thought, as far as our whole season, that said a lot for us. I wasn’t really nervous, just excited.”

“I was with my roommate Tracy [Sprinkle] and we was just hype in the room together," Lewis added. "Then we went down the hall to Raekwon [McMillan's] room and everybody else came over and we were just enjoying the moment.”