CFP Rankings Primer: Ohio State in Good Shape to Make Top-4; Desert Return Trip on Deck?

The day is finally here, folks.

In roughly four hours, we will learn which teams are set to get a chance to compete for the 2016 national championship as part of the College Football Playoff. Penn State came back to beat Wisconsin 38-31 in the Big Ten Championship Game, one of two games to wrap up just before midnight on Saturday.

Clemson topped Virginia Tech to win the ACC, Alabama easily disposed of Florida to take the SEC crown and Washington beat Colorado in the Pac-12 Championship Game on Friday night. Oklahoma's 38-20 win over Oklahoma State means the Sooners are Big 12 champions for the second-straight season.

So with the champions from the five Power 5 conferences decided, it is up to the Playoff selection committee to decide which four teams are most worthy of a shot at the national title. The selection show starts at noon ET on ESPN.

Here are the storylines we'll be watching.

Ohio State Appears to Still Be in Solid Shape

Due to the results of the five conference championship games and the fact the committee ranked them No. 2 on Tuesday night, the Buckeyes should be in good shape to make it into the top 4 on Sunday. Ohio State owns a road win over a conference champion in Oklahoma and three victories against teams in the current top 10.

Because of Ohio State's tough road victory against the Badgers and since committee head Kirby Hocutt said the separation between the Buckeyes and Penn State was not close, Urban Meyer's squad should be part of the top four teams. Even though the Nittany Lions came back from 21 points down to win the Big Ten.

“The sole purpose of the selection committee is to rank the four best teams in college football,” Hocutt said on Tuesday night.

Ohio State looks like one of the four best teams, or at least there doesn't look like there are four better.

Back to Phoenix?

Should Ohio State make the Playoff, there is a decent shot it will get to make a return trip to University of Phoenix Stadium. The Buckeyes defeated Notre Dame 44-28 there in the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Day to cap their 2015 season after missing the Playoff.

The Fiesta Bowl is one of two hosts for semifinal games this season, with the Peach Bowl in Atlanta being the other. As the only undefeated Power 5 team and unquestioned No. 1 team in the country, Alabama will be in that spot on Sunday and get first pick on location. The Crimson Tide will undoubtedly choose to play as close to home as possible just like in 2014, when it played Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.

So the question remains what the committee will think of Ohio State's body of work as compared with the other three members of the Playoff. Television ratings were insane in 2014 when the Buckeyes and Tide locked horns at the Sugar Bowl. Since the semifinals are on New Year's Eve for the second-straight season—and ratings took a major dump last year—ESPN could try to get a Meyer-Saban rematch in the title game. Or it could try to help boost the numbers and make the Buckeyes the No. 4 seed again.

However, if Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington all make the Playoff, don't be surprised if the Buckeyes are ranked No. 2 or No. 3 even without a conference championship. It is evident the committee held Ohio State in higher regard than Clemson and Washington on Tuesday night. Will it again come Sunday after the Tigers and Huskies won their respective leagues?

Washington? Michigan? Penn State?

Penn State's victory against Wisconsin brings some consternation into the fold for Washington. The Huskies have a really ugly non-conference schedule (wins against Rutgers, Idaho and Portland State, all at home).

Penn State is the Big Ten champion and the Nittany Lions lost by 39 points to Michigan. James Franklin's club also lost to Pittsburgh but owns a massive victory over Ohio State. Is that enough for the committee to slide the Nittany Lions into the fourth spot? What about Michigan? The Big Ten is the deepest conference in college football but did two teams do enough to make their way into the top four? It has been evident the last two weeks that Penn State, Michigan and Ohio State should be considered three of the top teams in the nation.

So many questions and arguments for can be made for any of the three teams. But there are only four spots in the Playoff and half of them are pretty much already spoken for.

Whatever you think, just be glad you aren't part of the 12-person committee that is going to be responsible for making multiple fan bases extremely mad online come Sunday afternoon.