Ohio State won the Big Ten Championship on Saturday, but it did not end up guaranteeing them a spot in the four-team College Football Playoffs. Instead, the fourth slot went to Alabama, leaving Ohio State to play in the Cotton Bowl.
The College Football Playoffs will see No. 1 Clemson (12-1) play No. 4 Alabama (11-1) in the Sugar Bowl and No. 2 Oklahoma (12-1) play No. 3 Georgia (12-1) in the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. The winner of those two games will face off in the National Championship Game on Jan. 8 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
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Ohio State ended up on the outside looking in. The Buckeyes were ranked fifth, with an 11-2 record and beat Wisconsin Saturday. Wisconsin finished the season 12-1 and ranked sixth. As a consolation prize, Ohio State will play the Pac-12 champions, USC, in the Dec. 29 Cotton Bowl.
Ohio State fans were not happy with missing the playoffs, especially after last year’s embarrassing 31-0 loss to Clemson at the Fiesta Bowl.
Here are some of the reactions from Sunday:
Mood. pic.twitter.com/MqPWxqaUl5
— Brutus Buckeye (@Brutus_Buckeye) December 3, 2017
What Ohio State fans looking like after not making the #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/wNJjuukfPc
— Collin (@CollinJustin1) December 3, 2017
Stunned right now, but congratulations to the four teams chosen for this 4th College Football Playoff: No. 1 & 12-1 Clemson, No. 2 & 12-1 Oklahoma, No. 3 & 12-1 Georgia and No. 4 & 11-1 Alabama.
— Jerry Emig (@BuckeyeNotes) December 3, 2017
Even Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse weighed in.
Ohio State > Alabama
— Ben Sasse (@BenSasse) December 3, 2017
Ohio State just beat the only undefeated team in the country and won a conference championship.
Alabama watched.
— Tom Withers (@twithersAP) December 3, 2017
While Ohio State fans were disappointed, many were quick to point out that the Buckeyes lost 55-24 to Iowa, who ended the season unranked. They also lost to Oklahoma earlier in the season, 31-16.
Ohio State gave up 55 points in a 31-point loss to Iowa.
The B1G has failed to score a point in the past two playoffs.
This year, not a single B1G team won a non-conference game against a Top 25 opponent (the ACC had 5 such wins, for example… the SEC had 2).
Nuff said.
— CoalitionOfTheDecent (@oaklandzoo22) December 4, 2017
“We had a job to do in Indianapolis, and we did it,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer told ESPN. “The College Football Playoff committee had a job to do, and they did it. We respect it, move forward, keep swinging and the most important thing is to go win this next game for our seniors.”
The 2017 Cotton Bowl, which is played at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, kicks off on Dec. 29 at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Photo credit: Icon Sportswire/Getty
