The college football playoff committee has released its third set of rankings this week. BYU’s first loss of the season and Georgia’s crucial victory over Tennessee have changed the dynamics and, of course, have affected playoff rankings. Very few teams are still standing where they were; Ohio State is one of them. Ryan Day and his squad have been seated in second place for a few weeks. Why not? So far, they have played 10 games and have lost only one to No. 1 Oregon.

While this week did not affect them much, Week 13 will come with new challenges. Can head coach Day and the Buckeyes still walk without big consequences and secure their place in the playoffs?

On November 20, ESPN College Football’s Rankings Reaction show discussed the Week 13 matchup between the No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Indiana. Sam Ravech posed the question: What if the Buckeyes lost the game and ended up as a 10-2 team at the end of the regular reason? Where do we see them in the rankings? Are they getting compared to the other Big 10 teams, or should we look towards the SEC for a fair comparison? ESPN analyst Skubie Mageza is going with the latter.

“Because their two losses will be against the top four teams. They’ll be in the same category as Georgia because their losses are against Oregon, who are number one. If Indiana beats them, where are they going to go? Number two, number three, or number four? So then if you’re Ohio State, you’re kind of like, ‘All right, whatever, we lost that game, but now we get to be in that five spot’. I think that’s where they drop because they are already the second best team in the country.”

“You end up in that five spot, you get BYU as the number 12 seed in the first round. Then you get to go on to the second round and take on maybe a Boise State, an easier opponent, who already has that first-round bye as the 4th seed,” Mageza said on ESPN College Football on YouTube.

When it comes to the strength of the schedule, what is better than going against three of the top 5 teams? You have Oregon, Penn State, and Indiana. OSU’s strong schedule couple possibly aid them in staying higher up in the rankings even if they lose against Indiana.

On the other hand, if the Hoosiers lose the next game, they may be out of it altogether. Ohio State versus the Hoosiers is historically a one-sided affair. The upcoming game will mark the 97th time the two sides clash. However, it is the Buckeyes that have had a 79-12-5 head-to-head advantage. On the other hand, while Week 13 is probably the best chance Indiana Hoosiers have at defeating Ohio State since 1988, they are still the underdog.

Considering this history, many expect OSU to win the upcoming game convincingly.

What also has worked in the Buckeyes’ favor is that this season, there are top SEC teams sitting at two losses. At maximum, we are accustomed to them having a single loss, and in the cases of Bama and the Bulldogs, we have also seen undefeated seasons. Naturally, that opened the door for Big 10 teams, and the conference has grabbed the opportunity with glee.

Obviously, there is a lot of pressure on Ohio State. But on the other hand, we have witnessed how Indiana played this season. Their HC Curt Cignetti has made it clear that he is here to win. So, it will be interesting to see if Day comes up with a new strategy to take on the No. 2 team. We are sure CFB is going to witness a thrilling game, and Day feels the same. In fact, he has a message for Buckeyes fans.

Ryan Day calls for fan support in Week 13

As Ohio State faces a top-five opponent on Nov. 23, Day has called for strong vocal support. Yes! He appreciated the fans and stated, “One thing that is great about being at Ohio State is you get a chance to be around the best fans in the land, and I know that this week is going to be a huge opportunity for us to show the nation what the best damn fans in the land look like.” Now that is a great move as home games come with advantages.

Further, he urged fans for maximum support and added, “This is going to be that type of game where we’ve got to be loud on third down every time they have the ball, and certainly the atmosphere is going to be tremendous. So we’re looking forward to this week of prep and challenging our guys this week to have the best week of preparation they’ve had all season and then get after it on Saturday.”

On the visitors’ side of things, earlier in the day, ESPN analyst Joey Galloway suggested that Cignetti should rest Kurtis Rourke for the game. “If we believe in what our metrics are saying, if I’m Indiana, I don’t know if I’m playing Rourke against Ohio State. We’ve seen what happened to Florida State last year with Jordan Travis… What could keep Indiana out of this (CFP)? Getting their quarterback hurt. We’ve seen it happen to Florida State last year, having not played anybody,” Galloway stated.

If their QB gets injured, the Hoosiers may face the same fate as Florida State in 2023. But just imagine telling a team that their best player better not play because the opponent may injure him. That is not the ‘Google me’ mentality that Cignetti follows. Well, now only time will reveal what happens next. Do you think Indiana has any chance of winning against Ohio State? Let us know in the comments below.