Ohio State will NOT play for the national championship

Ohio State will NOT play for the national championship

Their long winning streak has been halted at 24. Moreover, they will not get to play Stanford in the Rose Bowl because Michigan State is the official Big Ten champion. Instead of dancing in the big ball, Ohio State will be waiting for an at-large bid.

It'll be Florida State against Auburn for all the marbles.

Michigan State vs Stanford in the Rose Bowl.

Baylor vs UCF in the Fiesta Bowl. (Yawn. This bowl will get the last pick this year, and will therefore have to fall on the sword and take UCF.)

The Orange Bowl would normally get the ACC champ, but since FSU will be in the big show, they'll get Clemson as a substitute. I'm assuming Ohio State will be their opponent.

The Sugar Bowl would normally get the SEC champ, but since Auburn is playing for the championship, they'll get Alabama. (I'm assuming Alabama will be rated #3 nationally, and will therefore get the nod over Mizzou.) Their most likely opponents are probably Oklahoma and Oregon, neither of which is a very exciting choice, but ....

Missouri, South Carolina and Oklahoma State will not be eligible because of the two-team maximum per conference (I'm assuming Oklahoma State will be ranked below Oklahoma, although that's not 100% certain.) Arizona State will drop below Oregon in the rankings. The only remaining choices, therefore, will be Oregon and Oklahoma. Oklahoma will get it because of the expected future relationship between the Big 12, the SEC, and the Sugar Bowl.

Alabama vs Ohio State would be much more fun as a Sugar Bowl match-up, since it easily might have been a national championship game in a slightly alternative universe, but that's probably not in the cards because of the Sugar Bowl's ties to the Big 12, and because the Orange Bowl gets to pick ahead of the Sugar Bowl and will almost certainly take Ohio State as their at-large team.

The two-team limit leaves a lot of interesting SEC teams up for grabs by the minor bowls. The Capital One Bowl, for example, could pick up a great match-up like Wisconsin vs South Carolina or Missouri, or the Cotton Bowl could go for Missouri vs Oklahoma State.