Ohio State stays No. 1 in rankings ahead of first playoff poll
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The defending national champion Ohio State Buckeyes will likely be ranked No. 1 in Tuesday's initial playoff poll after receiving that ranking again on Sunday.
Ohio State (8-0, 5-0) was named the top-ranked team in the Associated Press poll and USA Today coaches poll after an impressive 38-14 win over unranked Penn State. The win Saturday in Columbus catapulted the Buckeyes' playoff chances to nearly 100% and has quarterback Julian Sayin as a favorite to be a Heisman finalist.
With four games to play, it would take a cataclysmic collapse for Ohio State to miss the College Football Playoff as the rankings committee will reveal their initial top 25 on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Ohio State has been the top team in the first playoff poll on two occasions (2023, 2019) but when named No. 1, the Buckeyes were not the top team in the preceding AP or coaches poll.
2025 Associated Press rankings (Nov. 2, 2025)
| 1 | Ohio State (54) |
| 2 | Indiana (11) |
| 3 | Texas A&M (1) |
| 4 | Alabama |
| 5 | Georgia |
| 6 | Oregon |
| 7 | Ole Miss |
| 8 | BYU |
| 9 | Texas Tech |
| 10 | Notre Dame |
| 11 | Oklahoma |
| 12 | Virginia |
| 13 | Texas |
| 14 | Louisville |
| 15 | Vanderbilt |
| 16 | Georgia Tech |
| 17 | Utah |
| 18 | Miami |
| 19 | Missouri |
| 20 | USC |
| 21 | Michigan |
| 22 | Memphis |
| 23 | Tennessee |
| 24 | Washington |
| 25 | Cincinnati |
If the College Football Playoff committee copied this week's rankings on Tuesday, Ohio State would sit as the No. 1 seed in the bracket with an automatic berth into the quarterfinals. The Buckeyes would be projected to play the winner of a first round game between BYU and Texas Tech in the Rose Bowl.
In the 11 previous seasons of the CFP, the team ranked No. 1 in the AP and coaches polls has been ranked No. 1 in the first playoff poll on six occasions. The first No. 1 team in the CFP poll has won the national championship only twice and has made the national championship game on six occasions.
Ohio State is one of the three teams to miss a playoff after the committee ranked it No. 1 in its first poll. Tennessee and Mississippi State are the other two teams fitting that description.
No. 1 teams in initial College Football Playoff polls
- 2024 - Oregon (No. 1 in AP and coaches, lost quarterfinal to Ohio State)
- 2023 - Ohio State (No. 3 in AP and coaches, didn't make playoff)
- 2022 - Tennessee (No. 2 in AP, No. 3 in coaches, didn't make playoff)
- 2021 - Georgia (No. 1 in AP and coaches, won national title)
- 2020 - Alabama (No. 1 in AP and coaches, won national title)
- 2019 - Ohio State (No. 3 in AP, No. 4 in coaches, lost semifinal to Clemson)
- 2018 - Alabama (No. 1 in AP and coaches, lost final to Clemson)
- 2017 - Georgia (No. 2 in AP and coaches, lost final to Alabama)
- 2016 - Alabama (No. 1 in AP and coaches, lost final to Clemson)
- 2015 - Clemson (No. 3 in AP, No. 5 in coaches, lost final to Alabama)
- 2014 - Mississippi State (No. 1 in AP and coaches, didn't make playoff)
Ohio State will look to stay undefeated on Nov. 8 when it takes on Purdue in West Lafayette, Indiana. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.