For Ohio State football, a Big Ten championship wasn't enough. The College Football Playoff selection committee announced its final four on Sunday and left the Buckeyes on the outside looking in.
Alabama grabbed the playoff's fourth and final spot, beating out an Ohio State team that beat Wisconsin 27-21 in the Big Ten Championship Game on Saturday night. The Crimson Tide will face top-ranked Clemson in the Sugar Bowl semifinal on New Year's Day, with the winner advancing to face the winner of the Rose Bowl between No. 2 Oklahoma and No. 3 Georgia in the College Football Playoff Championship Game on Jan. 8.
The fifth-ranked Buckeyes were left out in favor of Alabama, which didn't qualify for the SEC Championship Game, despite a resume that included wins over ranked teams in Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State. Ohio State, however, suffered two losses in the regular season, including a 31-point loss to Iowa on Nov. 4.
Following the Buckeyes' victory over the Badgers on Saturday, OSU head coach Urban Meyer campaigned for his team to make the playoff for a second straight season and for the third time in the postseason format's existence.
"We deserve a shot," Meyer said on the postgame podium.
Ohio State, however, will not get one, as its double-digit defeat at the hands of the Hawkeyes wound up being too much to overlook. The 11-2 Buckeyes will learn which bowl game they will play in -- and who they will be facing -- later on Sunday.
