Ohio State's College Football Playoff path took a hit with last week's loss to Southern California, as the Buckeyes failed to score a touchdown until the final two minutes and posted a season-low point total in their first game without Julian Sayin.
The impact of that defeat became clear Tuesday night when the CFP selection committee unveiled its first rankings of the season, revealing the exact margin for error Ohio State has to work with for the remaining four weeks of the regular season.
Ryan Day's squad came in at No. 12 in Tuesday's unveiling in the full top 25 rankings. It's one of the lowest rankings the Buckeyes have received from the CFP selection committee in almost a decade.
Were the season to end on Tuesday, the Buckeyes, as the No.
12 seed in the 12-team field, would be the first team out of the bracket because of the Group of Six winner would be the 12th team in.
The Buckeyes entered Tuesday's rankings reveal show as one of several teams with looming questions surrounding their name, largely in part to the fact that they are a two-loss team with a backup quarterback playing because their starting quarterback is out indefinitely with an injury.
Ohio State has a chance to either strengthen — or severely damage — its CFP resume on Saturday when it hosts Oregon at 3:30 p.m. ET. The Ducks are also starting a backup quarterback, but they've underperformed to their expectations and fallen out of the top 25 after entering the season as a legitimate national title contender.
Here's what to know:
Where did Ohio State rank in CFP rankings after USC loss?
The Buckeyes came in at No. 12 in Tuesday's CFP rankings reveal. It marked the first time Ohio State was ranked outside the top 10 of the CFP rankings since Nov. 7, 2017, when the Buckeyes came in at No. 13.
At 6-2 overall on the season, Ohio State's biggest wins are its two top-15 wins on the road at Iowa and Indiana. The Buckeyes also have two "good" losses against Texas (CFP No. 7) and USC (CFP No. 20) on their resume, which shouldn't hurt their resume, assuming that's all they have through the remainder of the season.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Where is Ohio State ranked in first CFP rankings? How far Buckeyes fell after USC loss
