Here's where Ohio State sits in the latest CFP rankings
Ohio State dominated Purdue this past weekend.
Facing the Boilermakers at home, the Buckeyes earned the 59-31 win, extending their win streak in the Big Ten to 28 games.
In the third week of the 2021 College Football Playoff rankings, Ohio State is at No. 4.
The top seven remains the exact same from Week 2 of the rankings.
College Football Playoff rankings: Week 3
1. Georgia
2. Alabama
3. Oregon
4. Ohio State
5. Cincinnati
6. Michigan
7. Michigan State
8. Notre Dame
9. Oklahoma State
10. Wake Forest
11. Baylor
12. Ole Miss
13. Oklahoma
14. BYU
15. Wisconsin
16. Texas A&M
17. Iowa
18. Pittsburgh
19. San Diego State
20. NC State
21. Arkansas
22. UTSA
23. Utah
24. Houston
25. Mississippi State
Here's what it means for Ohio State
Nothing changed from Week 2.
Ohio State remains at No. 4 with each of the top seven teams all winning this past week. Michigan still sits one spot above Michigan State, leading to two possible top-10 matchups for the Buckeyes over the next two weeks.
The only real change was Oklahoma's drop to No. 13 after its loss to Baylor, moving Notre Dame up to No. 8 and Oklahoma State up to No. 9.
For Ohio State, the path remains the same: win out — beat two top-10 teams and either No. 15 Wisconsin or No. 17 Iowa in the Big Ten championship — and they are into the College Football Playoff for the fifth time in its history.
And it won't be at No. 4 either.
Lose any of those games, and the Buckeyes are out of the picture immediately.
Here's what committee chair Gary Barta had to say about the rankings
This week, College Football Playoff committee chair and Iowa Athletic Director Gary Barta said there were many more conversations about where to rank Alabama, Oregon and Ohio State.
Barta said the committee didn't learn much about Alabama from its win against New Mexico State, while it felt Oregon and Ohio State were in the same spot after each team won against Washington State and Purdue, respectively.
"Those two are compared this past week and the committee felt they were close enough that the head-to-head ruled the day," Barta said on a conference call.
Despite conversations comparing Michigan and Michigan State as well as Ohio State and Oregon, Barta said the committee has not discussed putting Notre Dame ahead of Cincinnati, with the Bearcats winning the head-to-head matchup.
Also, the College Football Playoff committee chair compared Georgia's defensive dominance through the first 10 games to Ohio State's dominance offensively, calling it one of the top units in the country.
But he's also seen how much progress the Buckeyes have made on the other side of the ball.
"I would tell you the committee has continually impressed with how the defense has improved," Barta said.