Everything seemed to go right for Ohio State against Michigan State.
The Buckeyes scored 49 points int he first half, beating the Spartans, the No. 7 team in the country at the time, 56-7, in their final home game of the 2021 season.
It's progress in the eyes of voters in both the USA Today Coaches and the AP Polls, moving Ohio State up a spot to No. 3 and No. 2, respectively.
Here's what it means moving forward.
Where is Ohio State in relation to Alabama?
According to AP Poll voters, Ohio State is in a better place than Alabama.
The Buckeyes come into the final week of the 2021 regular season as the No. 2 team in the country behind first-place Georgia, who continues to garner all 62 first-place votes. Now, Ohio State is 11 points in front of the Crimson Tide, the first time it has been in front of Alabama since the 2020 preseason poll, where the Buckeyes were No. 2 and the Crimson Tide was No. 3.
The latest USA Today Coaches Poll has that flipped, putting Alabama 22 points ahead of Ohio State after the Crimson Tide's 42-35 win against Arkansas, who dropped out of the Coaches Poll, but sits at No. 25 in the AP Poll.
Will The Game be a Top-5 matchup?
It doesn't look like it will be.
According to both the AP and the Coaches Poll, one-loss Michigan sits at No. 6 behind Cincinnati at No. 4 and Notre Dame at No. 5, which each jumped up one spot after Oregon's loss to Utah.
Michigan blew the doors off Maryland, 59-18, in its final game before the matchup with No. 3/No. 2 Ohio State.
Five Big Ten teams remain in the Top-25 in both polls: No. 3/2 Ohio State, No. 6 Michigan, No. 12/17 Iowa, No. 13/12 Michigan State and No. 18 Wisconsin.
What does this mean for the next installment of the College Football Playoff rankings?
The big storyline here is where Ohio State is in relation to Alabama after stomping a Top-7 team while the Crimson Tide narrowly passed Arkansas.
The Buckeyes could have a chance to get up to No. 2 and stay, assuming they beat Michigan and the Big Ten West team in the Big Ten Championship.
Also, where will Michigan be in relation to both Notre Dame and Cincinnati, especially after the Fighting Irish's 55-0 beatdown of Georgia Tech.
Michigan has been ranked as high as No. 3 in its 28 appearances in the rankings.
