Adviser’s note: This story has been nationally published on Best of SNO!  Congrats to Jared Serre on his excellent reporting!

Coming off a defeat of the number three ranked team in the country, the 11-1 Ohio State Buckeye football team should be a shoo-in to be a member of the college football playoff.

Does it matter that Ohio State won’t be representing the East Division in the Big Ten Championship Game? It shouldn’t.

Let’s go back to Oct. 22. On that date, the Buckeyes were defeated by the Penn State Nittany Lions, also a member of the East Division. This gave Ohio State their first (and to this point, only) loss of this season. In addition to their perfect record, also taken from them was their #2 overall rank.

Thanks to losses by teams ranked ahead of them, Ohio State is now back at #2. Ahead of them is #1 Alabama (12-0) while #3 Clemson (11-1) and #4 Washington (11-1). The three teams not named Ohio State will be in their respective conference’s championship game.

Because of this, many around the country feel as if Ohio State does not deserve to participate in the college football playoff. Instead, choose Penn State or Wisconsin who are ranked at #6 and #8 respectively. Both teams will participate in the Big Ten Championship.

Paul Zeise of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote, “Unless Clemson or Washington loses — both play ranked opponents in conference championships — neither Ohio State nor Michigan deserves to be in the playoff if the selection committee wants to maintain credibility.”

“I believe we belong in there,“ Ohio State offensive lineman Billy Price said after the Michigan game, per Ari Wasserman of cleveland.com. “A conference championship does hold a lot of weight, I believe, with the playoff committee in their decisions, but our record and our reputable wins and who we played with top 25 matchups, I think that body of work stands for itself.”

Ultimately though, it will be very interesting to see how the Playoff Committee votes. With the announcement set to take place on Sunday, Dec. 4, all fans can hope for is that the committee gives the Ohio State Buckeyes what they rightfully deserve.