Ohio State to host Tennessee in first-round of College Football Playoff
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- The Ohio State Buckeyes are in the first 12-team College Football Playoff bracket and will play playoff football in Columbus.
Ohio State (10-2) will host a first-round game at Ohio Stadium as the No. 8 seed and take on No. 9 seed Tennessee of the Southeastern Conference. That game will take place on Dec. 21 at 8 p.m. This will be the first December home game ever in Ohio State's football history.
"It's going to be electric," said Ohio State coach Ryan Day on the atmosphere. "Getting this first win will be critical at building momentum."
The winner of that game will play No. 1 Oregon in the quarterfinals on Jan. 1 in the Rose Bowl at 5 p.m. Should the Buckeyes get to the semifinals, they would play one of Texas, Clemson, or Arizona State to get to the national championship game.
College Football Playoff bracket
Tennessee enters the playoff after finishing the regular season 10-2 in the SEC with key wins over Alabama and N.C. State in the regular season. The Volunteers' defeats were to Arkansas and Georgia.
The Buckeyes have played Tennessee only once in the 1996 Citrus Bowl in Orlando with the Volunteers beating Ohio State 20-14. This will be the third straight season Ohio State plays an SEC team in postseason play with the Buckeyes not beating an SEC school since 2014 (Alabama in playoff semifinal at Sugar Bowl).
"We want to be healthy this time of year," Day said. "We've taken a few injuries up front. Here we are. Everyone's journey is different to get to this point. When you think of the opportunity the team has, this would be an unbelievable accomplishment. As much as last week hurt and it hurt, but here we are now."
Two other first-round games will be played in the Midwest as Big Ten runners-up and No. 6 seed Penn State will host ACC runners-up and No. 11 seed SMU on Dec. 21 at noon. The winner will play Boise State at the Fiesta Bowl on New Year's Eve.
FULL VIDEO: Ryan Day on OSU's College Football Playoff path
A clash of two Indiana schools is set in South Bend as seven-seed Notre Dame hosts ten-seed Indiana at 8 p.m. on Dec. 20 to open the playoff. The winner's prize? A quarterfinal against SEC champions and No. 2 seed Georgia in the Sugar Bowl.
SEC runners-up Texas got in with the highest at-large seed at five and will host ACC champions Clemson in Austin, Texas on Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. The winner will face off against No. 4 seed and Big 12 champions Arizona State at the Peach Bowl.
2024-25 College Football Playoff schedule
First Round
Friday, December 20
- 8 p.m. - No. 10 Indiana at No. 7 Notre Dame
Saturday, December 21
- 12 p.m. - No. 11 SMU at No. 6 Penn State
- 4 p.m. - No. 12 Clemson at No. 5 Texas
- 8 p.m. - No. 9 Tennessee at No. 8 Ohio State
Quarterfinals
Tuesday, December 31
- 7:30 p.m. - No. 3 Boise State vs. Penn State/SMU (Fiesta Bowl)
Wednesday, January 1
- 1 p.m. - No. 4 Arizona State vs. Texas/Clemson (Peach Bowl)
- 5 p.m. - No. 1 Oregon vs. Ohio State/Tennessee (Rose Bowl)
- 8:45 p.m. - No. 2 Georgia vs. Notre Dame/Indiana (Sugar Bowl)
Semifinals
Thursday, January 9
- 7:30 p.m. - Orange Bowl
Friday, January 10
- 7:30 p.m. - Cotton Bowl
National Championship Game (Atlanta, Georgia)
Monday, January 20 - 7:30 p.m.
The Big Ten received more playoff berths than any conference with four (Oregon, Penn State, Ohio State, Indiana) while the SEC got three teams in (Georgia, Texas, Tennessee). The ACC was the only other conference to get multiple teams in the field (SMU and Clemson). Alabama and Miami are the first two teams to miss out on making the field.
Final College Football Playoff poll
Teams in bold are in 12-team bracket. Bold number is seed.
| 1 | Oregon (1) |
| 2 | Georgia (2) |
| 3 | Texas (5) |
| 4 | Penn State (6) |
| 5 | Notre Dame (7) |
| 6 | Ohio State (8) |
| 7 | Tennessee (9) |
| 8 | Indiana (10) |
| 9 | Boise State (3) |
| 10 | SMU (11) |
| 11 | Alabama |
| 12 | Arizona State (4) |
| 13 | Miami |
| 14 | Mississippi |
| 15 | South Carolina |
| 16 | Clemson (12) |
| 17 | BYU |
| 18 | Iowa State |
| 19 | Missouri |
| 20 | Illinois |
| 21 | Syracuse |
| 22 | Army |
| 23 | Colorado |
| 24 | UNLV |
| 25 | Memphis |