Ohio State will go into championship weekend as the top team in the College Football Playoff selection committee’s rankings.
The Buckeyes were followed by LSU, Clemson and Georgia. Utah was fifth, Oklahoma sixth and Baylor seventh in the committee’s second-to-last top 25.
Ohio State will take on No. 8 Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship Game Saturday night in Indianapolis.
The final rankings that set the pairings for the national semifinals come out Sunday after each FBS conference plays a championship game this weekend.
Chase Young, Ryan Day Receive Big Ten Honors
Ohio State defensive end Chase Young has been selected as the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year.
Ohio State boasts the country’s No. 1 defense, with Young leading the way. The junior has a school-record 16½ sacks — the most by a Big Ten player in 21 years — and 30½ in three seasons. Young was also named Defensive Lineman of the Year.
Ohio State coach Ryan Day was chosen Coach of the Year by media, while Minnesota’s P.J. Fleck was picked by the Big Ten’s coaches in voting announced Tuesday by the conference.
Day was the first Ohio State coach to receive the award since Earle Bruce in 1979.
Offensive awards will be announced Wednesday.
