Dream of AP national championship all but gone as Ohio State's 4th in AP Top 25

Urban Meyer, the Ohio State Buckeyes, and those comprising the vast Ohio State fan base will always have 2012: a season in which despite the best efforts of outside parties to quell their accomplishments, they beat the odds and finished the year unscathed. There's also the little matter of the 26-21 victory over arch rival Michigan, that even if the team had lost a game or two (or eleven), makes the entire season basically worth while. That's not going anywhere either.

Alas, the Buckeyes won't have a 2012-2013 AP national championship to hang their hats on when everything is said and done from the looks of it. In spite of being one of two remaining undefeated teams in the national college football landscape, the Buckeyes are still 4th in this week's AP Top 25 and actually lose ground on Georgia. With Notre Dame also finishing the year unbeaten and now assured a spot in the 2013 BCS Championship Game and the winner of next weekend's SEC Championship Game between Alabama and Georgia (ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively) earmarked for the other, there's simply just too many cooks in the kitchen for Ohio State to circumvent should even the two that ultimately make it there play an uninspired, lackluster game January 7th in Miami. It'd be one thing if the margin between ND and Ohio State was tangible, but at over 200 voting points (and zero 1st place votes to the Buckeyes' credit), it's time to make peace with the fact that the dream is dead.

It was a great year and will be one Ohio State fans talk about for the rest of their lives, but it's not going to include any hardware (aside from whatever the team gets for winning the Big Ten Leaders Division).

The AP Top 25 in its entirety is as follows: