A blowout win vs. Michigan State (plus a little bit of chaos in the ranks) puts Ohio State back in the playoff hunt

Wildness. That’s what happened in last week’s slate of college football games. Notre Dame was absolutely smashed by Miami, who made their return to national prominence. Auburn took down the No. 1 team in the nation, and Alabama survived.

In all this, the Ohio State Buckeyes bounced back from a stunning loss to Iowa by securing a stunning win against Michigan State. A 45-point margin of victory versus the Spartans opened up the conversation that maybe OSU isn’t out the playoff chase just yet.

This week in the bowl prediction roundup, that sentiment looks to carry some weight. A couple of the outlets have Ohio State in a playoff contest. Let’s take a look at who’s all aboard the Buckeye playoff hype train, and who isn’t.

Who’s ready for a (real) rematch with Miami?

Jason Kirk of SB Nation has the Hurricanes running the table and heading into the postseason as the No. 1 team in the land. However, he has The U’s postseason run stopping in New Orleans at the Sugar Bowl against Ohio State.

To go one step even further, Kirk believes that the Buckeyes will play a rematch game for all the marbles. In the Rose Bowl semifinal, he’s projecting Oklahoma taking down Auburn—and punching their ticket for an Atlanta grudge match with OSU.

Erick Smith of USA Today also believes the Bucks are back in business when it comes to the playoff picture; he has them in the Sugar Bowl semifinal versus Alabama. Unlike Kirk’s prediction, Smith doesn’t have Ohio State winning their predicted playoff game.

While New Orleans would be the site of Meyer-Saban II: Playoff Boogaloo, the Rose Bowl would feature another matchup we’ve seen in playoffs past: Oklahoma vs. Clemson.

Two years ago, Clemson trounced Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl, advancing to the national title. Three years ago, Ohio State, a team some believed should’ve never been in the playoffs in the first place, shocked the college football world by taking down the No. 1 ranked Crimson Tide in a practical home game at the first ever Sugar Bowl semifinal.

In both these cases, would we see revenge? Smith thinks so, as he has a Sooners-Crimson Tide meetup in Atlanta for the CFP National Championship.

Eric Single of Sports Illustrated isn’t buying into the Buckeyes’ reemergence in the CFP just yet. He has OSU in the Peach Bowl against UCF—a prediction he has now held for two weeks straight.

In his projections, only one other Big Ten school cracked the New Year’s Six slate of bowls: Wisconsin. He has the Badgers in the Sugar Bowl semifinal battling Alabama.

New Year’s Six bowls are the belief right now with ESPN’s writers Kyle Bonagura and David Hale.

Last week, Bonagura wrote in a prediction for a Cotton Bowl matchup with USC—so his prediction is remaining steady with OSU taking on the Pac-12 institution.

For Hale, it’s not a Miami-OSU matchup in the Orange Bowl, it’s an OSU-Clemson showdown in South Beach.

Both members, for what it’s worth, have a Miami-Oklahoma Rose Bowl, and an Alabama-Wisconsin Sugar Bowl.

He was one of the first ones on the OSU to CFP train when it came to tracking the bowl projections, but for another week, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports seems to be off that train—at least for now.

A date with Mississippi State in the Citrus Bowl is where Palm has Ohio State. Penn State, a team the Buckeyes beat, is projected in his Cotton Bowl outlook; Wisconsin is in his prediction for the Sugar Bowl.