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Ohio State sits at No. 9 in latest College Football Playoff rankings

The Buckeyes: still mathematically in contention!

Rumors of Ohio State's demise have, it seems, been greatly exaggerated.

The Buckeyes—on the heels of a few very interesting weeks in college football—have climbed back to No. 9 in the College Football Playoff rankings, and while they'll need some help to have a shot at a spot in the final four, they're not out of it yet.

As of this week's new rankings, the top four teams remain Alabama, Miami (FL), Clemson, and Oklahoma, respectively. But there's plenty of room for advancement within those ranks for the teams on the outside looking in. Georgia (No. 7) will still play the winner of Alabama-Auburn (No. 6) in the SEC Championship Game, leading to all kinds of chaos potential. Miami and Clemson will meet for the ACC title in a few weeks, meaning one of them will fall out of contention. (If you're a Buckeye fan, pull for Alabama and Miami to make unblemished runs of it.)

In Big Ten news, unbeaten Wisconsin is also hanging out just outside the top spots at No. 5. They'll be just about guaranteed a playoff spot if they can upset Ohio State in a few weeks, provided the Buckeyes make a clean getaway from Ann Arbor on Saturday; meanwhile, Ohio State's hopes hinge on a few specific scenarios that won't matter a bit if they can't string together back-to-back wins to close out the schedule. (A little help from Stanford in felling No. 8 Notre Dame wouldn't hurt, either.)

The full rankings are below. Does Ohio State have a prayer?

College Football Playoff Rankings Week 13

Rank Team Record Conference
Rank Team Record Conference
1 Alabama 11-0 SEC
2 Miami 10-0 ACC
3 Clemson 10-1 ACC
4 Oklahoma 10-1 Big 12
5 Wisconsin 11-0 Big Ten
6 Auburn 9-2 SEC
7 Georgia 10-1 SEC
8 Notre Dame 9-2 Independent
9 Ohio State 9-2 Big Ten
10 Penn State 9-2 Big Ten
11 USC 10-2 Pac 12
12 TCU 9-2 Big 12
13 Washington State 9-2 Pac 12
14 Mississippi State 8-3 SEC
15 UCF 10-0 AAC
16 Michigan State 8-3 Big Ten
17 Washington 9-2 Pac 12
18 LSU 8-3 SEC
19 Oklahoma State 8-3 Big 12
20 Memphis 9-1 AAC
21 Stanford 8-3 Pac 12
22 Northwestern 8-3 Big Ten
23 Boise State 9-2 Mountain West
24 South Carolina 8-3 SEC
25 Virginia Tech 8-3 ACC