You can bank on it! Football-wise or money-wise, it's all about the bottom line.

Here’s why the Buckeyes are already in the playoffs:

For starters, if the CFP leaves Ohio State out of the playoffs in 2016, it means that all future discussions about non-champions having any chance at a playoff spot will go out the window, as will any related fan interest and TV ratings and revenue that goes with it.

The equation is fairly simple: More playoff possibilities = more fan interest = higher TV ratings = higher TV revenue.

Fact is, college football is sport entertainment, and TV ratings generate the billion of dollars that fill the coffers of the major media companies, and more importantly, the Power Five conferences, all of which not only pays for the hefty salaries of conference executive, it funds the whole athletic departments of the schools in the conference.

Consider the Big Ten’s latest deal, which pours $40 million into each school’s Athletic Department. That’s the goose that lays the golden eggs, and you just don’t kill that.

So, as much as the conferences value their conference championship games, which generate ‘supplemental’ revenue for conferences, they are well aware that the real money is bagged via the mega-TV packages per the contracts they’ve inked with ESPN, FOX, CBS, etc.

To that end, if the CFP Committee leaves out Ohio State, the CFP Committee would effectively nullify the very reason it exists, which is to do what a computer ostensibly cannot do—determine the best four teams in the country (with “best” NOT being defined by who wins a conference, which a computer could determine, but by “total body of work”)

By the way, tell me there won't be more people across the nation paying attention to those Conference Championship games than otherwise would have been the case if the "outsider" (i.e., non-conference champions) knew they really didn’t have any shot at the playoffs?

If you KNEW that the Buckeyes were out of the playoffs, wouldn’t you care a lot less about Wisconsin vs. Penn State?

All of this fan interest goes out the window if the Committee leaves out Ohio State in 2016, whereby they will be setting a precedent that, practically speaking, only conference champions will be considered… period… and all other considerations (i.e., difficulty of schedule, eye test, stats, etc.) will become mere secondary factors used to decide which one of the five Power Conference champions will be eliminated.

As such, the Committee also will have made itself irrelevant, since a computer can sort that out. Or, at the very least, they should change their name to the “Conference Champion Elimination Committee,” because that’s all they would amount to.

That being the case, fans, players and sports writers would no longer need to pay attention to the CFP’s weekly rankings during the season, much less their blather about difficulty of schedule, eye tests, etc. since we’d all know it was just that—empty blather—because we would have gotten the memo in 2016 that, “Hey, if you don’t win your conference championship, don’t bother listening to anything we say, because your team just doesn’t have a chance.”

In other words, we come back bottom line: Millions of fans will start tuning out games, as well as CFP Committee blather, and therefore, good-bye record-setting college football ratings and good-bye record-setting revenue. 

As an analytical cap to all of this, below is a breakdown of the quality wins and losses for all 11 current playoff contenders with "quality" herein being defined as wins against the very best competition, which the Committee allegedly prizes above all else. 

As anybody can plainly see, the analysis clearly and unequivocally reveals that Ohio State has a lock on a top four spot no matter what happens next week.

Given all of the above, I also have no doubt that the Buckeyes are already in. There is simply too much for the Committee, Conferences, and Media Companies to lose, first, in terms of the integrity of the playoffs per placing the “best” four teams, and last but not least… MONEY!

1) OHIO STATE (4-1 Record per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: Tulsa 9-3 / @ OK 10-2 or 9-3 TBD / @ Wisconsin 10-2 or 10-3 / Nebraska 9-3 / Michigan 10-2

Losses: @ Penn State 10-3 or 11-2 TBD

2) WISCONSIN (5-2 or 4-3 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: LSU 7-4 / @ Iowa 8-4 / Nebraska 9-3 / Minnesota 8-4 / + Penn State 10-3 or 11-2 TBD (Neutral Site)

Losses: @ Michigan 10-2 / Ohio State 11-1 / + Penn State 11-2 or 10-3 TBD (Neutral Site)

3) PENN STATE (4-2 or 3-3 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: Temple 10-3 or 9-4 TBD / Minnesota 8-4 / Ohio State 11-1 / Iowa 8-4 / + Wisconsin 10-3 or 11-2 TBD (Neutral Site)

Losses: @ Pitt 8-4 / @ Michigan 10-2 /+ Wisconsin 11-2 or 10-3 TBD (Neutral Site)

4) MICHIGAN (3-2 Record per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: Colorado 10-3 or 11-2 TBD / Penn State 10-3 or 11-2 TBD / Wisconsin 10-3 or 11-2 TBD /

Losses: @ Iowa 10-2 / @ Ohio State 11-1

5) CLEMSON (5-1 or 4-2 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: @ Auburn 8-4 / @ Georgia Tech 8-4 / Louisville 9-3 / @ Florida St. 9-3 / + Virginia Tech 9-4 or 10-3 TBD (Neutral Site)

Losses: Pitt 8-4 / + Virginia Tech 10-3 or 9-4 TBD (Neutral Site)

6) WASHINGTON (4-1 or 3-3 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: Stanford 9-3 / @ Washington State 8-4 / @ Utah 8-4 / + Colorado 10-3 or 11-2 TBD

Losses: USC 9-3 / + Colorado 11-2 TBD

7) COLORADO (3-2 or 3-3 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: @ Stanford 9-3 / Washington State 8-4 / Utah 8-4 / + @ Washington 10-2 or 11-1 TBD

Losses: @ Michigan 10-2 / @ USC 9-3 / + @ Washington 11-1 or 10-2 TBD

8) ALABAMA (6-0 or 5-1 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: USC 9-3  (Neutral Site) / Western Kentucky 9-3 / @ Tenn. 8-4 / Texas A&M 8-4 / @ LSU 7-4 / Auburn 8-4 / + Florida 8-4 or 9-3 TBD (Neutral Site)

Losses: Florida 9-3 or 8-4 TBD (Neutral Site)

9) FLORIDA (2-3 or 1-4 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: @ LSU 7-4 / + Alabama 11-1 or 12-0 TBD (Neutral Site)

Losses: @ Tennessee 8-4 / @ Arkansas 7-5 / @ Florida State 9-3 / + Alabama 12-0 or 11-1 TBD (Neutral Site)

10) OKLAHOMA (3-2 or 3-3 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: @ West Virginia 9-2 / Kansas State 7-4 / + Oklahoma State 9-3 or 10-2 TBD (Neutral Site)

Losses: Houston 9-3 / Ohio State 11-1 / + Oklahoma State 10-2 or 9-3 TBD (Neutral Site)

11) OKLAHOMA STATE (3-2 or 3-3 Record TBD per Power Five Quality Wins + Losses)

Wins: Pitt 8-4 / @ Kansas State 7-4 / + Oklahoma 9-3 or 10-2 TBD (Neutral Site)

Losses: Central Michigan 6-6 / @ Baylor 6-5 / + Oklahoma 10-2 or 9-3 TBD (Neutral Site)