Ohio State has officially finished the year with the same ranking it entered the College Football Playoff with.
After ending the year with a painfully close 42-41 loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinals, Ohio State is ranked fourth in the final AP Top 25 of 2022, which was released shortly after the season concluded with Georgia’s win over TCU in Monday night’s national championship game.
The Buckeyes are ranked behind only Georgia, TCU and Michigan, the three other teams who made this year’s CFP. Despite its 65-7 loss to Georgia, TCU jumped Michigan in the final rankings, moving up from No. 3 to No. 2 after beating the Wolverines in the other CFP semifinal.
With the fourth-place finish, Ohio State continues its streak of making the top six in the final AP poll in every season since the College Football Playoff began.
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2014 | #1 |
| 2015 | #4 |
| 2016 | #6 |
| 2017 | #5 |
| 2018 | #3 |
| 2019 | #3 |
| 2020 | #2 |
| 2021 | #6 |
| 2022 | #4 |
Ohio State’s streak of top-six finishes in the AP poll is three times longer than any other school. Alabama has the second longest streak with three straight finishes inside the top six; the Crimson Tide has finished inside the top six in eight of the last nine years, but finished eighth in 2019.
The Buckeyes finish the year as the No. 4 team in the country after ending the season with an 11-2 record for the second year in a row. While No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Tennessee and No. 7 Penn State also finished the season with 11-2 records, Ohio State was the only one of those four teams to go 11-1 during the regular season, as the Buckeyes suffered their second loss in a one-point defeat to the national champions in the CFP semifinals while the Crimson Tide, Volunteers and Nittany Lions all picked up their 11th wins in non-playoff bowl games after 10-2 regular seasons.
| RANK | TEAM |
|---|---|
| 1 | GEORGIA |
| 2 | TCU |
| 3 | MICHIGAN |
| 4 | OHIO STATE |
| 5 | ALABAMA |
| 6 | TENNESSEE |
| 7 | PENN STATE |
| 8 | WASHINGTON |
| 9 | TULANE |
| 10 | UTAH |
| 11 | FLORIDA STATE |
| 12 | USC |
| 13 | CLEMSON |
| 14 | KANSAS STATE |
| 15 | OREGON |
| 16 | LSU |
| 17 | OREGON STATE |
| 18 | NOTRE DAME |
| 19 | TROY |
| 20 | MISSISSIPPI STATE |
| 21 | UCLA |
| 22 | PITTSBURGH |
| 23 | SOUTH CAROLINA |
| 24 | FRESNO STATE |
| 25 | TEXAS |
The Buckeyes are also ranked fourth in the year’s final Coaches Poll, which features the same top nine as the AP poll.
| RANK | TEAM | RECORD | PTS | 1st VOTES | PREV | CHANGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEORGIA | 15–0 | 1575 | 63 | 1 | — |
| 2 | TEXAS CHRISTIAN | 13–2 | 1482 | – | 4 | +2 |
| 3 | MICHIGAN | 13–1 | 1423 | – | 2 | -1 |
| 4 | OHIO STATE | 11–2 | 1404 | – | 3 | -1 |
| 5 | ALABAMA | 11–2 | 1329 | – | 5 | — |
| 6 | TENNESSEE | 11–2 | 1273 | – | 6 | — |
| 7 | PENN STATE | 11–2 | 1199 | – | 7 | — |
| 8 | WASHINGTON | 11–2 | 1091 | – | 12 | +4 |
| 9 | TULANE | 12–2 | 981 | – | 17 | +8 |
| 10 | FLORIDA STATE | 10–3 | 926 | – | 13 | +3 |
| 11 | UTAH | 10–4 | 878 | – | 10 | -1 |
| 12 | CLEMSON | 11–3 | 839 | – | 11 | -1 |
| 13 | SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA | 11–3 | 829 | – | 8 | -5 |
| 14 | KANSAS STATE | 10–4 | 769 | – | 9 | -5 |
| 15 | LOUISIANA STATE | 10–4 | 766 | – | 15 | — |
| 16 | OREGON | 10–3 | 708 | – | 14 | -2 |
| 17 | OREGON STATE | 10–3 | 690 | – | 16 | -1 |
| 18 | NOTRE DAME | 9–4 | 498 | – | 20 | +2 |
| 19 | MISSISSIPPI STATE | 9–4 | 364 | – | 23 | +4 |
| 20 | TROY | 12–2 | 314 | – | 24 | +4 |
| 21 | UCLA | 9–4 | 238 | – | 18 | -3 |
| 22 | PITTSBURGH | 9–4 | 193 | – | NR | +8 |
| 23 | SOUTH CAROLINA | 8–5 | 164 | – | 19 | -4 |
| 24 | FRESNO STATE | 10–4 | 134 | – | NR | +5 |
| 25 | TEXAS | 8–5 | 69 | – | 21 | -4 |
