Yesterday's AP Top 25 poll had the Buckeyes at #4. That's where they are when their season ends, and in all likelihood they will finish the season at #2.
Did they earn the AP Poll championship? That's debatable, but it doesn't matter anymore - they won't get it. But it also looks like they will end up #2.
The current rankings are as follows;
| 1 | Notre Dame (60) | 12-0 | 1500 |
| 2 | Alabama | 11-1 | 1400 |
| 3 | Georgia | 11-1 | 1331 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 12-0 | 1294 |
| 5 | Florida | 11-1 | 1262 |
This weekend, Alabama and Georgia will meet for the SEC Championship. Obviously, one of those teams will suffer their second loss of the year and drop.
The winner will advance to the BCS Championship Game and take on Notre Dame. Again, the losing team will drop.
The BCS Champion will end up being the AP Champion, and Ohio State will end up ranked second in the nation.
The biggest wrinkle to this theory would be #5 Florida - their season is complete (except for their bowl game), and they sit a mere 32 poll points behind the Buckeyes. If the Gators should dominate their bowl game by a sizable margin, it could be enough to leapfrog the Buckeyes, who are not playing in a bowl game.
It is also possible that the team that fails to win the BCS National Championship Game could stay ahead of the Buckeyes, but history shows that this happens about 50 percent of the time - the instances that they fall to #3 or lower often comes when they fall below a team that finished undefeated.
- Jeff Seemann
