The initial College Football Playoff rankings came out Tuesday night, and the Ohio State Buckeyes landed at No. 12. The release followed Ohio State’s 30-18 Week 9 loss to the USC Trojans on the road. Where the Buckeyes sit compared to Indiana at No. 4 has drawn plenty of backlash, including from ESPN’s Greg McElroy.

It was the first career start for true freshman quarterback Luke Fahey, who filled in for Julian Sayin, who is likely out for the season. Ohio State lost the game to USC, but the quarterback wasn’t necessarily the reason why. The Buckeyes had issues on defense, special teams, and in the red zone that weren’t on Fahey.

Ohio State is on the outside looking in for now

Coming out of the first rankings, Ohio State is out of the field. One Group of Six team is guaranteed a spot in the College Football Playoff, which leaves the Buckeyes on the outside looking in at No. 12.

The good news is Ohio State controls its own destiny. If the Buckeyes win their final four games of the regular season, the committee will have no choice but to put them in. Next up is a home game against Oregon. From there, Ohio State plays Northwestern, Nebraska, and then the big one against Michigan.

As long as the Buckeyes avoid a third loss, they should feel good about their chances of getting into the CFP.

Greg McElroy questions the gap between Ohio State and Indiana

The biggest point of contention is Indiana sitting eight spots ahead of Ohio State. The Buckeyes went on the road and beat the Hoosiers earlier this season, yet the committee has Indiana in the top four.

“I think the most confusing decision right now is that Indiana is at 4 and Ohio State is at 12,” McElroy stated on ESPN. “If we ask Hunter Yurachek and we say, ‘Hey, is Julian Sayin’s injury factoring in here?’ If he says, yes, then I can live with that. I understand that. They have applied a precedent with that in the past with Florida State and Jordan Travis.”

McElroy then went on to lay out his issue with how the committee weighed the two resumes:

“What I’m struggling with that is that we are in an era where we are trying to value strength of schedule,” McElroy brought up. “We’re trying to value strength of record. We’re encouraging people to play this difficult non-conference schedule. Ohio State put it all on the line in Austin, Texas in Week 2. All on the line. They went out there and lost a close game. A game in which they actually had a lot of control over. They game up 21 points in the fourth quarter, and they lose the game.

“You remove that game. You put them up against North Texas, that’s who Indiana played. You put them against North Texas, they win that game convincingly. Now, you are looking at an Ohio State team that is 7-1 and an Indiana team that is 8-1. And Ohio State has the head to head. Yet, there’s eight spots between them.”

The Buckeyes’ ranking isn’t the only one raising eyebrows. Multiple other spots in the initial rankings make zero sense, including Alabama at No. 5.

Still, this is all going to sort itself out by the end of the season. The committee will release new rankings each week, and Ohio State has a chance to make a statement right away against No. 23 Oregon at home. If the Buckeyes take care of business, they’ll be in. The next four weeks will be telling.