Ohio State’s loss to Oregon just had a major impact on the Buckeyes’ AP Top 25 ranking
Ohio State’s second straight loss of the regular season for the first time since 2011 has the Buckeyes tumbling down the AP rankings.
The Ohio State Buckeyes are in a spot Ryan Day has never been in as head coach in Columbus. It’s also a spot Ohio State hasn’t been in since 2011.
Ohio State lost back-to-back regular season games after falling 41-28 to the Oregon Ducks. The final score doesn’t tell the full story. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 14-0 lead, and then Oregon ripped off 38 straight points before Ohio State found the end zone again in garbage time late in the game.
As a result, Ohio State is 6-3 and has lost consecutive regular season games for the first time since 2011. The Buckeyes’ College Football Playoff hopes are all but dead.
Ohio State takes a tumble in the latest AP Top 25
Ohio State came into the week ranked No. 11 in the AP poll, which was released before the first College Football Playoff rankings of the season. After the loss to the now No. 18 Ducks, the Buckeyes slid all the way to No. 21 in the latest AP Top 25.
The AP fall won’t be the end of it, as you can expect Ohio State to go sliding down the College Football Playoff rankings as well on Tuesday.
Now, the Buckeyes don’t have a whole lot left to play for in their three final games. Finishing in a respectable way that lives up to the Ohio State standard is about all that remains. Ohio State isn’t going to win a Big Ten Championship, and it isn’t going to win a national championship. The only goal left on the board is beating Michigan on Nov. 28.
A season that started unraveling in Week 7
The 2026 season was always going to be tough for Ohio State because of the schedule it was handed. Still, things took a turn for the worse in Week 7 against Indiana.
Julian Sayin’s season-ending injury against the Hoosiers was the beginning of the end for the Buckeyes. Ohio State has now lost back-to-back games since that point. On top of that, the Buckeyes were fortunate to escape Indiana with a win. If Nick Marsh’s foot hadn’t gone out in Week 7, Indiana would have beaten Ohio State as well, and we’d be talking about a 5-4 team right now.
What Ohio State has put on the field this year simply hasn’t been up to the program’s standard. With how the last couple of weeks have gone, the Buckeyes are ranked toward the back of the top 25, and that’s where they deserve to be.
Major decisions are coming for Ohio State
The Buckeyes have major decisions to make once this season wraps up. This roster is going to look a whole lot different next year, and the same could potentially be said for the coaching staff. Multiple changes could be on the table after how the 2026 campaign has played out.
Before any of that, Ohio State has three games left to salvage what it can. A win over Michigan won’t fix everything that has gone wrong this fall, but it would at least give the Buckeyes something to hang onto heading into a big offseason.
