COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State is back in the College Football Playoff as the Buckeyes finished the season ranked No. 4 in the final standings released Sunday.
The Buckeyes will face defending national champion and top-ranked Georgia in the Peach Bowl on Dec. 31 at 8 p.m.
The two teams have only faced each other one time back in 1993 as the Bulldogs defeated the Buckeyes 21-14 in the Citrus Bowl.
The Peach Bowl will be preceded by the other semifinal featuring No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 TCU in the Fiesta Bowl on the same day at 4 p.m.
This is the first time the Big Ten Conference has had multiple teams in the playoff field.
The national championship game is scheduled for Jan. 9 at Sofi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.
With some drama, but not much controversy, the CFP selection committee's top four fell into place over the championship weekend. The most interesting part of the unveiling was whether the committee would pair Michigan and Ohio State in the semifinals and if Alabama might be able to slip in as the first two-loss playoff team.
In the end, the committee sprung no surprises.
Ohio State (11-1) was given a second life in the playoff race when Southern California lost the Pac-12 championship game Friday night. A week after star quarterback C.J. Stroud and the Buckeyes lost at home to coach Jim Harbaugh and Michigan.
Committee chairman Boo Corrigan, the athletic director at North Carolina State, said Ohio State's big wins against Penn State and Notre Dame helped push the Buckeyes in over Alabama.
“As we looked at the total body of work, the committee was comfortable with Ohio State State at No. 4 and Alabama at 5,” he said in an interview with ESPN.
Corrigan also said the committee did not make any special effort to avoid having a rematch of Ohio State and Michigan in a semifinal.
Ohio State is making its fifth playoff appearance. The last time the Buckeyes were the fourth seed was 2014, when they won their last national title.
For Georgia, it is the second straight CFP appearance and third overall. This time, though, the Bulldogs enter as the No. 1 team and clear favorite after following up last season's national title with a perfect season.
The Bulldogs will try to become the first team to repeat as College Football Playoff champions.
Michigan is in for the second time, again as the second seed after losing to Georgia in the Orange Bowl last season.
TCU becomes just the 13th different school make the field in nine years. That lack of variety is one of the main reasons the CFP will be expanding to 12 teams in the 2024 season.
The Horned Frogs, whose only national title came in 1938, have never played Michigan.