It's nearly impossible that the Ohio State Buckeyes are going to see a repeat of the 2022 season wherein they lost to rival Michigan but still snuck into the College Football Playoff. With Ryan Day losing for a third straight time to their hated rivals in the final week of the regular season, Ohio State will instead be eyeing a New Year's Six bowl game to conclude this year as the CFP has too many contenders playing in conference championship games to imagine that OSU is still alive.
It's a disheartening end for Ohio State this season, picking up major wins over Notre Dame and Ohio State to climb into the No. 2 spot in the CFP rankings only to lose to Michigan once again. Now, there are questions about Day, Kyle McCord, and quite a bit more in Columbus. However, this team can still finish the year at 12-1 with a bowl game win and they'll likely face a formidable, high-profile opponent in whatever game they end up playing in.
But where do the bowl projections after the regular season have Ohio State playing in the postseason? Let's take a look.
Ohio State bowl projections: Buckeyes expected to play in Orange Bowl
With the College Football Playoff almost surely no longer an option, Ryan Day and Ohio State appear destined to be in Miami at the end of 2023 for the Orange Bowl. Bowl projections from Kyle Bonagura and Mark Schlabach of ESPN, Jerry Palm of CBS Sports, and Brad Crawford of 247Sports all have the Buckeyes facing the Louisville Cardinals in the Orange Bowl following the Michigan loss.
Louisville is not necessarily locked into the Orange Bowl as they will face Florida State for the ACC Championship on Saturday, Dec. 2. The other spot in the bowl game is allotted to the highest-ranked ACC team not in the College Football Playoff. If FSU were to lose to Louisville in the ACC title bout, that would likely put the Seminoles in a matchup with Ohio State. A Cardinals loss, however, threatens to allow NC State into the game with FSU likely in the Playoff.
But for Ohio State's part, it seems almost universally agreed upon that they will be going to the Orange Bowl as there is likely no amount of chaos during conference championship week that would push the Buckeyes into the CFP.
Recent Orange Bowl history
- 2022/23: Tennessee 31, Clemson 14
- 2021/22: Georgia 34, Michigan 11 (CFP Semifinal)
- 2020/21: Texas A&M 41, North Carolina 27
- 2019/20: Florida 36, Virginia 28
- 2018/19: Alabama 45, Oklahoma 34 (CFP Semifinal)
In the past five years, we've seen the Orange Bowl as a College Football Playoff semifinal matchup with the SEC representatives, Georgia and Alabama, winning in each of those games. In fact, with the exception of the Georgia win as the Bulldogs were ranked No. 3, the higher-ranked team has won the Orange Bowl in each of the past six years.
Ohio State has not played in the Orange Bowl since the 2013/14 season when the No. 7-ranked Buckeyes loss 40-35 to Clemson.
Recent Ohio State bowl game history
- 2022/23: Peach Bowl (CFP Semifinal), Georgia 42, Ohio State 41
- 2021/22: Rose Bowl, Ohio State 48, Utah 45
- 2020/21: CFP National Championship, Alabama 52, Ohio State 24
- 2020/21: Sugar Bowl (CFP Semifinal), Ohio State 49, Clemson 28
- 2019/20: Fiesta Bowl (CFP Semifinal), Clemson 29, Ohio State 23
- 2018/19: Rose Bowl, Ohio State 28, Washington 23
Over the past five seasons (the Buckeyes played two games in the CFP back in 2020-21), Ohio State has gone 3-3 in their bowl game appearances. With OSU likely missing out on the Playoff, this will be only the second time since Ryan Day became the head coach in 2019 that the Buckeyes have missed the CFP.
When is the Orange Bowl? Date, time, location, TV info
The 2023 Orange Bowl will be played on Saturday, Dec. 30 at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, FL. The game is currently scheduled for a 4:00 p.m. ET kickoff and will be broadcast on ESPN. Fans can stream the action through WatchESPN, the ESPN app, or by signing up for ESPN+.