What happened in this Sports story?

No. 1 Ohio State absorbed a fourth-quarter collapse to Texas, dropping its first game and forcing the Buckeyes to navigate five remaining ranked opponents — starting at Iowa — to clinch a College Football Playoff berth.

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**Ohio State** suffered its first loss as Arch Manning and Texas erupted for 21 fourth-quarter points to stun the previously top-ranked Buckeyes on the road.

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**Ryan Day's** squad still faces five ranked opponents: at No. 21 Iowa (Oct. 3), at No. 5 Indiana (Oct. 17), at No. 14 USC (Oct. 31), vs. No. 6 Oregon (Nov. 7), and vs. Michigan (Nov. 28).

Ohio State Must Beat Iowa to Salvage CFP Path — SkimNews

By CBS Sports · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-09-13

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Ohio State suffered its first loss as Arch Manning and Texas erupted for 21 fourth-quarter points to stun the previously top-ranked Buckeyes on the road.
Ryan Day's squad still faces five ranked opponents: at No. 21 Iowa (Oct. 3), at No. 5 Indiana (Oct. 17), at No. 14 USC (Oct. 31), vs. No. 6 Oregon (Nov. 7), and vs. Michigan (Nov. 28).
The article identifies Ohio State's clearest path to the playoff as an 11-1 finish — running the Big Ten table and winning the conference championship.
The writer's most likely scenario for the Buckeyes is 10-2, which would land Ohio State around the 8-seed range in the 12-team CFP bracket.
A 9-3 finish without a Big Ten Championship Game appearance is flagged as the danger scenario, since no three-loss team has made the CFP without appearing in a conference title game.
The piece singles out Ohio State's Oct. 3 trip to Kinnick Stadium as the season-defining game, stating there is no scenario in which a loss to Iowa still yields a playoff berth.
Ohio State sits at -145 to make the CFP, the sixth-best odds among all college football teams, per the article.

Why it matters: Ohio State is a -145 favorite to make the CFP (sixth-best odds nationally) and still controls its own path, but with five ranked opponents ahead and Big Ten play not yet started, that cushion is shrinking fast. The Oct. 3 Iowa game functions as Ohio State's de facto playoff quarterfinal — losing it forecloses every realistic path to the 12-team bracket laid out in the piece.