What does Ohio State’s loss to Oregon mean for their College Football Playoff hopes?

We all knew No. 2 Ohio State v. No. 3 Oregon would be a great game but I don't think any of us expected the Buckeyes to blow a perfectly good shot to win the game in walk-off fashion.

With less than 30 seconds remaining, Ohio State took a costly offensive pass interference penalty which backed them up 15 yards and outside of field goal range. Keep in mind, the Buckeyes were down just 32-31.

After the penalty yardage was assessed, the clock resumed winding down unbeknownst to quarterback Will Howard who had to speed up the snap count and throw the ball out of bounds on the subsequent broken play. Just 10 seconds remained at that point.

In that situation, Ohio State probably had at least two quick pass plays in its back pocket to try and gain another 10 to 15 yards and give their kicker a shot at the walk-off winner. But Howard decided to keep the ball and run up field, deciding to slide with just a second remaining and failing to get the team's final timeout called before the clock hit triple-zeroes.

So, what does this loss mean for Ohio State's CFP hopes?

For starters, the Buckeyes will certainly fall out of their No. 2 perch but maybe not as far as some may think. Losing to the No. 3 team in the nation (even in stupid fashion) by just a single point on the road should buy Ohio State a little grace with the AP voters. I'd expect them to fall no father than No. 6 on Sunday.

However, they're path to securing the Big Ten title and a playoff auto-bid just narrowed substantially. Now, Oregon and No. 4 Penn State and No. 18 Indiana sit ahead of them with undefeated records (not to mention the Ducks hold the tie-breaker) and any further stumbles would virtually relegate Ohio State to the bubble.

Ohio State's remaining schedule includes bouts with Penn State (Nov. 2), Indiana (Nov. 23) and No. 24 Michigan (Nov. 30). So, there's ample opportunity to prove it's still a playoff squad and clinch a Big Ten championship game spot.

But there's also several places the Buckeyes could slip up yet again and prolong their playoff-less streak to a second straight season (I'm staring right at the Indiana game for starters).

The Buckeyes aren't eliminated yet, not by a long shot, but being such a heavyweight to begin with means the thin ice they're standing on becomes that much more brittle as the weeks go on.