The arrival of the early signing period Wednesday offered a stark reminder for college football fans. If recruiting rankings offer any accurate gauge in the era of the transfer portal, those teams competing for College Football Playoff berths now should keep contending for years to come.

We’ve reached our final midweek College Football Playoff rankings for 2024, and it’s tough to be an Ohio State Buckeye this time out. After holding onto the second spot for a number of weeks, Ohio State fell to the sixth spot in the final rankings before Sunday’s final decisions from the College Football Playoff selection committee.