The 11-game college football playoff begins Friday, Dec 19 when No. 9 Alabama takes on No. 8 Oklahoma and end with the national championship game on Monday, Jan 19. Every playoff game is an elimination game: The winner goes to the next round, and the loser goes home.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State football’s matchup with Indiana in the Big Ten Championship Game averaged 18.3 million viewers on Saturday, with the contest peaking at nearly 20 million viewers. It was the most-watched college football event during conference championship weekend, and it helped OSU achieve an impressive feat.

Amid a growing search, a $1.2 million coach has been identified as a name to watch for the Power Five job left by a former Pac-12 leader.

With Indiana beating Ohio State, they moved up to No. 1, while the Buckeyes dropped to No. 2. In addition, Virginia's loss moved Tulane up to the No. 11 seed, while James Madison earned the final automatic qualifier berth for a conference champion due to Duke being probably the worst power conference champion in the modern era of college football.

Conference championship weekend brought plenty of storylines. Teams completed their College Football Playoff resumes, and the Big Ten emerged as the big TV ratings winner of the weekend. An average of 18.

This year of the playoff is also unique in that it features two Group of Five programs. No. 11 Tulane secured its spot with a win in the American Conference Championship Game, while No. 12 James Madison benefitted from a Sun Belt title and the fact that a five-loss Duke team won the ACC.