Nice try. After the regular season they were the #4 ranked team by the CFP committee. you think if they would have beat #5 Michigan State in the Big 10 championship game they would have not made the playoffs?
https://collegefootballplayoff.com/rankings.aspx
No they wouldn't have, everybody had Ohio State going over them. It just so happened that Michigan State won and it didn't become an issue. One of the main criteria for the playoffs is the strength of schedule. Their ranking after the regular season is irrelevant, ask Baylor about that in 2014