We can already figure out where Ohio State will travel in the Playoff

We are a week away from selection Sunday, we don't yet know who will win the Big Ten, and we can already be pretty sure where the Ohio State Buckeyes will play their first two College Football Playoff games (assuming they get that far). And, perhaps more importantly, we know somewhere the Buckeyes won't be for their quarterfinal game.

The Buckeyes will be getting a first-round bye in the Playoff. That is guaranteed. Don't try buying tickets for a first-round home Playoff game like last year, because the Buckeyes won't be playing in one. Ohio State and Indiana will likely be the top two seeds in the Playoff regardless of the results this coming Saturday. Maybe the loser of the Big Ten Championship Game falls behind Georgia if it wins the SEC Championship Game, but there's no difference in scheduling between the No. 2 and No. 3 seed anyway, so that's moot.

The four quarterfinal games this year are the Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Cotton Bowls. The Big Ten champion will get the Rose Bowl. So, if Ohio State wins on Saturday, they will be the No. 1 seed in the Playoff and be playing in Pasadena. But what if Indiana wins? Where does Ohio State head then?

We can't be positive. We do know, however, that it won't be the Sugar Bowl. The top SEC team will be going to the Sugar Bowl, so a top four seed from the Big Ten won't. The Orange Bowl has a contract with the ACC champion if it's a top four seed. The ACC champion will not be a top four seed this year, so Ohio State could go there as the No. 2 or No. 3 seed. The Cotton Bowl has no conference affiliation, though it does seem to have a preference for the Big 12. So if Texas Tech is the No. 3 or No. 4 seed, it would probably get the Cotton Bowl, locking Ohio State into the Orange Bowl. If Texas Tech isn't a top four seed, then it's a coin flip whether the Buckeyes get the Orange or Cotton Bowl.

So, to recap the quarterfinal possibilities for the Buckeyes:

1. Ohio State wins Big Ten: Rose Bowl

2. Indiana wins Big Ten and Texas Tech wins Big 12: Likely Orange Bowl

3. Indiana wins Big Ten and BYU wins Big 12: Orange or Cotton Bowl

Semifinal Possibilities

We can also figure out where the Buckeyes will be going for their Playoff semifinal game, assuming they win their quarterfinal (they'll be heavy favorites). The two semifinal options are the Peach Bowl (Atlanta, GA) and the Fiesta Bowl (Tempe, AZ). And since we know that the No. 1 seed gets priority in the semifinal locations, we can already figure out where the Big Ten champion will be going.

Both Ohio State and Indiana are about 1,500 miles from Tempe and about 500 miles from Atlanta. Basically, which team gets the Rose Bowl quarterfinal will be looking at the Peach Bowl semifinal. However, there's a catch. If Alabama wins the SEC Championship Game and BYU wins the Big 12 Championship Game, then the likely No. 3 seed is Texas A&M and the likely No. 4 seed is either Ole Miss or Georgia. If Georgia comes out of that SEC trio as the No. 4 seed, then the No. 1 seed won't be sent to Atlanta for a de facto road game against Georgia. In that case, the Big Ten champion will be hosting the Fiesta Bowl.

So, to recap Ohio State's semifinal possibilities:

1. Ohio State wins Big Ten: Peach Bowl

2. Ohio State wins Big Ten, Alabama wins SEC, BYU wins Big 12: Still probably Peach Bowl, but Fiesta Bowl if Georgia is No. 4 seed

3. Indiana wins Big Ten: Fiesta Bowl

4. Indiana wins Big Ten, Alabama wins SEC, BYU wins Big 12: Still probably Fiesta Bowl, but Peach Bowl if Georgia is No. 4 seed

The point of all of this is that Buckeye fans can start looking at travel plans and tickets as soon as the games go final this weekend, because we already pretty much know where the Buckeyes will be playing all postseason--especially if Ohio State wins the Big Ten Championship Game.

This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: We can figure out where Ohio State will be playing in the Playoff