Ohio State rolls past rival Michigan to take virtual title

By Gennaro Filice, SI.com

Here's how SI.com's playoff worked. Teams were seeded according to their final BCS ranking, with the six conference champions and the next two highest-ranked teams receiving bids. A maximum of two teams per conference were allowed. Your vote determined the winner of each round.

Virtual National Champion: Ohio State

Ohio State's Jim Tressel may be the best big-game coach in America. Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Even in our virtual playoff, Ohio State -- which came in on a 19-game winning streak -- proved to be unbeatable. Voters just simply couldn't bet against the big-game savvy of 2006 Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith and coach Jim Tressel.

The Buckeyes rolled through their first two rounds, stomping ACC champion Wake Forest and then comfortably beating red-hot LSU, which entered the playoff with a six-game winning streak.

In the final, Ohio State faced a familiar foe, Michigan, in a rematch of one of the year's most exciting games, and the Buckeyes downed their archrival with relative ease.

So it's official. Ohio State is the 2006 Virtual National Champion. Now let's see if the Buckeyes can win the real title with a win over Florida (which incidentally lost to Michigan our virtual semifinal) on Jan. 8.

CLICK BELOW FOR OFFICIAL RESULTS FROM THE FINAL