INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dwayne Haskins and Urban Meyer reveled in the victory celebration Saturday night.

Now the College Football Playoff selection committee gets to decide whether the Big Ten champions will continue dancing through the next six weeks.

Shortly after Haskins made his case to win the Heisman Trophy by throwing five more touchdown passes, the Buckeyes defense fended off a second half charge from No. 21 Northwestern and Meyer put his hands on a third conference championship trophy in five years as the conversation quickly turned to the more immediate fate of No. 6 Ohio State.

“This means representing the Big Ten Conference, arguably the best conference in college football, and the East Division, arguably the best division in college football,” Meyer said as the lobbying began after a 45-24 victory. “I think all you have to do is look is at the body of work. We went on the road and won some tough games — TCU, Penn State and Michigan State. The way we played against our rival (Michigan) and the way we played tonight, I think we deserve a shot.”

Three spots in the playoff appear to be locked up after No. 1 Alabama beat No. 4 Georgia in the SEC title game and Clemson claimed another ACC crown by routing Pittsburgh. Alabama, Clemson and Notre Dame are all unbeaten and are expected to claim the top three spots.

With No. 5 Oklahoma beating No. 9 Texas in the Big 12 title game, conventional wisdom suggests the Buckeyes (12-1, 9-1, No. 6 CFP) may come up short in their playoff quest.

One argument in favor of Ohio State: It is playing well.

The Buckeyes have won five straight overall, piling up 107 points in the last two games — against two stingy defenses.

Haskins was lights out again Saturday, finishing 34 of 41 with 499 yards and one interception and was an easy choice as the game’s MVP.

“We got a win, that’s all that matters,” Haskins said. “I could have thrown for 80 yards or 600 yards. All we needed to do was win the game.”

The Buckeyes started fast — scoring just 10 plays into the game when scrambled to avoid a sack and bought just enough time to hook up with Terry McLaurin for a 16-yard TD pass .

And after allowing John Moten IV to tie the score with a 77-yard TD run midway through the first quarter, Ohio State closed out the half with a flurry. J.K. Dobbins scored on a 2-yard run, Blake Haubeil made a 42-yard field goal and McLaurin caught a 42-yard TD pass from Haskins to give the Buckeyes a seemingly safe 24-7 halftime lead.

The Wildcats answered quickly in the second half.