It’s another national title or bust kind of season for Ohio State football. All the college football preseason preview magazines see at least a final four appearance in Columbus, with two of the three calling a national championship game appearance. Perhaps Lindy’s says it best: “It’s Ohio State. As ever, the Buckeyes have the best talent in the league.”
Athlon also sees Ohio State football winning the B1G East, ranking the team 2nd nationally. The magazine projects them to finish 12-1 overall, 8-1 in the league and to play Alabama for the national championship.
Street & Smith’s projects the same exact match-up, with the Crimson Tide beating the Buckeyes. S&S has OSU ranked 2nd nationally and winning the East Division.
Athlon has the Tide rolling as well, with Bama being their predicted team to finish #1. Lindy’s has the Bucks playing USC in the Rose Bowl/College Football Playoff national semifinal, but they have the Trojans fighting on to the national title game. Lindy’s also projects Ohio State football to win the B1G East, and ranks them third nationally.
Of course, the Buckeyes probably won’t get even that far unless they can triumph in Ann Arbor, as Michigan hosts the Buckeyes to conclude the season November 25th.
Most likely, the Bucks’ national title hopes will hang in the balance once again in The Game. That is provided Ohio St. takes care of business at home versus Penn State on October 28th, and doesn’t avoid any upsets along the way.
Ohio State football has become the Kentucky Wildcats of the gridiron– a class of 5-star prospects enter the program every year while another class of blue chips leaves school early for the professional ranks.
In both Lexington and Columbus, it’s “succeed and proceed,” “plug n play,” “rinse and repeat” each season.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, currently contributes to WGN CLTV and KOZN.
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