COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State continues to do what it’s supposed to be doing and it’s time it gets rewarded for doing so.
The Buckeyes are 5-0 with an average win margin of 39.2 and the only team to score more than even points was Marshall in an eventual 49-14 win. Their offense has been explosive in the passing game and run game on its way to 7.66 yards per play, sixth-best nationally. Despite us nitpicking their defense, they’re only allowing a nation’s best 3.61 yards per play.
As OSU heads into its most talent-equated game of the season, it should do so having earned the right to be regarded as the nation’s top team because they spent the first half of the season putting up the numbers to justify it.
Here’s al look at my AP ballot after Week 6
| Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| No. 1 | Ohio State | 5-0 |
| No. 2 | Texas | 5-0 |
| No. 3 | Penn State | 5-0 |
| No. 4 | Oregon | 5-0 |
| No. 5 | Georgia | 4-1 |
| No. 6 | Iowa State | 5-0 |
| No. 7 | Indiana | 6-0 |
| No. 8 | Notre Dame | 4-1 |
| No. 9 | Clemson | 4-1 |
| No. 10 | BYU | 5-0 |
| No. 11 | Miami | 6-0 |
| No. 12 | Tennessee | 4-1 |
| No. 13 | Alabama | 4-1 |
| No. 14 | Boise State | 4-1 |
| No. 15 | Pittsburgh | 4-1 |
| No. 16 | Kansas State | 4-1 |
| No. 17 | Texas A&M | 5-1 |
| No. 18 | Oklahoma | 4-1 |
| No. 19 | Ole Miss | 5-1 |
| No. 20 | Missouri | 4-1 |
| No. 21 | LSU | 4-1 |
| No. 22 | Illinois | 4-1 |
| No. 23 | Syracuse | 4-1 |
| No. 24 | Army | 5-0 |
| No. 25 | Michigan | 4-2 |
Making a statement
Shutting out a conference opponent has to mean something. Sure it was an Iowa team who just found out what competent offense was a few weeks ago, but still. It matters. It especially matters in a world where Alabama fell victim to the ‘Win a big game only to drop a bad one a week later’ concept.
That Texas win over Michigan was already losing shine before the Wolverines lost to Washington. Now it’s meaningless to the bigger picture.
It’s easy to nitpick Ohio State right now. But a week from now that nitpicking will either be validated or quieted. In the meantime, we must acknowledge when a team is doing what we thought it’d do. You can’t spend all offseason talking about the Buckeyes like they’re a super team, then not reward them when they act like one.
The SEC crumbles
Three of the nation’s top nine teams lost on Saturday and all three were from the SEC. To be fair, if we expand this to 11 we’re including Michigan and USC in this as well. But most of us were expecting them to take a second loss anyway eventually. Them being ranked that high were more because they were placeholders until someone else came along.
But the other three were at the bare minimum College Football Playoff contenders.
Alabama just knocked off Georgia seven days ago. Tennesee’s early win over Oklahoma felt like a statement. Missouri was gradually moving along the way a team that closed out 2023 the way it did should. Then Saturday happened.
The Crimson Tide are still in this race and probably just had a bad day. OSU knows that feeling all too well when the 2015, 2017 and 2018 ended with it being on the outside looking in at a four-team playoff. That’s the beauty of expansion. Dreams don’t die with one loss anymore.
Tennessee is probably in the same boat, but a second loss is an easy find on its schedule. Missouri seems closer to Ole Miss than the top of the conference as a team proven to be fraudulent.
Either way, the who ‘SEC is so much better than everyone else’ narrative needs to die after Saturday. Sure, they have quality teams. But they also have middle-of-the-road and bad teams just like everyone else. And the Big Ten’s quality teams aren’t losing conference games to the teams in those other two categories.