While Ohio State has fallen behind Michigan in the Big Ten in recent seasons, it is the favorite to reclaim the top spot in the conference this year.
In the college football preview magazines released this summer, the Buckeyes are picked to win the league, which is expanding next month to 18 members with the addition of four former Pac-12 schools.
The publications, which include the Athlon, Lindy’s and Phil Steele magazines, all cited the talent available for the Buckeyes after they retained most of their decorated upperclassmen and supplemented the roster with high-profile pickups out of the transfer portal.
“There’s no question the Buckeyes have one of the elite rosters in college football,” Athlon writes. “The returning players are hungry, the skill is awe-inspiring and even the coaching staff has been beefed up.”
The splashiest hire to the staff involved poaching Chip Kelly, a renowned offensive mind, from UCLA.
Kelly, who gave up a head-coaching job with the Bruins to become Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, reunited with Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, albeit in a different dynamic.
He once coached Day at New Hampshire from 1998-2001 and later hired him as his quarterbacks coach in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers.
“The Chip thing won’t be a nuisance or a problem at all,” an anonymous opposing Big Ten assistant told Athlon. “If you believe what Chip said, that he just wants to focus on ball and not worry with the administrative stuff, this is a fantastic hire for them.”
With Kelly as part of the staff, Day is also set to delegate his responsibilities as the primary play-caller for the first time since he was elevated to succeed Meyer at the helm of the program in 2019.
“The Buckeyes have had arguably the best offseason of any school in the nation,” Lindy’s writes. “And the timing is ideal for a program coming off three consecutive losses to Michigan and a dispiriting defeat to Missouri in the Cotton Bowl.”
The program seen as the biggest threat to Ohio State is not its archrival, which captured the national championship last season, but one of the Big Ten’s newcomers.
Oregon, one of the four newly arriving West Coast schools, was picked just behind the Buckeyes by Athlon and Lindy’s.
Phil Steele, though, had the teams in a tie in his power poll, noting the Ducks will host Ohio State in October and avoids Penn State as part of their conference schedule.
“Dan Lanning is doing a great job building a roster,” Steele writes, “and they have talent that is very comparable to Ohio State, they just do not have the hype.”
Most noted that Michigan could see a step back after Jim Harbaugh returned to the NFL and 13 players were drafted, an all-time high for the Wolverines, leaving some holes on the roster.
Here are the magazines’ predictions for the Big Ten in its first year as a division-less superconference.
Athlon
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Michigan
4. Penn State
5. Southern California
6. Iowa
7. Nebraska
8. Wisconsin
9. Rutgers
10. Washington
11. Maryland
12. Minnesota
13. Michigan State
14. UCLA
15. Illinois
16. Northwestern
17. Indiana
18. Purdue
Lindy’s
1. Ohio State
2. Oregon
3. Michigan
4. Penn State
5. Southern California
6. Iowa
7. Wisconsin
8. Nebraska
9. Washington
10. Rutgers
11. Maryland
12. Michigan State
13. Northwestern
14. UCLA
15. Minnesota
16. Purdue
17. Illinois
18. Indiana
Phil Steele
1. Ohio State
1. Oregon
3. Penn State
4. Michigan
5. Iowa
6. Southern California
7. Nebraska
8. Rutgers
9. Wisconsin
10. Maryland
11. Washington
12. Indiana
13. Illinois
14. UCLA
15. Minnesota
16. Northwestern
17. Purdue
17. Michigan State
Joey Kaufman covers Ohio State football for The Columbus Dispatch and can be reached at jkaufman@dispatch.com.
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Publish date : 2024-07-16 06:05:14
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