Buckeyes near top of preseason Coaches Poll
COLUMBUS — The massive expectations were already placed on Ohio State, far before any pollster sat down to rank college football’s best teams.
But now that the first Coaches Poll of the year has been released, those lofty goals for the Buckeyes are confirmed. They’re expected to compete for a national title this fall.
The Buckeyes will begin the season as No. 2 in the Coaches Poll, trailing only defending national runners-up Alabama. Georgia, Clemson and Notre Dame rounded out the top five.
Ohio State received five first-place votes, showing that there are some coaches who think the Buckeyes are the team to beat in the college football world this fall.
The Big Ten has four teams ranked in the first AP Poll of the year, as Michigan (6), Michigan State (14) and Wisconsin (20) join the Buckeyes.
Being ranked this high is nothing new for Ryan Day and the Buckeyes.
“I think the thing that’s unique about Ohio State is every year, we’re expected to win the whole thing,” Day said at Big Ten Media Days. “And that’s part of the deal here. A lot of times you go 11-2 and Rose Bowl, you say it’s one heck of a season. Well, not around here. And we knew that going in, and and our goal is every year is to beat [Michigan], win the Big Ten championship and win the national championship. So we didn’t get those things last year. The expectations don’t change year in and year out at Ohio State. We all know that. So is it different this year? No.
“The team is different, though.”
Voters agree that those should be the goals for the Buckeyes. Ohio State will begin the season with high expectations and national-championship aspirations for yet another fall.
The full Coaches Top 25 can be found below.
Preseason Coaches Poll (Preseason)
1. Alabama
2. Ohio State
3. Georgia
4. Clemson
5. Notre Dame
6. Michigan
7. Texas A&M
8. Utah
9. Oklahoma
10. Baylor
11. Oklahoma State
12. Oregon
13. North Carolina State
14. Michigan State
15. USC
16. Pittsburgh
17. Miami
18. Texas
19. Wake Forest
20. Wisconsin
21. Kentucky
22. Cincinnati
23. Arkansas
24. Mississippi
25. Houston
