Phil Steele picks Buckeyes to finish second in Big Ten

COLUMBUS — Ohio State hasn’t won the Big Ten since the COVID-19 season of 2020. According to one college football prognosticator, the Buckeyes will be waiting yet another year to win the league.

Ohio State is not the favorite to win the Big Ten, at least according to Phil Steele of Phil Steele’s College Football Preview Magazine. He’s picking the Penn State Nittany Lions to win the league over the Buckeyes.

Of course, he has Ohio State finishing second in the Big Ten this upcoming season, ahead of Steele’s third team, Michigan. Oregon and Indiana round out his top five teams in the Big Ten.

Here’s what Steele had to say about Ohio State:

“Despite dropping from No. 47 to No. 105 on my Experience Chart, Ohio State could be favored in all 12 regular season games,” Steele wrote. “They’ve got Penn State and Texas at home and are a threat to repeat as National Champions.”

Penn State hasn’t won the Big Ten since 2016 but has its best team in years, especially considering the Nittany Lions return star quarterback Drew Allar along with a pair of top-tier running backs and a powerful offensive line. They’ll visit the Horseshoe for a showdown against the Buckeyes on Nov. 1. Ohio State has won eight straight over Penn State — every matchup since that 2016 game in which Penn State upset the Buckeyes in Happy Valley.

Steele has the Buckeyes ranked as his No. 5 overall team in college football this upcoming season after they won the national championship last year. He has Penn State at No. 1 overall in his preseason poll. He has Michigan as preseason No. 12, Oregon at preseason No. 13 and Indiana at preseason No. 16.

Steele’s full rankings of the Big Ten can be found below.

1. Penn State
2. Ohio State
3. Michigan
4. Oregon
5. Indiana
6. Illinois
7. USC
8. Iowa
9. Wisconsin
10. Nebraska
11. Washington
12. Rutgers
13. Minnesota
14. UCLA
15. Michigan State
16. Northwestern
17. Maryland
18. Purdue