BuckBackHome said:

Are we expecting Oregon to win the natty this next season? We have to keep the BigTen trend going.

Also, was the game as close as the score reflected? I did not watch and most likely won't. I am wondering if it was close or was it like OSU's game against Notre Shame last year where I was never worried about the outcome.

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We are expecting the buckeyes to win the natty next season.

The game wasn’t close in the 1st half. The second half was Indiana being unable to pull away and Miami constantly in the ball with the chance to take the lead but then stepping on their own foot. Indiana was the better team, but not by a huge margin. Miami’s D line kept them in it, IU was better at every other spot.

NJ-Buckeye said:

You don't even wanna talk about prop taxes to a Jersey dude.. WE SUCK

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feels like a measuring contest at the AVN Awards (or whatever its called) ... state to state yeah on average because Texas is fucking huge but city to city... we might be within a fraction of an inc.... I mean a couple 10ths of a percent

This has been updated after the final polls for the 2025 season.

OK, here's how this was calculated. I took each team's ranking in every year-end poll since the AP started in 1936. Once 2 polls were involved (the Coaches Poll started in 1950), I always used the higher ranking. Sliding scale points were awarded for every year that a team ended up ranked, and 10 points were deducted for each losing season. The scale was determined before seeing where teams ended up.

For each year since 1936, a team earns points based on these criteria:

NC (#1) in either poll = 100 points
02 -> 05 = 65, 55, 50, 45 points, respectively
06 -> 10 = 40, 37, 34, 32, 30 points
11 -> 20 = 28, 26, 24, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12, 10 points
21 -> 25 = 08, 06, 04, 03, 02 points
non-ranked, but .500 or above = 0 points
losing record for the year = minus 10 points

Here are the all-time totals, updated after the 2025 final polls:

01. 3137 - Alabama
02. 3036 - Ohio State
03. 2818 - Oklahoma
04. 2651 - Notre Dame
05. 2287 - Michigan
06. 2123 - USC
07. 1937 - Texas
08. 1705 - Penn State
09. 1639 - Georgia (jumped Nebraska)
10. 1630 - Nebraska
11. 1555 - Tennessee
12. 1439 - LSU
13. 1379 - Florida State (-10 for losing record in 2025)
14. 1272 - Miami
15. 1175 - Florida (-10 for losing record in 2025)
16. 1113 - Auburn (-10 for losing record in 2025)
17. 1013 - Clemson
18. 0847 - Michigan State (-10 for losing record in 2025)
19. 0842 - UCLA (-10 for losing record in 2025)
20. 0744 - Washington
21. 0690 - Arkansas (-10 for losing record in 2025)
22. 0612 - Ole Miss
23. 0579 - Texas A&M
24. 0525 - Georgia Tech
25. 0489 - Wisconsin (-10 for losing record in 2025)
26. 0443 - Oregon
27. 0409 - Pittsburgh

Other schools: Iowa (377), Minnesota (341), Boise St (312), Colorado (285), Army (267), BYU (263), Syracuse (257), Stanford (215), Va Tech (198), West Va (156), Oklahoma St (37), Purdue (05), and Illinois (-77).

Since 2007, I have created separate ratings by adding National Championship credit for those earned prior to 1936, on a sliding scale based on 12-year periods.

1869-1899 - 10 points for each MNC (no top teams here, almost all Ivy League)
1900-1911 - 25 points for each MNC
1912-1923 - 50 points for each MNC
1924-1935 - 75 points for each MNC

Here are the all-time totals, updated with the pre-1936 MNC points:

01. 3412 - Alabama (MNCs in '25, '26, '34, 2/3 for '30 = 275)
02. 3036 - Ohio State
03. 2876 - Notre Dame (MNCs in '24, '29, '30 = 225)
04. 2818 - Oklahoma
05. 2462 - Michigan (MNCs in '01, '02, '23, '33 = 175)
06. 2323 - USC (MNCs in '31, '32, 2/3 for '28 = 200)
07. 1937 - Texas
08. 1705 - Penn State
09. 1639 - Georgia
10. 1630 - Nebraska
11. 1555 - Tennessee
12. 1439 - LSU
13. 1379 - Florida State
14. 1272 - Miami
15. 1175 - Florida
16. 1113 - Auburn
17. 1013 - Clemson
18. 0847 - Michigan State
19. 0842 - UCLA
20. 0744 - Washington
21. 0690 - Arkansas
22. 0650 - Georgia Tech (MNCs in '17, '28 = 125)
23. 0629 - Texas A&M (MNC in '19 = 50)
24. 0612 - Ole Miss
25. 0534 - Pittsburgh (MNCs in '10, '16, '18 = 125)
26. 0491 - Minnesota (MNCs in '34, '35 = 150)
27. 0489 - Wisconsin
28. 0443 - Oregon
29. 0377 - Iowa
30. 0367 - Army (MNCs in '14, '16 = 100)
31. 0312 - Boise State
32. 0290 - Stanford (MNC in ‘26 = 75)
33. 0285 - Colorado
34. 0263 - BYU
35. 0257 - Syracuse
36. 0198 - Virginia Tech

Note - USC and Bama received 50 points, rather than 75, for disputed titles in '28 and '30, respectively

Note - Illinois, with MNCs in '14, '23, and '27 fails to make the top 35.

Fungo Squiggly said:

If they even made it to OT. Indiana was so fucking clutch this year -- I bet they would have gotten a GW fg in regulation. They just got it done every damn time.

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Couldn’t agree more. Time and time again they just kept coming up big.

We should’ve beat Indiana but that’s because we should’ve scored touchdowns not field goals, missed field goals, and failed 4th down attempts.

Not a poll. Just ESPiN's take on rankings.

I know nothing about Northwestern’s team this year, so I wouldn’t read too much into this. Penn State rolled 51-0 with two falls, a forfeit, two majors, and five tech falls.

174: #1 Levi Haines PSU tech fall #32 Eddie Enright NU, 19-4 (TF; 6:48) 5-0

184: #4 Rocco Welsh PSU tech fall J.D. Perez NU, 22-7 (TF; 5:27) 10-0

197: #1 Josh Barr PSU pinned Alex Smith NU, WBF (1:50) 16-0

285: #13 Cole Mirasola PSU tech fall Gabe Christenson NU, 19-4 (TF; 2:47) 21-0

125: #2 Luke Lilledahl PSU tech fall #26 Dedrick Navarro NU, 20-5 (TF; 7:00) 26-0

133: #4 Marcus Blaze PSU maj. dec. #24 Sean Spidle NU, 15-4 30-0

141: #7 Braeden Davis PSU maj. dec. #32 Billy Dekraker NU, 9-0 34-0

149: #1 Shayne Van Ness PSU tech fall August Hibler, 18-3 (TF; 7:00) 39-0

157: #3 PJ Duke PSU pinned Gunnr Myers NU, WBF (2:42) 45-0

165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink PSU win by forfeit 51-0

There aren’t many surprises here. I’m not sure which ranking system they are using either.

Here are the results of the match with Iowa from Friday too. Penn State gave up two takedowns total.

125: #2 Luke Lilledahl PSU dec. #6 Dean Peterson IA, 11-5 3-0

133: #4 Marcus Blaze PSU dec. #8 Drake Ayala IA, 4-2 6-0

141: #11 Nassir Bailey IA dec. #7 Braeden Davis PSU, 3-2 6-3

149: #1 Shayne Van Ness PSU maj. dec. #17 Ryder Block IA, 13-4 10-3

157: #3 PJ Duke PSU dec. #12 Jordan Williams IA, 4-2 13-3

165: #1 Mitchell Mesenbrink PSU maj. dec. #3 Michael Caliendo IA, 11-2 17-3

174: #1 Levi Haines PSU dec. Gabe Arnold IA, 4-2 20-3

184: #4 Rocco Welsh PSU dec. #1 Angelo Ferrari IA, 2-1 (TB) 23-3

197: #1 Josh Barr PSU pinned Brody Sampson IA, WBF (3:42) 29-3

285: #13 Cole Mirasola PSU dec. #5 Ben Kueter IA, 4-3 32-3

I took the results from Penn State’s team website.

ESPiN has Indiana as Number 1 for this coming season. Makes sense since they ended the year there although Miami comes in at 8.

Fuck a Hoosier.

Are we expecting Oregon to win the natty this next season? We have to keep the BigTen trend going.

Also, was the game as close as the score reflected? I did not watch and most likely won't. I am wondering if it was close or was it like OSU's game against Notre Shame last year where I was never worried about the outcome.

OHSportsFan said:

He’s the biggest dweeb. I say this kindly but probably a touch of the ‘tism too. Just a pure goofball.

I see 0 percent chance of his success in the NFL. But he’ll go down as a legend in college football.

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Remember the Tebow girl and her absolutely massive rack.
Fernando has a GF that is the closest we've seen to those measurements.

Something about dorky ass quarterbacks landing girls with busts that would tilt the earth off its axis.

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College football Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2026 season​

With the 2025 college football season now in the rearview mirror, it’s time to turn our attention to what comes next: 2026.

There’s no better way to do that than by diving into the sport’s annual tradition of “way-too-early” top 25 rankings and national championship odds. So that’s exactly what we’re doing here. In this article, we examine where Ohio State lands in early 2026 top 25 projections from several major college football outlets and how the Buckeyes stack up against the rest of the country heading into the new season.
Let’s dive in.

CBS Sports: No. 1​

The nation's most accurate passer, Julian Sayin, and the best player in the sport, Jeremiah Smith, return to Ohio State. That's enough to garner consideration for a top-five ranking. The Buckeyes should still have one of the more talented rosters in college football. The big question is how the defense reloads under coordinator Matt Patricia, who has already proven himself elite, having led a rebuild in his first season and turning the Buckeyes into a better version of themselves. Eight defenders arrive from a top-five portal class

On3: No. 1​

Having the top pass-catch combo in college football is always a good place to start. Julian Sayin returns at quarterback and Jeremiah Smith at receiver. They hooked up for 12 touchdowns in 2015. Running back Bo Jackson, after rushing for 1,090 yards and earning true freshman All-America honors, is also returning, along with the left side of the offensive line and center Carson Hinzman. The Buckeyes lost a ton on defense, so bringing back defensive end Kenyatta Jackson after his breakout 2025 season was a big win for Ryan Day. The Buckeyes are hopeful Alabama transfer Qua Russaw can add some pass-rushing punch.

Sports Illustrated: No. 1​

The Buckeyes lose a number of key players off of the best scoring defense in the country (Caleb Downs, Arvell Reese) but restocked through the portal and have the best core group of offensive players back for another season in QB Julian Sayin, RB Bo Jackson and, of course, wideout Jeremiah Smith. Ohio State travels to Texas in Week 2 to go along with tricky trips to Indiana, Iowa and USC, but host Michigan and Oregon at the Horseshoe. Given that the Buckeyes are riding a two-game losing streak, Ryan Day’s team figures to be well motivated for another College Football Playoff run with the end goal of reaching fabulous Las Vegas.

Fox Sports: No. 2​

The Buckeyes lost more than three dozen players to the NFL Draft or transfer portal, but Ryan Day’s program returns starting quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. While Day lost offensive coordinator and receivers coach Brian Hartline, now the South Florida coach, he retains defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who led the nation’s top scoring defense in 2025

USA TODAY: No. 2​

The Buckeyes are the preseason Big Ten favorites thanks to an offense that brings back some of the nation’s top players in quarterback Julian Sayin and wide receiver Jeremiah Smith. This group has yet to hire a new coordinator but is expected to operate at a a higher pace than this year's offense. Key portal additions such as safeties Terry Moore (Duke) and Earl Little Jr. (Florida State) and cornerback Dominick Kelly (Georgia) will keep the defense near the top of the FBS. OSU will face one of the nation’s top schedules that include road games against Texas, Indiana, Iowa and Southern California, but the schedule could make it better prepared for the playoff after getting bounced in this year's quarterfinals

ESPN: No. 6​

On paper, with quarterback Julian Sayin, tailback Bo Jackson and all-world receiver Jeremiah Smith returning, one would think the Buckeyes would be just as good in 2026. But along with having to replace key pieces on defense, Ohio State will face one of the most demanding schedules in the FBS next season. The Buckeyes will play road games at Texas, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and USC and home contests against Illinois, Michigan and Oregon. It doesn't get much tougher than that. That being said, OSU's offense is going to be difficult to stop, especially if its offensive line improves. Coach Ryan Day still hasn't named a replacement for coordinator Brian Hartline, who left to become South Florida's coach. Defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has some plug-and-play transfers in Little, Moore, Russaw and Smith.

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Just sayin': Quite a testament to DC Matt Patricia.

Onebuckfan said:

The status quo sucked. Taking advantage of athletes and using the hammer to control them. Now the athletes have the hammer and it’s entertaining to me. Go to a Wittenberg or Capital game if you want “College Football “ and student athletes win one for old Alma mater.

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It's not black and white. The solution to the status quo was somewhere between same old and anarchy.

I have nothing against toney or reed, and kudos for Ed for carrying the youngster. That said, it needs posted

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