Not that it matters much, but it’s still a sense of pride and fun to talk about what the landscape of college football will look like next season. And yeah, I know we still have the biggest of games to go for this — the 2019 college football season, but we’re still looking ahead to next year because Ohio State’s season is over after a salty Fiesta Bowl.
So, let’s talk about next season shall we? Ohio State has a ton of guys coming back on an offense that was a top five unit in many categories last season. Justin Fields will be a year better behind an offensive line returning three All-Big Ten performers. The wide-receiver room lost three key players for the second-straight year, but the guys that are still around like Garrett Wilson and Chris Olave will combine with arguably the best wide-receiver class to ever walk through the tunnel in Columbus.
Defensively, the line will be young, but talented and deep once again. Linebackers Tuf Borland, Pete Werner, Baron Browning and others remain in the second level to make the front seven awfully appealing. New guys in the back-end of the defense will have to emerge after three starters moved on to the NFL, but the return of Shaun Wade gives the Ohio State coaching staff a key piece to build around.
Needless to say, that’s a lot of talent that should result in a ton of optimism for what the Buckeyes can accomplish next year. So much so, it’s entirely possible that Ohio State can enter the season ranked No. 1 in one of the polls.
Ohio State picked to make 2020 College Football Playoff by 247Sports https://t.co/5ykfHLB7PO
— Buckeyes Wire (@BuckeyesWire) January 8, 2020
The Alabama and Clemson narrative will be there. They both have a ton of talent with a reload at places in need, but you can’t put together too many teams beyond those two that’ll always be put up there until proven differently on a consistent basis.
In fact ‘Bama has to go through a quarterback competition after Tua Tagovailoa declared for the NFL Draft. LSU loses Heisman winner Joe Burrow, Oklahoma also loses Jalen Hurts under center, and the rest of the usual suspects have more holes than what’s going to be visible on the banks of the Olentangy.
The one team that Ohio State will likely be compared to evenly is Clemson. The Tigers might have the slight edge with the return of Trevor Lawrence and a returning young squad across the board, but we’ve already seen the Buckeyes outplay the Tigers and wind up just a wee-bit short because of some bad breaks and missed opportunities.
In an upcoming year in which there is a lot of turnover at the most important position on the football field, both Ohio State and Clemson have Heisman type guys back under center. It’ll likely be between the Buckeyes and Tigers for that preseason numero uno ranking.
Clemson likely gets the nod because of where the program is, but it’ll be a close one, and OSU will undoubtedly get a look at No. 1 by many pollsters.