Category: Buckeyes Wire

Ohio State with even better odds in FiveThirtyEight’s College Football Playoff Predictions

Movin’ on up! You have to think that Ohio State likely controls its own destiny in the College Football Playoff race.

The Ohio State football team continues to improve and impress. Many are taking a wait-and-see approach until the Buckeyes play a ranked team through this recent run, but it’s hard to look at the team’s performance and not see that the offense is playing at a highly skilled level and the defense improving.

With the dynamic of this team changing, some of the national media and metrics are starting to take notice. One of those metrics is FiveThirtyEight’s College Football Playoff Predictions that were recently updated after last week’s slate of games.

Ohio State had been behind Cincinnati and Michigan recently when it comes to its chances of getting into the final four teams, but after Week 8, OSU has now vaulted ahead of both and now has the fourth-best odds of making the playoff at 36 percent. The three teams ahead of the Buckeyes are Georgia (72%), Alabama (52%), and Oklahoma (45%). Rounding out the top ten are Cincinnati (33%), Michigan (25%), Pittsburgh (21%), Oregon (20%), Iowa (13%), and Michigan State (12%).

These will change weekly, so stay with us as we follow what FiveThirtyEight says after each victory Ohio State can pile up. If these projections are right, it appears as though OSU may control its own destiny at this point in a loaded Big Ten. In fact, if you want to have a little fun and play with the model a bit, having the Bucks win out gives them a 98 percent chance at the CFP.

Of course, time will tell.

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Surprise! Ohio State now tops an important ESPN metric

Who knew? How much do you trust these ratings? #GoBucks

There’s no denying the fact that the Ohio State football team has looked light years better than what we saw during the first couple weeks of the season, and it looks like ESPN’s SP+ Rankings agree. To be fair, even with the loss to the Ducks, the Buckeyes never really fell that far in the special sauce formula the ratings are calculated upon, but now after last week, OSU is on top, just ahead of Georgia, largely because of an improved defense and an offense that no other team comes close to.

It’s important now to take this time to tell you what the SP+ rankings are all about. According to ESPN, the rankings are “a tempo and opponent adjusted measure of college football efficiency, and intended to be predictive and forward-facing.”

What does all of that mean? Basically, it projects a teams performance based on factors like teams’ and their opponents’ performance to date in combination with returning players, etc. That’s the best that we can describe it for you without getting out a protractor, compass, and computer.

But back to the rankings. After last week’s performance, Ohio State rating is 28.5, just ahead of Georgia who has a rating of 27.9. Rounding out the top ten is Alabama (25.5), Clemson (21.6), Florida (20.9), Wisconsin (20.5), Michigan (19.6), Texas A&M (18.4), Pittsburgh (17.8), and Penn State (17.3).

We’ll state the obvious here and point out that clearly the SP+ rankings aren’t perfect. I mean, there’s no way Clemson should be anywhere near the top, let alone in the top 25. And yeah, having Wisconsin, Penn State, and Florida in there is also suspect.

Still, we can at least thump our chests a little bit that OSU is on top of one set of rankings, albeit an imperfect equation nobody really understands except the guy that created them. Right?

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C.J. Stroud takes home another Big Ten Freshman of the Week award

It’s getting rather ridiculous … five times now! Stroud is playing at a high level.

At this rate, they might as well just rename the Big Ten Freshman of the Week award after Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud. For the fifth time this season, the redshirt freshman was honored as the conference’s football Freshman of the Week, and he did it with precision and efficiency against Indiana.

Because of the game getting out of hand, Stroud was allowed to rest midway through the third quarter, sitting out the fourth as well, but while he was pulling the strings of the OSU offense, he puppeteered a masterpiece, completing 21 of 28 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns. He did not throw an interception for the fourth straight game.

If you’re an Ohio State football fan and you want even more reason to thump your chest, a Buckeye has been named the Freshman of the Week each and every time OSU has played a game this season. In addition to Stroud being a five-time winner, TreVeyon Henderson and Kyle McCord earned the honor on Sept. 20 and Sept. 27. Former Buckeye quarterback J.T. Barrett has the record for the most Freshman of the Week honors with seven.

Ohio State and Stroud now focus their attention on hosting a ranked Penn State team this Saturday night.

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Buckeyes in the NFL: Notable former Ohio State football player Week 7 NFL offensive performances

Which former Ohio State #Buckeyes had the biggest offensive performance?

The Ohio State Buckeyes just completed another impressive week where they dominated the Indiana Hoosiers on primetime in Bloomington, Indiana to the tune of 54-7. This team has clearly hit its stride and the Indiana victory may not be the most impressive resume builder, but the fashion in which the beatdown occurred strengthens the Ohio State playoff argument.

Let’s move on from the Saturday college football talk and follow-up with how some former Buckeyes competed for their NFL teams in week seven. As we do every week, we provide a brief breakdown of how most of the notable former Buckeyes are playing and we will dive into the offensive side of the ball first!

Ohio State remains No. 5 in latest AP Poll

Ohio State stays at the same spot in the latest AP Top 25 poll…

We’ve got both of them major polls now out and Ohio State hasn’t moved a spot in either one despite continuing its dominant play. The Buckeyes absolutely shredded the Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday 54-7 but remain No. 5 in not only the USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, but also the newly released Associated Press Poll.

The four teams ahead of Ohio State are Georgia (1), Cincinnati (2), Alabama (3), and Oklahoma (4). Rounding out the top ten below the Buckeyes are Michigan (6), Oregon (7), Michigan State (8), Iowa (9), and Ole Miss (10).

OSU will next take on Penn State in another nighttime affair this coming Saturday.

NEXT … The rest of the AP Top 25

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Ohio State makes big move in Kirk Herbstreit’s top 4

Herbie is clearly impressed with his alma mater and it shows in his weekly rankings. #GoBucks

We’ve played eight weeks of college football and at this point in the season, Kirk Herbstreit really likes what he is seeing from Ohio State. Herbie likes what the Buckeyes are doing so much that he moved them all the way up from his first two out to No. 2 in his weekly opinion poll.

Some of his logic may come from the fact that Alabama, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma all looked mortal on Saturday, while the Bucks took care of business with a 47 point victory in Bloomington.

Say what you want, but Ohio State is doing exactly what it’s supposed to be doing against lesser opponents.  This is a totally different team from the one we saw in the opening weeks of the season and the talking heads are starting to take notice.

Ohio State will welcome Penn State to Columbus this week for a night game. Penn State taking a loss to Illinois doesn’t help the Bucks, but it always seems to be a dog fight when these two meet on the gridiron.

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Ohio State continues to impress, yet makes no movement in latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Ohio State moved up again in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll.

The Ohio State football team continues to show the nation that it is a much different team than the one that lost to Oregon in Week 2. After five straight impressive outings, the Buckeyes have moved up in the public perception court of opinion, yet couldn’t gain any real ground in the latest USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll, remaining at No. 5.

The offense has looked nearly unstoppable and it played the part again vs. Indiana Saturday night, doing almost anything it wanted en route to a 44-7 halftime lead. OSU then put it on cruise control for a 54-7 blowout victory.

With some more upsets in the top ten, things have shuffled again, however. Georgia, Cincinnati, Alabama, and Oklahoma appear ahead of the Buckeyes still, and Michigan, Michigan State, Oregon, Ole Miss, and Iowa round out the top 10.

NEXT … Complete USA TODAY Sports AFCA Coaches Poll

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

Updated ESPN Ohio State football game-by-game remaining schedule prediction

We update what the ESPN FPI says about Ohio State’s chances of winning each remaining game on the schedule. You’re gonna love it.

The Ohio State football team took care of business in extremely impressive fashion yet again on Saturday night against Indiana 54-7. It was the continuation of a team squad that continues to get better and is a much-improved version of what we saw in a Week 2 loss to Oregon weeks ago.

But the schedule is back-loaded with games against Big Ten East foes Penn State, Michigan State, and Michigan coming in the next few weeks, so it would be prudent to tread lightly and continue to keep the foot on the proverbial gas pedal when it comes to preparation and focus.

Each week, we follow what the ESPN FPI (Football Power Index) has to say about the percentage probability of Ohio State winning its remaining games, and as the Buckeyes have looked more explosive on offense and more sound on defense, those percentages continue to change for the better. Add to it the flaws that we’ve begun to see with some of the teams in the Big Ten — and well, it’s beginning to look like the Big Ten title might run through Columbus yet again.

Here’s a look at the updated ESPN FPI game-by-game win probabilities for all the games on Ohio State’s schedule from here on out.

Joel Klatt showing some Ohio State love in latest top 10

Joel Klatt is lovin’ him some Buckeyes in his latest weekly top 10. #GoBucks

As he does each week, Joel Klatt gives the college football world his opinion of who the top 10 teams are in the country. Of course, his opinions are just that and regardless of what anyone thinks, Klatt is one of the most well-respected analysts when it comes to knowledge of the college gridiron.

After Ohio State put on a show in Bloomington, beating the Hoosiers by 47 points, Klatt believes the Buckeyes are the No. 2 team in the nation, moving them up three spots from his rankings last week.

Of course, there will be the naysayers who will try to say that Ohio State hasn’t played anyone, that the Buckeye defense was playing against a fourth-string quarterback, blah, blah, blah… The bottom line is this, OSU has improved greatly since stubbing its toe against Oregon in week 2.

The Bucks are doing exactly what they are supposed to do against lesser ranked opponents, something that can’t be said for teams like the Ducks who lost to an unranked Stanford, Alabama who lost to an unranked Texas A&M, Cincinnati squeaking by a bad Navy team, and so on.

Anyone with eyes can see Ohio State is playing at an extremely high level right now and are clearly one of the best teams in the nation. That could all change at any moment, especially when the Buckeyes still have three highly ranked opponents on the schedule. But as of this moment in the season, Klatt has Ohio State in the correct spot.

Ohio State will play host to Penn State this Saturday in the ‘Shoe after the Nittany Lions looked dreadful losing to Illinois in an ugly mess that went to nine overtimes. Some of the luster has been lost after Penn State fell, but it always seems to be a good time when these two get together.

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WATCH: Indiana head coach Tom Allen calls Ohio State ‘special football team offensively’ after game

Tom Allen called Ohio State a “special team offensively” after the game. Hear what else he said about the Buckeyes after the game.

The Ohio State football team continues to show impressive improvement on a week-to-week basis and it was no different in traveling on the road to take on Indiana. The Buckeyes raced out to a big lead and went into halftime ahead 44-7, effectively ending any chances of the Hoosiers making a game of it.

If you wondered what Indiana head coach Tom Allen thought about Ohio State after seeing the Buckeyes up close and personal, we can tell you that he was impressed. He started his press conference out discussing how big the loss of his starting quarterback Jack Tuttle was, but was also honest with himself and heaped praise on how challenging it is to stop the OSU offense.

He stopped short of saying the Buckeyes were the best offense he’s seen but started to go there. He called Ohio State a “special football team offensively” and praised the play of C.J. Stroud.

Allen had some other things to say and we’re sharing them with you here thanks to “TheHoosier” YouTube Channel.

Ohio State will now turn its attention to a matchup with Penn State at night in the ‘Shoe next week. Things start to get very interesting from here on out, but it was a great showing once again Saturday night.

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