The last release of the ESPN SP+ Rankings just dropped and there’s a bit of a surprise when it comes to where Ohio State lands. Routinely sitting at No. 2, just behind Alabama all throughout the preseason, ESPN resident analytics expert Bill Connelly reportedly tweaked his formula a bit and the Buckeyes have now fallen.
Understandably so, there is some secrecy surrounding the special sauce that goes into these rankings since it is a proprietary thing developed and managed by Connelly, but we’ll never know why OSU dropped.
However, according to ESPN’s website, “the SP+ Rankings are based on three primary factors: returning production (final rankings for which you can find at the bottom of this piece), recent recruiting and recent history.”
The rest of the rankings have some modest changes from the last one we saw as well, but in totality, things look right about what you’d expect with a few surprises. Alabama remains No. 1, but there’s now a new No. 2 with Ohio State slipping.
Here is the latest top 25 of the ESPN SP+ Rankings (subscription required) and where the Buckeyes now land as we get ready to ramp things up for the 2022 season.