No. 5 – Ohio State
What Schlabach says about Ohio State
You can read all of his comments for yourself, but Schlabach believes the Buckeyes again have the talent. However, losing Justin Fields leaves a big hole, and there’s no clarity so far with the quarterback race. He also believes that the defense will have to retool and absorb the loss of Marcus Hooker, plus work through injuries suffered to Sevyn Banks and Cameron Brown. He does, however, like what freshmen TreVeyon Henderson and Jack Sawyer bring, and thinks they will both have an impact.
And in case you’re keeping track, Schlabach’s power rankings have Oklahoma (1), Alabama (2), Georgia (3), and Clemson (4) as the four teams ahead of Ohio State at the moment. Rounding out the top ten are Iowa State (6), Texas A&M (7), North Carolina (8), Cincinnati (9), and Oregon (10).