The Ohio State Buckeyes finished the 2019 college football season as the third-ranked team in the country in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports. LSU was a unanimous No. 1 after its impressive National Championship Game win over Clemson. Clemson, which beat the Buckeyes in a heartbreaking Fiesta Bowl two weeks ago, finished at No. 2. (It is noteworthy that two out of the 65 voters put Ohio State at No. 2 ahead of Clemson.)
The Buckeyes were the highest-ranked Big Ten team in the final rankings, but the conference put three teams in the Top 10. That trails only the SEC, which put four teams in the final Top 10.
Georgia and Oregon rounded out the Top 5, followed by Oklahoma, Florida, Alabama, Penn State, and Minnesota.
The Big Ten put six teams in the final rankings, one more than the SEC’s five. Wisconsin, Iowa, and Michigan are the three other Big Ten schools in the final rankings, while Auburn made it in from the SEC. The American Athletic Conference followed with four ranked teams, while the Big 12, Pac 12, ACC, and Mountain West each had two. One independent and one team from the Sun Belt finish the tally of the Top 25.
Ohio State will face Oregon in Week 2 of 2020 in what is very likely to be a Top 10 (or Top 5) matchup. Of course, that’s assuming Oregon successfully navigates its Week 1 matchup against North Dakota State, which is never a given.
The Buckeyes also finished at No. 3 in the AP Poll.