Ohio State Buckeyes mildly disrespected in new AP Top 25 following road win over Indiana
The Ohio State Buckeyes are moving on up the AP Poll following a wild Week 7 of the college football season that included their win against Indiana. However, you can argue the Buckeyes didn’t move up enough.
The Ohio State Buckeyes went on the road and knocked off the reigning national champion Indiana Hoosiers in Week 7 of the college football season. It wasn’t pretty, but Ohio State left Bloomington with a 19-15 win in a top-5 matchup.
Ohio State entered the game ranked No. 4 in the country and took down No. 5 Indiana. The Buckeyes were one of just a couple top-10 teams to actually win on Saturday. That combined news has the Buckeyes hardly moving up in the latest AP Top 25 in a weird development.
Ohio State didn’t play its best football against Indiana
The offense struggled for most of the afternoon, and the Buckeyes needed a late defensive stop to hold on. Ohio State also lost quarterback Julian Sayin to an injury during the game. Sayin is expected to miss at least a couple of weeks.
Still, any time a team goes on the road and beats the reigning national champion in a top-5 battle, it has to feel good about the result. How it happened matters less than the fact that it happened. Indiana is the defending national champion, and Ohio State walked into its building and found a way to win.
Chaos in Week 7 brings Ohio State new spot in AP
Ohio State started the season at No. 1 before a loss to the Texas Longhorns knocked it down. Now the Buckeyes are up one spot to No. 3 in the latest rankings. AP voters have BYU jumping the Buckeyes in the rankings.
Georgia, the No. 1 team in the country, fell to unranked Auburn. No. 2 Notre Dame lost to No. 8 BYU. Texas, ranked No. 7, dropped a game to unranked Florida. Alabama entered the week at No. 6 and lost to No. 14 Tennessee.
Meanwhile, No. 3 Miami survived, but it took two overtimes for the Hurricanes to beat Florida State 43-35.
The AP poll is just content at this point, CFP is what matters
BYU jumping Ohio State despite the Buckeyes picking up a top 5 win is a joke. However, it isn’t a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. The College Football Playoff rankings are what matter most, and the committee won’t release its first edition until Nov. 3.
Even so, heading into the bye week as the top three team in the country shows Ohio State is in a good spot. The Buckeyes have ranked wins over Indiana and Iowa, and a one-score loss to ranked Texas on their resume. BYU has played one ranked team, Notre Dame, who has just one ranked game themselves. BYU doesn’t have another notable game on their schedule outside of playing Utah.
The schedule doesn’t get any easier. Ohio State comes out of the bye week with a road trip to face USC, and backup quarterback Luke Fahey will be under center. From there, the Buckeyes return home to open November with a big game against Oregon.
Those two games will say a lot about where Ohio State stands when the first playoff rankings drop. Time will tell if the Buckeyes can hold onto the top spot with Fahey leading the offense.
