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Ohio State's Ranking

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JohnnyKozmo's picture
October 24, 2014 at 10:15pm
8 Comments

Preseason #5 ranking if I remember correctly.  Team was dropped a few spots after week 1, even with a win, albeit not an overly impressive one over a Navy team that has not been as strong as originally thought.  The main reason for the drop though was that the team had lost it's Heisman Contending QB after the preseason rankings were released, and the pollsters were putting tOSU about where they would have been had Braxton left for the NFL.  Then the loss to Va Tech knocked them all the way to 22 or 23 I believe, which I think was partly because of the loss, but also a reflection of the overall perception of a team who lost it's Heisman Contending QB.  Remember, Va Tech shot up to 19 after that win, so the pollsters thought enough of Va Tech early in the season that it wasn't that bad of a loss (things have changed obviously)

Fast forward to now.  tOSU has a QB who is quietly making his way into the Heisman conversation (whether it's warranted or not is irrelevant).  There is a chance that tOSU still loses that Va Tech game even with Brax.  He probably would have broken a few runs, but the defense Va Tech played would've forced Braxton to consistently make throws that he hadn't really shown he could on a consistent basis.  However, I don't think a Braxton led team falls outside of the top 20 after Va Tech.  It's been a slow climb for the Buckeyes, partly because of who isn't on the field, and partly because of the schedule.  I know PSU is down, but it's still PSU, primetime, road game.  So how much longer will the polls look at this team any different than if Braxton was still the QB?

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