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Another week, another butt-kicking by the Ohio State Buckeyes as they move to 7-0 on the regular season, with a 3-0 mark in the Big Ten thus far. As soon as OSU finished their 52-3 defeat of the Northwestern Wildcats (and honestly probably before) attention turned to a potential top-10 match-up against the Wisconsin Badgers.
Unfortunately, Lovie Claus’ Smith’s magical beard allowed his Illinois Fighting Illini to pull the upset of the then-No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers 24-23. So, the Buckeyes will now be hosting the AP Poll’s No. 13 Badgers at 12 noon ET in Ohio Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 26.
Ohio State moves back up a spot to No. 3 in the AP Poll this week, jumping the Clemson Tigers who are down to fourth. They sit behind only the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide and No. 2 LSU Tigers. Oklahoma rounds out the top five.
In addition to the Buckeyes and Badgers, other Big Ten teams in this week’s rankings include No. 6 Penn State, No. 17 Minnesota, No. 19 Michigan, and No. 20 Iowa. OSU’s Week 2 opponent, the Cincinnati Bearcats are currently ranked No. 18, and have a good chance to be the Group of Five representative in this season’s New Year’s Six Bowls.
Check out the full AP Poll:
AP Poll | Oct. 20
| Rank | Team | Rcord | Previous Week | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | Rcord | Previous Week | Points |
| 1 | Alabama | 7-0 | 1 | 1,486 |
| 2 | Louisiana State | 7-0 | 2 | 1,462 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 7-0 | 4 | 1,249 |
| 4 | Clemson | 7-0 | 3 | 1,408 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 7-0 | 5 | 1,343 |
| 6 | Penn State | 7-0 | 7 | 1,224 |
| 7 | Florida | 7-1 | 9 | 1,138 |
| 8 | Notre Dame | 5-1 | 8 | 1,058 |
| 9 | Auburn | 6-1 | 11 | 1,054 |
| 10 | Georgia | 6-1 | 10 | 1,031 |
| 11 | Oregon | 6-1 | 12 | 979 |
| 12 | Utah | 6-1 | 13 | 852 |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 6-1 | 6 | 767 |
| 14 | Baylor | 7-0 | 18 | 732 |
| 15 | Texas | 5-2 | 15 | 627 |
| 16 | Southern Methodist | 7-0 | 19 | 587 |
| 17 | Minnesota | 7-0 | 20 | 577 |
| 18 | Cincinnati | 6-1 | 21 | 468 |
| 19 | Michigan | 5-2 | 16 | 440 |
| 20 | Iowa | 5-2 | 23 | 347 |
| 21 | Appalachian State | 6-0 | 24 | 286 |
| 22 | Boise State | 6-1 | 14 | 225 |
| 23 | Iowa State | 5-2 | N/A | 185 |
| 24 | Arizona State | 5-2 | 17 | 134 |
| 25 | Wake Forest | 6-1 | N/A | 118 |
Unlike in the AP Poll, the Buckeyes stayed at fourth in the Coaches Poll, despite having the third most first-place votes (only two behind Clemson for second). Alabama, Clemson, and LSU are ahead of OSU, with Oklahoma rounding out the top five.
Penn State climbs to sixth, while Wisconsin fell from sixth to 13th. The other B1G squads in the rankings are Minnesota at No. 16, Iowa at No. 19, and Michigan at No. 20. Cincinnati moved up three spots in this poll to No. 18. Indiana received a single vote.
Check out the full USA Today/Amway Coaches Poll:
Coaches Poll | Oct. 20
| Rank | Team | Rcord | Points | First Place votes | Previous Week |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Team | Rcord | Points | First Place votes | Previous Week |
| 1 | Alabama | 7-0 | 1602 | 44 | 1 |
| 2 | Clemson | 7-0 | 1511 | 10 | 2 |
| 3 | Louisiana State | 7-0 | 1486 | 3 | 3 |
| 4 | Ohio State | 7-0 | 1461 | 8 | 4 |
| 5 | Oklahoma | 7-0 | 1408 | 0 | 5 |
| 6 | Penn State | 7-0 | 1283 | 0 | 7 |
| 7 | Notre Dame | 5-1 | 1160 | 0 | 8 |
| 8 | Florida | 7-1 | 1151 | 0 | 9 |
| 9 | Georgia | 6-1 | 1099 | 0 | 10 |
| 10 | Auburn | 6-1 | 1071 | 0 | 11 |
| 11 | Oregon | 6-1 | 1011 | 0 | 12 |
| 12 | Utah | 6-1 | 858 | 0 | 14 |
| 13 | Wisconsin | 6-1 | 824 | 0 | 6 |
| 14 | Baylor | 7-0 | 730 | 0 | 18 |
| 15 | Texas | 5-2 | 722 | 0 | 15 |
| 16 | Minnesota | 7-0 | 631 | 0 | 20 |
| 17 | Southern Methodist | 7-0 | 609 | 0 | 19 |
| 18 | Cincinnati | 6-1 | 461 | 0 | 21 |
| 19 | Iowa | 5-2 | 373 | 0 | 22 |
| 20 | Michigan | 5-2 | 369 | 0 | 16 |
| 21 | Boise State | 6-1 | 308 | 0 | 13 |
| 22 | Appalachian State | 6-0 | 300 | 0 | 24 |
| 23 | Wake Forest | 6-1 | 181 | 0 | NR |
| 24 | Arizona State | 5-2 | 131 | 0 | 17 |
| 25 | Memphis | 6-1 | 101 | 0 | NR |
For the second week in a row, the Buckeyes are atop this week’s SP+ rankings. The Badgers fell from fourth to seventh, still one spot ahead of Penn State. Additionally, the Buckeyes now have the second best odds to go undefeated according to the analytics system.
Obviously Clemson, in the dismal ACC, are the most likely candidate to finish the regular season unbeaten. Penn State — whom Ohio State will play on Nov. 23 — has a nine percent chance to win out.
SP+ also gives OSU an 83 percent chance to finish the regular season at either 11-1 or 12-0, third best nationally.
Prob of going 12-0, per SP+: Clem 62%, OhSt 42%, Bama 38%, OU 35%, LSU 19%, AppSt 19%, BU 10%, PSU 9%, Minn 7%, SMU 4%
— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) October 20, 2019
11-1 or 12-0: Clem 94%, Bama 84%, OhSt 83%, OU 75%, LSU 66%, AppSt 62%, BU 45%, PSU 43%, Utah 33%, Mem 33%, Minn 33%, SMU 25%, Boise 25%, Ore 22%, UGA 20%