Ohio State stays No. 3 in the AP Poll, remains No. 1 in SP+

It was a wet and windy day for the Ohio State Buckeyes in The Horseshoe on Saturday, but it was also a win, as they demolished the then-No. 13 Wisconsin Badgers to the tune of 38-7. Despite Wisconsin having statistically the best rushing defense in the country, Ohio State put up 300 sack-adjusted rushing yards, for a 6.7 yards per carry average.

This win — despite the Badgers’ loss to Illinois the previous week — is the statement game that many on the national level have been waiting for as the buckeyes waded through a first half filled with average to slightly above average teams.

In this week’s AP Poll, the Buckeyes stayed steady at No. 3, while the Alabama Crimson Tide fell out of the top spot to No. 2, while the LSU Tigers became the new No. 1. Rounding out the top five are the Clemson Tigers and the Penn State Nittany Lions.

Other Big Ten teams in this week’s rankings are No. 13 Minnesota, No. 14 Michigan, No. 18 Wisconsin, and No. 19 Iowa. The Buckeyes’ Week 2 opponents, the Cincinnati Bearcats are currently No. 17, and Indiana is receiving votes.

Check out the full AP Poll:

Despite the fact that two teams swapped spots in the top four of this week’s USA Today Coaches Poll, the Buckeyes stayed in the fourth spot. With the Crimson Tide maintaining their first place rankings, LSU jumped Clemson into second, despite the fact that the Bayou Tigers have the fourth most first-place votes, behind Alabama (40), Clemson (10), and OSU (8).

Ohio State’s next opponent, Penn State ... I’m sorry what? The Buckeyes have games against Maryland and Rutgers before they play Penn State? My apologies, Ohio State’s next real opponent, Penn State comes in at No. 5.

Other B1G schools represented are No. 13 Minnesota, No. 15 Michigan, No. 17 Wisconsin, and No. 19 Iowa. Cincinnati is No. 18, and the Hoosiers are receiving votes as well.

Check out the full USA Today/Amway Coaches Poll:

On the analytics side, the Buckeyes held onto the top spot in the SP+ advanced analytics rankings, and are still the only team in American to have both their offensive and defensive units in the top five; offense is fifth, and defense is No. 1.

Alabama is second, LSU third, Oklahoma — despite their loss to Kansas State — is No. 4 and Clemson is fifth. Penn State (7th), Wisconsin (8th), Michigan (11th), Minnesota (12th), Iowa (20th), and Indiana (23rd) are also representing the Big Ten in the top 25.

Check out the full SP+ Rankings for all 130 FBS teams here.

“Ohio State’s schedule is full of a bunch of high school teams.” “The Big Ten is overrated.” “Buckeyes ain’t played nobody.”

This has been a rallying cry for college football fans who live in the SouthEast part of the Country, but as the SP+ mastermind, ESPN’s Bill Connelly explains, it’s just not true. Of the eight teams that OSU has defeated this year only the Northwestern Wildcats are not currently .500 or better, meaning that the Buckeyes has a better strength of schedule than the two undefeated SEC teams.