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Ohio State continues to gain respect from polls, analytics, media, and even Mark May

The Buckeyes are on the cusp of breaking through with their first ranked opponent next week.

NCAA Football: Ohio State at Nebraska Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

On Saturday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes cleared their first presumed hurdle of the 2019 season by annihilating the Nebraska Cornhuskers 48-7. It was a full-team demolition of what had been a trendy preseason pick to win the Big Ten West. Thanks to the completeness of the butt-kicking, the Buckeyes are beginning to gain more respect across the country by fans, media, analytics, and pollsters alike.

On Sunday, the AP Poll moved the Buckeyes up to No. 4, behind new No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Georgia. No. 5 LSU round out the top five.

The Buckeyes will face Michigan State Spartans on Saturday, Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m. ET., but Sparty is at 26th, one spot out of the rankings. The other Big Ten teams in this week’s rankings are No. 8 Wisconsin, No. 12 Penn State, No. 14 Iowa, and No. 19 Michigan. The undefeated Minnesota Golden Gophers are also receiving votes.

Check out the full AP Poll here:

AP Poll | Sept. 29

Rank Team Previous Rank Points
Rank Team Previous Rank Points
1 Alabama 2 1,478
2 Clemson 1 1,426
3 Georgia 3 1,375
4 Ohio State 5 1,324
5 LSU 4 1,322
6 Oklahoma 6 1,264
7 Auburn 7 1,186
8 Wisconsin 8 1,046
9 Notre Dame 10 996
10 Florida 9 986
11 Texas 11 919
12 Penn State 12 878
13 Oregon 13 817
14 Iowa 14 731
15 Washington 17 603
16 Boise State 16 559
17 Utah 19 534
18 UCF 2 352
19 Michigan 20 350
20 Arizona State N/A 249
21 Oklahoma State N/A 215
22 Wake Forest N/A 190
23 Virginia 18 186
24 SMU N/A 151
25 Texas A&M 23 147

USA Today’s panel of SIDs coaches moved the Buckeyes up a spot over the idle LSU Tigers. Ohio State is now in fifth place in the Coaches Poll, and also received four first-place votes.

Sparty moved up five spots to re-enter the poll at 23rd. Other B1G squads in the Coaches Poll include No. 9 Wisconsin, No. 11 Penn State, No. 14 Iowa, and No. 18 Michigan. Minnesota is also receiving votes in this poll, putting them effectively in 30th.

Check out the full Coaches Poll:

Coaches Poll | Sept. 29

Rank Team Record Points 1st Place Votes Previous Change
Rank Team Record Points 1st Place Votes Previous Change
1 Alabama 5-0 1562 29 2 1
2 Clemson 5-0 1526 30 1 -1
3 Georgia 4-0 1446 1 3
4 Oklahoma 4-0 1373 0 4
5 Ohio State 5-0 1362 4 6 1
6 Louisiana State 4-0 1349 0 5 -1
7 Auburn 5-0 1198 0 7
8 Florida 5-0 1100 0 8
9 Wisconsin 4-0 1097 0 9
10 Notre Dame 3-1 987 0 10
11 Penn State 4-0 978 0 11
12 Texas 3-1 912 0 12
13 Oregon 3-1 813 0 13
14 Iowa 4-0 790 0 14
15 Boise State 4-0 621 0 15
16 Washington 4-1 608 0 17 1
17 Utah 4-1 532 0 19 2
18 Michigan 3-1 417 0 20 2
19 Central Florida 4-1 308 0 23 4
20 Wake Forest 5-0 279 0 24 4
21 Texas A&M 3-2 251 0 21
22 Virginia 4-1 202 0 18 -4
23 Michigan State 4-1 167 0 NR 5
23 Memphis 4-0 167 0 NR 3
25 Oklahoma State 4-1 158 0 NR 5

While we don’t normally reference the Football Writers Association of America and National Football Foundation poll, I did think that it was interesting to include the fact that Ohio State moved up two spots in this poll as well, jumping Georgia and LSU.

Check out the full FWAA_NFF Poll:

FWAA-NFF Pol | Sept. 29

Rank Team Points First-Place Votes Previous
Rank Team Points First-Place Votes Previous
1 Alabama (5-0) 696 22 2
2 Clemson (5-0) 630 12 1
3 Ohio State (5-0) 608 5 5
4 Georgia (4-0) 606 1 3
5 LSU (4-0) 604 4 4
6 Oklahoma (4-0) 544 1 6
7 Auburn (5-0) 485 1 7
8 Wisconsin (4-0) 398 8
9 Florida (5-0) 319 9
10 Notre Dame (3-1) 308 11
11 Texas (3-1) 276 10
12 Penn State (4-0) 254 13
13 Oregon (3-1) 206 12
14 Iowa (4-0) 113 14
15 Washington (4-1) 70 N/A
16 Boise State (4-0) 59 16

On the analytics side, The Buckeyes stayed at No. 2 in Bill Connelly’s SP+ rankings, but they moved up to just 0.3 points behind the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide. Ohio State continues to be the only team currently ranked in the top five in both the offensive and defensive rankings, coming in at fifth and third respectively.

SP+ Rankings | Sept. 29

Team (Record) Rating Offense Defense Special Teams
Team (Record) Rating Offense Defense Special Teams
1. Alabama (5-0) 31.8 46.4 (3) 14.5 (8) -0.1 (84)
2. Ohio St. (5-0) 31.5 43.8 (5) 12.3 (3) 0.0 (55)
3. Oklahoma (4-0) 28.3 51.9 (1) 23.4 (42) -0.2 (97)
4. Georgia (4-0) 26.5 40.9 (8) 14.8 (12) 0.4 (12)
5. LSU (4-0) 25.7 46.9 (2) 21.9 (35) 0.7 (1)
6. Clemson (5-0) 24.5 38.3 (15) 13.8 (5) 0.0 (68)
7. Penn St. (4-0) 24.5 40.6 (9) 16.4 (16) 0.3 (19)
8. Wisconsin (4-0) 23.3 35.5 (28) 11.7 (1) -0.5 (127)
9. Auburn (5-0) 21.7 37.9 (16) 16.5 (18) 0.3 (25)
10. Florida (5-0) 21.5 36.3 (22) 15.2 (14) 0.4 (16)
11. Washington (4-1) 21 39.4 (13) 18.9 (28) 0.5 (6)
12. Oregon (3-1) 19.2 32.1 (45) 12.5 (4) -0.4 (118)
13. Michigan (3-1) 18.5 31.8 (48) 13.8 (6) 0.5 (4)
14. UCF (4-1) 17.8 36.0 (25) 18.2 (26) 0.0 (69)
15. Missouri (3-1) 17.8 31.7 (49) 14.3 (7) 0.4 (11)
16. Texas (3-1) 17.6 44.0 (4) 26.8 (61) 0.5 (7)
17. Utah (4-1) 17.5 37.2 (18) 19.5 (31) -0.1 (83)
18. Oklahoma St. (4-1) 17.4 39.8 (12) 22.5 (37) 0.0 (66)
19. TCU (3-1) 17.3 33.6 (35) 16.4 (17) 0.2 (39)
20. Iowa (4-0) 17 34.4 (30) 17.8 (22) 0.4 (13)
21. Michigan St. (4-1) 17 29.2 (62) 12.0 (2) -0.1 (90)
22. Notre Dame (3-1) 16.7 36.2 (24) 19.6 (32) 0.1 (43)
23. Texas A&M (3-2) 15.6 33.3 (38) 17.8 (23) 0.2 (36)
24. Iowa St. (2-2) 15.5 33.5 (37) 17.8 (24) -0.2 (93)
25. Memphis (4-0) 15.4 29.7 (57) 14.6 (9) 0.3 (17)

In addition, our man, Joel Flatt from FOX has removed the caveats and put the Buckeyes as the lone No. 1 in his personal rankings (he had Alabama and Clemson as 1b and 1c last week).

Although he is a former Ohio State starting quarterback and captain, many OSU fans have had issues with ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit’s treatment of his alma mater over the years. But after witnessing the Nebraska game first hand, the blue-eyed Buckeye put Ohio State at the top of his picks.

Heck, even Buckeye Nation’s most hated media member, Mark May, is giving Ryan Day’s team love.