Nov 8, 2014; East Lansing, MI, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes running back Ezekiel Elliott (15) celebrates with teammates after scoring a touchdown during the fourth quarter against the Michigan State Spartans at Spartan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
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Ohio State Buckeyes 8-1 (5-0)
Last week: Defeated Michigan State Spartans 49-37
Last rank: 1
Surprise! After a year of being disrespected and counted out, aided by another loss to Virginia Tech early this season, the Ohio State Buckeyes put themselves back where they belong with a win over Michigan State: in the national title race and the Big Ten championship race. Urban Meyer has as good of a team as ever, and it has a lot to play for.
All of a sudden, J.T. Barrett is getting more love than Braxton Miller, and this team’s only loss was to Virginia Tech, his second start of his college career. The defense still struggles at times, but the offense is incredibly explosive. Nobody in the Big Ten can stop it. Yes, Virginia Tech is a bad loss, but this is a completely different team. And going forward, the College Football Playoff race is very reachable.
The Buckeyes can’t take a road game at Minnesota lightly this week, but after that, they close out the season with home games against Indiana and Michigan. All three should be wins, and if they do that and win the Big Ten Championship, there are plenty of scenarios to get this team to the College Football Playoff. So don’t sleep on these guys just yet.