2017 College Football Playoff preseason predictions

3-Seed – Ohio State Buckeyes

There are four active coaches that have won a national title. Urban Meyer is on that very short list, and he’s accomplished that feat three times. He took home the BCS crown in 2006 and 2008 with the Florida Gators. More recently, he bested Nick Saban and then Chip Kelly to take home the national title in 2014. He accomplished the latter with his third string quarterback, Cardale Jones.

The Buckeyes did not win the Big Ten in 2016. That should change in 2017. Their scheduled looks much easier, including a home game against Penn State before ending on the road against what is, at least right now, a very green Michigan team.

At this point it seems definite that the winner of the Big Ten Championship game is going to get a berth in the College Football Playoff. Can you imagine the firestorm that would be set off if Penn State, for instance, won the conference again but was snubbed in favor of the Buckeyes a second time?

More: Game by game predictions for Ohio State in 2017

The competitiveness of the Big Ten makes this looks like the weakest spot in the projections so far. Four Big Ten teams were ranked in the top 11 of the initial AP Poll. There’s a long season ahead, but teams like Alabama and Southern Cal won’t play nearly as rigorous as a conference schedule as the Buckeyes. The Pac-12 and the SEC are deep, but the top-level talent doesn’t compare to that of the Big Ten. Not yet.

Still, it’s foolish to bet against the Buckeyes and the College Football Playoff at this point. Despite an embarrassing showing against Deshaun Watson and Dabo Swinney a year ago, they’ll be back again this season ready to rewrite that narrative.