As the wait for the first AP Top 25 poll of the 2024 season comes to an end at noon Monday, the expectation is that the Ohio State Buckeyes will likely land either at No. 1 or No. 2. Just a week ago, the Buckeyes were announced as the No. 2 team in the Coaches Poll. Given the talent on Ohio State’s current roster, expectations are high.
RJ Young, college football analyst for Fox Sports, recently ranked every Division 1 FBS program and randomly placed the Buckeyes at No. 1, ahead of the other 133 teams in his rankings. To evaluate all 134 teams, Young created some criteria to help evaluate the entire college football field. Depth of play, coaching staff continuity, returning starters, 2024 recruiting class, transfer portal results, athletic administration, star players and expected household names were the eight things he used to evaluate.
Act @RJ_Young really rate all 134 FBS teams before the season? Yes, he did 🙌📝
What do you think about his ranking? 🤔📊
Read his full breakdown here: https://t.co/2t14PJRURH pic.twitter.com/eHzHBUMIoO
— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) 12 August 2024
This secured the Buckeyes the top spot.
“No program generated more buzz during the winter transfer period — more buzz, actually — than the Ohio State Buckeyes,” Young wrote. “Not only did Ryan Day bring back a ton of talent from last year’s team, including running back TreVeyon Henderson and wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, but he also managed to land a talented group of transfers, including quarterback Will Howard, running back Quinshon Judkins and defensive back Caleb Downs. With these new additions to an already talented team, Day has navigated a turbulent spring transfer period with finesse.”
Not surprisingly, the Georgia Bulldogs secured the No. 2 spot in his rankings, while the Texas Longhorns, Oregon Ducks and Florida State Seminoles rounded out his top 5. The Buckeyes and Ducks weren’t the only Big Ten Conference teams to make the top 25. The Michigan Wolverines were No. 8, the Penn State Nittany Lions were No. 14, the USC Trojans were No. 17 and the Iowa Hawkeyes were No. 24.
The Indiana Hoosiers were the very last Big Ten team in the rankings at number 97.
There will likely be some big differences in the AP Top 25 Poll rankings compared to Young’s list, but the Buckeyes should end up pretty close to the same spot. It should be interesting to see how the rest of the Big Ten fares.
