The Ohio State Buckeyes stayed at the No. 4 position in the Amway Coaches Poll powered by USA TODAY Sports this week, trailing Alabama, Clemson, and LSU. The Oklahoma Sooners round out the Top 5.
Astute fans might notice that the gap from Ohio State up to No. 3 LSU is wider this week than last week. Last week, the Buckeyes trailed LSU by a single point. This week, Ohio State is a full 25 points behind the Bayou Bengals. However, that is not a bad thing. Ohio State’s overall vote share went up, from 1454 to 1461 points. Voters just believe in LSU more now than they did last week. LSU did not take votes away from Ohio State; it took votes away from Clemson, who also apparently lost a few votes to Ohio State. Last week, Clemson had 14 first-place votes and Ohio State had four. This week, the Buckeyes picked up eight first-place votes, while Clemson was down to ten.
The Big Ten once again led all conferences with six teams in the poll this week. The SEC follows with five, while the Pac 12, Big 12, and American Athletic conference each have three. The ACC is back up to two teams in the poll, while the Sun Belt and Mountain West each have one ranked team. Independent Notre Dame is also ranked.
The poll only saw two new teams this week, as Wake Forest and Memphis moved in to replace Washington and Temple. Wisconsin fell from No. 6 to No. 13 after a shocking loss to Illinois, while Michigan fell only four spots–from No. 16 to No. 20–after a tough loss to Penn State.
Cincinnati came in at No. 18 this week, and remains the only currently-ranked team that Ohio State has played so far. The Buckeyes will face No. 13 Wisconsin this weekend.
