Spring football has been put on the shelf because of COVID-19, but that hasn’t stopped folks from looking ahead to next college football season. We’ve seen a few pieces predicting some way-too-early rankings for the 2020 season, and now we have another.
Paul Myerberg of USA TODAY Sports put together such a list to look ahead to the fall and he is a big believer in Ohio State once again. According to him, the Buckeyes are the No. 2 ranked team going into 2020.
But what team is No. 1? It’s a familiar name. The Clemson Tigers get the nod as No. 1 in the extremely early look ahead. Beyond those two are Georgia at No. 3, Oregon at No. 4, and Alabama at a surprisingly low No. 5.
Rounding out the top ten are Oklahoma, Florida, Penn State, LSU, and Notre Dame. The annual hype machine seems to still be cranked up a little for Michigan. The Wolverines check-in just outside the top ten at No. 11.
But back to Ohio State. Here’s what Meyerberg says about the Buckeyes squad this coming season.
An exodus of contributors to the NFL is offset by a wealth of returning talent, with a healthy portion of the All-America variety. That’ll keep Ryan Day’s second team at the top of the Big Ten and the forefront of the FBS. One key will be finding some way to approximate the impact Chase Young and Jeff Okudah had on last year’s defense.
There’s definitely a ton of talent returning to Columbus, and if everything comes together like we think, it could be another special year on the banks of the Olentangy.
