Published: Monday, 8/24/2015 History still not on side of Buckeyes BY DAVID BRIGGSBLADE SPORTS WRITER COLUMBUS — Think expectations are high in Columbus? Ohio State was unveiled Sunday as the first unanimous preseason No. 1 team in the history of the Associated Press college football poll. In a landslide anointing, the defending national Buckeyes received all 61 first-place votes from a panel of writers and broadcasters. They will open atop the polls for the eighth time in school history and the first time since 2006. Texas Christian is No. 2, followed by Alabama, Baylor, and Michigan State — giving the Spartans their first top-five start since 1967. No. 20 Wisconsin is the only other Big Ten entry in the poll. Despite Michigan’s anticipated revival under new coach Jim Harbaugh, the Wolverines will begin the season unranked for the second straight season and the sixth time in eight years. Ohio State, meanwhile, has not set off on a season with such outsized hopes since 1969 — and even the reigning champions Woody Hayes considered his finest team could not match this kind of buildup. Since the preseason rankings began in 1950, no team has so unified the voters. Florida in 2009 and Alabama in 2013 were the previous most lopsided favorites in the debut poll, with both receiving 58 of 60 first-place votes. The Buckeyes return 15 starters, including the star quarterback who wins the starting job (Cardale Jones or J.T. Barrett), Heisman-chasing running back Ezekiel Elliott, and All-American defensive end Joey Bosa. Even among those without scarlet-colored glasses, they are widely seen as a potential all-time great team. Now comes the hard part: proving it. The preseason polls are often more accurate than you might think. A year ago, all four teams in the first college football playoff — Florida State, Alabama, Oregon, and Ohio State — began the year in the top five. But as the team to beat, the Buckeyes are fighting history. Over the past decade, four teams received at least 95 percent of the first-place votes in the preseason poll: Southern California in 2007, Florida in 2009, Alabama in 2013, and Florida State last year. None won the national title. USC in 2004 is the most recent of only 10 preseason No…
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