There has never been a bigger AP Top 25 preseason favorite than Ohio State. Ever. Roll that around in your mind for a second. That’s historic. That’s monumental.
That also might be folly.
When the Buckeyes received all 61 first-place votes in the preseason poll, they went down as a bigger championship favorite than those Oklahoma teams of the 1950s, bigger than any team in the Miami dynasty, and even bigger than any of Nick Saban’s three championship squads at Alabama.
What could go wrong? Plenty.
Life as the hunted: The next two most prohibitive AP Top 25 favorites are cautionary tales. Florida in 2009 (yes, also coached by Urban Meyer) was defeated by Alabama in the SEC title game. That was Tim Tebow’s last SEC game, one that left him in tears.
Alabama in 2013 never made it that far. The Tide was beaten by the Kick Six in the Iron Bowl.
Continue Reading: Inside College Football: Why Ohio State will struggle to end season No. 1
