Urban Meyer doesn’t mind his Ohio State Buckeyes discussing their rise in the AP poll.
In fact, he encourages it.
The eighth-ranked Buckeyes so far have proven to be the best in the Big Ten and look to continue making their case as one of the nation’s top teams with an 18th straight victory over the host Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday night.
Ohio State (6-0, 2-0) won’t end its season in a bowl game due to NCAA sanctions, but it has used that as motivation to prove it’s as good – if not better – than other highly touted squads eligible for the BCS championship.
”We’re not shy,” Meyer said. ”(This is a) top-10 football team, and the stakes are real high.”
The Buckeyes won’t play in the Big Ten championship game, either, but the conference said it will still recognize them as Leaders Division champions. They also can’t appear in the coaches’ poll due to the sanctions, though the AP poll doesn’t take the bans into account for its rankings.
”I definitely think it’s important to us,” center Corey Linsley said. ”Like coach Meyer says, ‘If you don’t think that statistics are important, you’re kind of lying.’ It’s what we play for. We play for these polls, we play to be No. 1 in the country, for there to be no doubt.”
John Simon, considered one of the top defensive ends in the country, said the Buckeyes aren’t discounting a possible AP national title if they can run the table.
”(The AP poll) is important to the team to kind of show where we are right now,” Simon said. ”We’ll try to get to No. 1 if at all possible. We’re doing everything we can.”
Continue Reading: Ohio St.-Indiana Preview
