Oregon’s loss to Stanford last Thursday was Ohio State’s gain Sunday night as the Buckeyes jumped to the No. 3 spot in the latest BCS rankings.
While that gets Urban Meyer and Ohio State one step closer to playing for this year’s national title, the Buckeyes are still battling the perception that they play a weak schedule. Because of that, their championship hopes are dependent on one of the two teams ranked ahead of them—Alabama and Florida State—suffering an unlikely loss.
Fair or not, Ohio State has an image issue.
The Buckeyes have won 21 consecutive games, the country’s longest winning streak by a wide margin, yet there are many who see them as a second-rate team. AP voter Jon Wilner, for example, has Ohio State ranked eighth behind five one-loss teams (Stanford, Oregon, Auburn, Clemson and Missouri).
There are others, though, that think the Buckeyes, and by extension the Big Ten, are being undervalued. Moments after the BCS rankings were released, ESPN’s Rece Davis said this of the Buckeyes, according to Eleven Warriors:
Rece Davis: "I think Ohio State is being undersold a bit. I don't think the Big Ten is as bad as people think."
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 11, 2013
Continue Reading: Ohio State Jumps to No. 3 in BCS, but Still Battling Weak Schedule
