COLUMBUS, Ohio — Between Ohio State’s status as the defending national champion and the arrival of Jim Harbaugh at Michigan, there may not be two teams in college football that have been more talked about this offseason than the Buckeyes and Wolverines.
But if the recent slew of preseason award watch lists that have been released are any indication, that’s where the similarities between the archrival programs end.
As one might expect for a team that returns 15 starters and is just six months removed from winning the first College Football Playoff, Ohio State players have been a staple of the eight watch lists that have been released over the course of the past week.
It started on Tuesday, when the Buckeyes had four players named to the watch list for the Maxwell Award (nation’s best player)—including three quarterbacks—and continued throughout Friday, when five OSU defenders found themselves on the watch list for the Bronko Nagurski Trophy (national Defensive Player of the Year).
The Buckeyes are practically a lock to be named the nation’s preseason No. 1 overall team, and their plethora of players already being nationally recognized is the biggest reason why.
“I’ve got a bunch of really good players,” Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer said the day after the national title game. “The word ‘repeat,’ we’ll have that conversation.”
Meanwhile, at Michigan, the names of Wolverines players have been popping up less frequently throughout the past…
Continue Reading: 2015 Watch Lists Further Illustrate Talent Gap Between Ohio State and Michigan
