AP Poll: Ohio State moves to No. 5 but should be ranked higher

The Ohio State football team moved up to No. 5 in this week’s AP Poll. There are still 3 SEC teams and Clemson ranked ahead of them, but should they be?.

A 42-0 victory over the Cincinnati Bearcats and a 51-10 win over the Indiana Hoosiers weren’t enough to elevate the Ohio State football team past the No. 6 spot in the AP rankings. A 76-5 win over the Miami Redhawks moved them up one spot past the Oklahoma Sooners.

But shouldn’t the Buckeyes be ranked higher than No. 5 in this week’s AP Poll? Only one of the top four teams has scored more points, none has allowed fewer through four weeks of play and Ohio State leads the way in margin of victory.

I’ll lay out the stats among the top five teams. I know sometimes they can be deceiving so I’ll include the teams each have defeated as well as game scores.

Clemson

• Georgia Tech 52-14
• Texas A&M 24-10
• Syracuse 41-6
• Charlotte 52-10

Clemson has scored 169 points while giving up 40. Average margin of victory is 32.3 points (42.3-10)

Alabama:

• Duke 42-3
• New Mexico State 62-10
• South Carolina 47-23
• Southern Miss 49-7

Alabama has outscored opponents 200-50, margin of victory is 39.2 points (50-10.8)

Georgia:

• Vanderbilt 30-6
• Murray State 63-17
• Arkansas State 55-0
• Notre Dame 23-17

Georgia 171-40, margin of victory 32.8 points (42.8-10)

LSU:

• Georgia Southern 55-3
• Texas 45-38
• Northwestern State 65-14
• Vanderbilt 66-38

LSU 231-89, margin of victory 31.5 points (53.8-22.3)

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Ohio State:

• Florida Atlantic 45-21
• Cincinnati 42-0
• Indiana 51-10
• Miami, OH 76-5

Ohio State 214–36, margin of victory 44.5 points (53.5-9)

All powerhouse teams play cupcakes early on so the numbers will be skewed. But the Buckeyes defeated Cincinnati (2-1) and Indiana (3-1) by a combined 93-10 margin. The Ohio State football team is taking care of business regardless who they play.

All five teams are playing excellent football and will definitely be in the mix for the College Football Playoff. I’m simply stating at this point in the season Ohio State deserves to be ranked in the top four.