Ohio State Football: Early 2020 CFP contenders include surprise team

The Ohio State football team will be among college football’s strongest contenders for the CFP during the 2020-21 season along with one surprise team from the SEC.

It’s only been just over a month since college football ended, but that never stops the public from looking ahead to next year. In fact, most of the college football world is going through withdrawal from their team right about this time of year.

So let’s take a look at which teams could be contenders for the CFP in 2020.

The usual suspects will be among the top choices to make the Final Four with Clemson leading the way due to their schedule favorability. Trevor Lawrence is back and so is Travis Etienne to lead an offense with plenty of firepower. I don’t see anyone slowing down the Tigers during the regular season.

Coming in just behind Clemson is familiar CFP foe Ohio State. The Buckeyes return QB Justin Fields who should improve to an even higher level than from a year ago as well as the best receiving corps in the country.

Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson lead that group of stars that will also feature true freshman action similar to the kind both Olave and Wilson saw in their first years.

The third of the usual contenders will be Alabama, of course, but I’m not fully confident in the Crimson Tide. The QB position is unknown and so is their defense so Saban will have his hands full.

I do expect him to figure it out, but one thing that’s abundantly clear is the Tide will not be able to put a QB truly comparable to Lawrence or Fields on the field which is the reason I cannot pick them to get further than a semifinal at best.

LSU looks to be a one and done, but another SEC team will rise and it’s not Georgia either. The Florida Gators are an attractive CFP pick and this year I’m buying stock in Dan Mullen and company.

I like Kyle Trask at quarterback as well as the stout defense and it wouldn’t surprise me in the least bit if Florida stuns Alabama in Atlanta to steal a playoff spot on the final weekend.

Oklahoma should get put on playoff probation after their last few postseason showings, but such is life they’ll be back in the thick of things as one of the contenders again in 2020. No Baker Mayfield, Kyler Murray or Jalen Hurts for Lincoln Riley this year, but instead he’ll get phenom Spencer Rattler to lead the way.

The Sooners should roll through the Big 12 as Rattler makes a name for himself, but regency bias will be hard to overlook when it comes to Selection Sunday and Oklahoma.

Another team to watch for is the Penn State Nittany Lions as a second team from the Big Ten getting into the field if they can manage to survive their schedule with only one loss. James Franklin has recruited well despite a falter in this last class so there is plenty of talent in State College as well as speed.

Sean Clifford is back at QB, and if a replacement for KJ Hamler can step up the offense will be fine. The defense will be strong and stout much like last year, but can they take the next step and play that well for sixty minutes against an opponent like Ohio State?

If I got the option to choose between these teams or the field for the CFP, I’d take these teams. Clemson and Ohio State appear to be the two best and have separation between them and the rest of the teams in the country.

At this point, I would imagine the 2020-21 CFP would be Clemson vs. Alabama and Ohio State vs Florida, with the Tigers and the Buckeyes getting a rematch of last year’s Fiesta Bowl in the National Championship.