Ohio State football: Hated teams to fuel offseason workouts

Ohio State football players have every reason to hate the Clemson Tigers after suffering postseason losses in recent years. .

Three losses to Clemson over the last seven years, two denying the Ohio State football team a shot at playing for the national championship, are solid reasons to consider the Tigers enemy No. 1.

They’re not, and it’s not even close.

Ideally, as the team heads into spring practices, the goal is to get better.  Striving to be Best in America (B.I.A) as Jeffrey Okudah preaches, should be the primary motivating factor for the players, not using other teams as fuel.

That’s fine, but a little extra incentive never hurts to maximize performance. Right?

Here is the pecking order of most hated teams for Ohio State:

Michigan

This goes without saying.  Regardless of record, recent history in the series or significance of the outcome in the Game on the conference race, Michigan is and always will be the most hated team.

Forget all the nonsense about the health of the rivalry being better when there’s a balance of power between these programs. The rivalry is just as intense, perhaps more so, when one program is dominating the other.

Think I’m wrong?  Some Buckeye fan drove a Michigan co-worker to seek help from Dear Abby.

For the record, I am not advocating bullying Michigan fans so much that they seek out America’s favorite advice columnist for support. It is funny though.

Rest of the Big Ten

Even in the new era of college football where it feels like a successful season hinges on making the College Football Playoff, winning the Big Ten remains a higher priority.

Besides, 2016 was an anomaly.  Most seasons, making the playoff won’t happen unless Ohio State wins the conference anyway.

That is why I place the other 13 teams, even Rutgers, higher than any non-conference foe.