Ohio State Re-Enters AP Poll

Teams that call the Big Ten and PAC-12 home have not been eligible to be ranked in the AP Poll for the last two weeks. No team was more effected than Ohio State- as they were ranked #2 in the preseason AP Poll, and received 21 first-place votes, and have had to sit unranked for the last two weeks.

Most Big 12 teams and every SEC team began their seasons Saturday, while the Big Ten still is about a month away from kicking off their 2020 campaign, but now everyone, active season or not, is eligible to be ranked in the AP Poll.

Many believed the Buckeyes would return to the #2 spot, despite not yet playing. However several AP voters decided they would only vote for teams who have played this year, although just last week several SEC teams were ranked highly even though they also hadn’t yet played.

The Buckeyes received just four first-place votes in this week’s AP Poll, placing them at #6. Ohio State now looks up in the poll to #1 Clemson, #2 Alabama, #3 Florida, #4 Georgia, and #5 Notre Dame.

Other Big Ten teams returning to the poll are Penn State (#10), Wisconsin (#19), and Michigan (#23). Minnesota and Iowa, despite being ranked in the preseason poll, have dropped from the rankings.

Of course, the rankings will change drastically once Ohio State and other Big Ten teams start playing and proving themselves on the field. The Buckeyes will likely have to play catch-up to get back to their #2 spot- but having a week two match-up with Penn State will certainly help, as they could take a large leap in the rankings with a quality road win, white-out or not.

The AP Poll is released weekly on Sunday afternoons, it will be interesting to see where the Buckeyes land each week prior to the start of the season.