Ohio State football: One team to beware of in the Big Ten
By Ryan Stano
The Ohio State football team is the best team in the Big Ten. Even so, there is one team that is up and coming and the Buckeyes need to take note of in the conference.
A Big Ten team has yet to beat the Ohio State football program since Ryan Day took over. He has hardly been tested by any other team in the conference. His dominance was never more prevalent than last season when they went on to play in the National Championship.
This is partially a product of other Big Ten programs falling into a funk. The big guys like Penn State and Michigan were not good a year ago. Penn State will rebound before TTUN does, but they still aren’t the Big Ten team that Buckeye fans need to keep an eye on.
That program is the Indiana Hoosiers. That team is the only team that really gave Ohio State any sort of scare before they faced Alabama a year ago. After a huge lead early in the game, the Buckeyes only were able to beat the Hoosiers by seven points.
Ohio State football doesn’t play IU football overly well
Tom Allen has done a fantastic job getting this team competitive. He has recruited extremely well for what IU is and now has his program in a very interesting place. I believe they are on par with Wisconsin as the second-best team in the conference. They are that well-coached.
The problem for the Hoosiers is that they play in the same division as Ohio State. They’ll never be able to contend for a conference title because they would have to beat the Buckeyes. As much talent as they have and for as well as they seem to play the Buckeyes, that still isn’t going to happen anytime soon.
Allen does have this program in a position where they could compete for a playoff spot in an expanded Playoff. That is an incredible position for him to be in after taking over a program that struggles to win bowl games. If he can get some five-star kids, then Ohio State will really have to take notice.
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Let me be clear; Ohio State doesn’t need to worry about IU too much right now. But if the Hoosiers keep it up, they could be the next biggest threat to the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Conference.