The Ohio State Buckeyes are still the biggest fish in their Big Ten ecosystem, but the conference has changed to the point that it's no longer a small pond. The B1G is an ocean now. Specifically, one that the Pacific Ocean flows into now.
As CBS Sports' Brad Crawford wrote, the Buckeyes have a chance of losing three games this season because of the changing landscape. Crawford mentioned the USC Trojans and Oregon Ducks, two West Coast teams that are entering year three in the Big Ten, and the defending champion Indiana Hoosiers, who are moving like a new team, considering their newfound portal spending on the gridiron.
"No longer is Ohio State's roster head-and-shoulders better than the other elites in the Big Ten. USC just signed the No. 1 class in recruiting for the first time in 20 years, while the Ducks and Hoosiers continue to go on shopping sprees in the transfer portal. Nine wins might be enough to garner attention from the CFP selection committee when you consider this overall gauntlet the Buckeyes must endure," Crawford wrote.
Ohio State could destroy this narrative in 2026
While Ohio State's 2026 schedule is far and away the most difficult in the country, the Buckeyes also have the best odds to win the CFP next January, along with Indiana, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, and the Texas Longhorns, as of this writing.
Clearly, established NFL coaching talent all over the staff, a Heisman candidate returning at quarterback, a veteran offensive line that had minimal turnover in the offseason, the deepest receiving corps in the country, a surprisingly deep running back room, a secondary that brought in high-upside transfers, a defensive front that's added high-upside transfers from Nick Saban's final Alabama Crimson Tide recruiting class, and a linebacker room that's got intriguing talent, some of whom just played with top NFL draft picks Arvell Reese and Sonny Styles, is enough ammunition for analysts to be high on Ohio State overcoming their imposing gauntlet ahead of them.
Crawford did say the Buckeyes have a 12-0 ceiling, after all. If 9-3 is the worst-case scenario, then everything clicking again like last year means the rest of the Big Ten is in serious trouble.
Maybe the power didn't shift after all. Perhaps there's just more of an openness to teams from the West Coast with deep pockets to actually win football championships for the first time in over two decades.
In the end, though, it may be a blue-blood coming back to collect, as it is almost every year besides 2025.
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