The Ohio State football team is trying to defend a national championship for the first time since 2014. It's going to be a tall task with how many starters they lost. Ohio State is still one of the most talented teams in the country because it didn't lose either of its two best players.
As long as they have Jeremiah Smith on offense and Caleb Downs on defense, they should be considered one of the favorites to win the national championship. Vegas likes its chances to repeat, but apparently, ESPN doesn't believe in them the same way.
ESPN has the Football Power Index, which they tout as their advanced analytics tool, doesn't seem to hold the Ohio State Buckeyes in as much favor as some pundits do. In fact, they have them lower than almost any other pundit does in the preseason polls, based on their numbers.
ESPN's FPI deeply disrespects the Ohio State football team
According to their FPI, the Buckeyes sit fourth in the country. They sit behind Texas, Georgia, and Alabama. Mind you, this is the same Alabama team that lost three games last year and missed out on the College Football Playoff under Kalen DeBoer. Penn State sits fifth.
It's very clear that ESPN has an SEC bias when it comes to calculating whatever formula they have for the FPI. Georgia shouldn't be ranked ahead of the Buckeyes, either. They lost just as much talent as Ohio State did, but they aren't the ones coming off a national championship.
Alabama is lower in almost every metric that ESPN posts for the FPI, so it doesn't make sense that they are higher than Ohio State. The only metric in which they are not lower is the chance to win the national title. They are tied with the Buckeyes with a 10.8% chance to win the championship.
Bias within networks has gotten worse than it has ever been. ESPN isn't the only culprit with this, either. FOX has a very clear Big Ten bias with all of their broadcasts, as well. It's time for a little more impartiality in college football, which is unlikely to happen.