Ohio State football team ranked second in preseason AP Poll

When the preseason polls drop, that means it's real. College football is just around the corner. The Ohio State football team plays a game at the end of the month and will start their hunt for both a Big Ten and a national championship on that date. They are one of the favorites to win both.

We saw the Coaches Poll get released a week ago. On Monday, the AP Poll was released. As far as Ohio State is concerned, they weren't expecting much change in their rankings. They were second in the Coaches Poll and expected to be around the same in the AP Poll.

That ended up being true. The Buckeyes are second in the preseason AP Poll as well. Only Georgia is ahead of them, just like the Coaches Poll. It makes the Buckeyes the highest-ranked Big Ten team as well, with several other Big Ten teams behind them.

The Ohio State football team is ranked second in the preseason AP Poll

While Ohio State did get some first-place votes in this poll as well, they weren't close to being at the top. That's perfectly fine with them. They know that it's not where you start the season ranked that matters, it's where you finish. They just want to be in the top 12 when the season ends.

Ohio State would have a shot to get into that top spot if they beat Oregon on October 12th. That's the toughest game on their schedule and the Ducks are a top-five team in the polls as well. It would be a road win that would be an exclamation point on their CFP resume.

The Buckeyes will be ready for the start of the season. All of their position battles should be finished by then. Pretty soon, it's going to be time to just go out and dominate.