Three Ohio State football teams that lived up to the preseason hype

2. 2020 Ohio State football team

This Ohio State football team almost never got a chance to play. Kevin Warren stupidly tried to cancel the season because of COVID-19. Instead, the players rallied everyone to put an enormous amount of pressure on him to actually allow a season to be played, even if it ended up being shortened.

Justin Fields was one of the guys who was the vocal cause of getting the Big Ten to play. After some work, the Big Ten eventually allowed a season to be played. Ohio State didn't start playing until October that season and didn't even play a full regular season. In fact, they played just five games.

Still, one of the reasons why Fields and the rest of the players lobbied so hard to play is because they knew they had a chance to win a national championship. Hype surrounded them from the moment the 2019 season ended because a lot of great players were returning.

Ohio State would go on to bludgeon Clemson in the Sugar Bowl in order to win a berth in the National Championship Game against Alabama. It was a team that had finally lived up to the hype and was playing for a chance to win it all.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 ravaged the team and really put a damper on the depth they had. Defensively, they weren't prepared for the Crimson Tide's onslaught. It was a game that got out of hand in the second quarter and they lost. Still, it was a season that had lived up to the hype.

The final team that lived up to the hype was perhaps the best Ohio State football team I've ever seen.