Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that
you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
Since we are all level-headed, sensible people, we can all agree that the Ohio State Buckeyes are clearly the No. 1 team in college football. It’s not up for debate; it is a fact as much as the Earth is round (just don’t ask Kyrie). So, in this week’s Ohio State fan survey, we wanted to know who the intelligent and ball-knowing experts in Buckeye Nation think is the No. 2 team.
The other question we asked was about what you thought the result would be for tonight’s game between the Buckeyes and the Minnesota Golden Gophers. As always, we asked for the winner and the margin of victory.
Today, we have the results. So, check them out below (along with my thoughts and feelings), and if the answers that your fellow fans put forth don’t jive with how you see things, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments at the bottom of the page.
Question 1: Who is the second-best team in the country?
This is where I am officially at as well, but not by the margin that the Buckeye electorate is. I don’t think that Penn State is an especially good team, so I am a little curious as to why the game was so close last weekend. That being said, it was a night game, on the other side of the country, in an electric Whiteout environment. So, I will give the Ducks the benefit of the doubt.
In this week’s episode of the “No Fall Weddings” podcast, both Jami Jurich and I had Oregon as our No. 2 teams with Miami at No. 3. It will be interesting to see how Miami does against Florida State this weekend. If they look dominant, I could see the Canes moving their way up the list.
Honestly, I think that, as of this point in the season, those are the only teams in the running to be great this season. Obviously, it’s a long season, and teams grow and change, but nobody else has looked nearly as talented or cohesive to challenge the top three. And since we know that the Buckeyes still have a lot of untapped offensive potential, it’s kind of exciting to think just how much distance they might be able to put between themselves and the field as they continue to figure things out.
Question 2: What will the margin of victory be in Saturday’s game against Minnesota?
On Sunday, the FanDuel Sportsbook opened its betting at OSU -22.5. Since then, it has risen to 23.5 points. The gold standard college football analytics system, SP+, has it as a 33-12 game in favor of the Buckeyes, which is 21 points. Fairly similar, but nearly a field goal difference.
Earlier in the week, I said I was going to go 42-0, but I lessened that a little bit, and in this morning’s “Land-Grant Tailgate Podcast” and in LGHL’s official predictions article, I went 42-3. So, I guess I would be in that 36-42 point range with 10% of the Buckeye respondents.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys.
