Paul Finebaum: We're not paying enough attention to Ohio State

The two SEC power house programs, Georgia and Alabama, that played in the National Championship game last season have rightfully dominated offseason headlines heading into the 2022 season. But college football insider Paul Finebaum believes that the Ohio State Buckeyes deserve some more attention as a team that could appear in the College Football Playoff and ultimately win it all.

“I think the school that we’re probably not paying enough attention to, even though they’re number two, is Ohio State. I mean they are legitimate Matt, you know that, everybody watching should know that. And while we all fall in love with Nick Saban’s teams on a yearly basis, this could be the year for Ohio State,” Finebaum said.

The Buckeyes were ranked No.2 in the Preseason AP Top 25 Poll, but have struggled in recent history with starting off the season on the right foot, which Finebaum also addressed.

“I think they’ve cleaned that up a little bit, they made some pretty serious changes, as everyone in Buckeye land knows, at the defensive coordinator position. They’re better suited this year, they had a miserable start last year, remember that Oregon game where they just got run off the field at their own stadium, I know the score didn’t indicate that,” Finebaum said.

Oregon got up big against the Buckeyes last season in the third quarter by 14 points and held them off to defeat them 35-28 in week two of the season. That blemish stayed on their record for the entirety of the season, where eventually Michigan also defeated the Buckeyes in the Big Ten championship and secured a spot in the College Football Playoff.

“But there is so much energy, and strength, and talent on that team, of course Alabama you can’t ignore them even though they’re number one, they have the best two players in the country at the quarterback position in Bryce Young and Will Anderson Jr. who’s an all-world player on the defensive side,” Finebaum said.

The Buckeyes do bring back a lot of firepower and talent from last year that’s comparable to Alabama, who they could potentially see down the road in the College Football Playoff if they both take care of business during the regular season. But for now, the Buckeyes have their eyes and attention on their week one primetime matchup versus Notre Dame, as they try to avoid any regular season slip ups towards their path to championship success this season.