Scarlet Sunrise: Buckeyes among teams most likely to make College Football Playoff field
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Buckeyes among teams most likely to make College Football Playoff field
Ohio State is among the favorite to win the Big Ten and national title, according to the folks in the desert who create the odds boards. The folks in Bristol, Connecticut, agree.
ESPN released its percentages for teams with a chance to make the first-ever 12-team College Football Playoff field this fall, and the Buckeyes have the fourth-best odds to make it. Only Georgia (78 percent chance to make it), Oregon (76%) and Texas (68%) have a better chance, according to the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader In Sports.
Ohio State checks in with a 76-percent chance, ahead of Notre Dame and Penn State (59%), Alabama (57%), Missouri, Tennessee and Oklahoma (37%), Florida State (36%) and Michigan (28%).
No other Big Ten teams have better than a 16-percent chance according to ESPN.
Why Lathan Ransom is so underrated
Pick a watch list or preseason All-American team, any of them. You’ll see a heavy Ohio State presence on any of them, especially on the defensive side of the ball.
That’s all warranted, because this Buckeyes defense is absolutely loaded. And the safety spot is always represented by second-year safety Caleb Downs, who is nearly a unanimous choice as a preseason All-American. And rightfully so.
One notable absence from it all, though, is fifth-year safety Lathan Ransom. Yes, senior safety who has started games across all four seasons for the Buckeyes is completely out of the national picture entering this year.
It doesn’t really matter how or why the college football landscape has forgotten about Ransom. Ohio State certainly hasn’t. And Ransom loves the lack of spotlight on him ahead of the season opener against Akron in just a week and a half.
READ MORE: Lathan Ransom entering season as under-the-radar star for Buckeyes
ICYMI: Six Buckeyes featured on AP All-American teams
The AP released its preseason first- and second-team All-American lists on Monday, a week after the voters in the AP Poll voted the Buckeyes No. 2 and one spot behind top-ranked Georgia to open the season. Four Buckeyes are on the preseason first-team list — more than any other school in the country.
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The six total players selected on the first- and second-team are more than any other school in the country.
On offense, star left guard Donovan Jackson is a first-team choice for the Buckeyes. He’s entering his third year as the starting left guard for this offense. The other offensive star on the first-team list is senior wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, who was voted one of the Buckeyes’ team captains this past weekend.
Notably, neither TreVeyon Henderson nor Quinshon Judkins, the two star tailbacks for the Buckeyes, made the first-team list. Henderson is on the AP’s second team.
Safety Caleb Downs, a freshman All-American last year at Alabama, is on the list as he prepares for his second year of college football — and first at Ohio State. Downs transferred in January and has high expectations as one of the best safeties in the country. He and senior cornerback Denzel Burke are first-team selections. Senior defensive tackle Tyleik Williams is a second-team selection for the Buckeyes.
READ MORE: Four Buckeyes selected to AP preseason All-American team
Counting down
Buckeyes vs. Akron: 10 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 101 days
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