The Ohio State football team will come into the 2025 season as the defending national champs. They have been basking in that glory all offseason long, although they did not win the Big Ten. In fact, the Ohio State Buckeyes haven’t won the Big Ten since the 2020 season.
Winning the conference is no longer a prerequisite to winning the national championship. With the College Football Playoff including 12 teams, the Buckeyes just have to get hot at the end of the year, as they showed in 2024. Still, winning the Big Ten is one of their stated goals every year.
The Big Ten media doesn’t believe that the Buckeyes will do that. According to them, Penn State will actually win the conference over Ohio State. 30 votes were given to the Nittany Lions, while just 23 were given to Ohio State. Three votes were given to Oregon, as well.
The Big Ten media disrespects the Ohio State football team in preseason poll
Despite the fact that the Nittany Lions haven’t won the Big Ten since 2016, which is their only conference title since the Big Ten Championship Game started, the media has faith in them climbing that mountain this year. That’s a surprising result considering their history.
Penn State clearly still has an Ohio State problem. 2016 is the only season in which James Franklin has been able to beat the Buckeyes, as he is just 1-10 against Ohio State since taking over the head coaching position with the Nittany Lions. The Buckeyes just simply own Penn State.
This season, Ohio State gets Penn State at home. That’s the toughest game on paper they have in the conference, but the toughest game for them is still The Game. Beating TTUN what they will be focused on coming into this season more than anything else.
Unless Penn State can come into the Shoe and beat Ohio State, they likely won’t win the Big Ten. Based on Franklin’s track record, it’s highly unlikely that they are able to win that game. They also have to play Oregon, Indiana, and Iowa in conference play.
