The Ohio State Buckeyes have two of the best players in the country in receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs. What they don’t have, though, are the best odds in the Big Ten to win the College Football Playoff National Championship.
That would be the Penn State Nittany Lions, who took a loss to the Buckeyes during the 2024/2025 regular season, but got the ultimate over OSU win this offseason by poaching defensive coordinator Jim Knowles.
ESPN’s Bill Connelly was bullish on the Buckeyes, but not as much as he was on the Nittany Lions.
“Obviously Ohio State has a chance to repeat — that’s how life works when you have blue-chippers galore and two of the five or so best players in the country. But after two years of completed redemption arcs, the ultimate breakthrough and redemption could be on the horizon this fall. After 11 seasons, five AP top-10 finishes and, of course, 10 losses to Ohio State, James Franklin appears to have put together his most complete Penn State team yet, one that has received plenty of hype in the Way-Too-Early rankings,” Connelly wrote.
“An easy early schedule means Penn State probably won’t be tested until about Week 5 this fall. In the meantime, Ohio State and Michigan play huge early games, and we get to keep our eye out for this year’s Indiana, an upstart with just the right transfer alchemy and just the right schedule, and this year’s Illinois, a team that gets just the right breaks and capitalizes on them.”
Penn State has many sure things. Drew Allar is among the most notable, but there’s so much returning talent across both sides of the ball that it’s hard not to favor an experienced squad that just added a championship-level defensive mind.
Ohio State has fewer, with Julian Sayin still a question mark until he proves otherwise, and a running back room with two fewer second-round NFL draft picks.
It’s fair to have faith in the Nittany Lions. Now, at least.
Once the games start and fans realize small-game James Franklin is still the guiding voice in Penn State’s locker room.
