As far as Ohio St's defense, it should be improved. They might have the best defensive line in the country. Linebackers could be solid too. Secondary is the big concern on defense.
But the biggest factor is their schedule. Yes, they have to play @Michigan St, but what else? Their next toughest game might actually be @Penn St.
I'm not in love with the pick, I've been going back and forth between Ohio St, Oklahoma, Baylor, and UCLA as the 4th team (with FSU, Bama, Oregon as the first 3). I wouldn't object to any of those 4 teams.
BTW, taking schedule out of it, I'd probably put Auburn in, but their schedule is brutal.
UCLA and Oregon won't both make the final 4. No conference will have 2 teams unless its the SEC
As far as Ohio St's defense, it should be improved. They might have the best defensive line in the country. Linebackers could be solid too. Secondary is the big concern on defense.
But the biggest factor is their schedule. Yes, they have to play @Michigan St, but what else? Their next toughest game might actually be @Penn St.
I'm not in love with the pick, I've been going back and forth between Ohio St, Oklahoma, Baylor, and UCLA as the 4th team (with FSU, Bama, Oregon as the first 3). I wouldn't object to any of those 4 teams.
BTW, taking schedule out of it, I'd probably put Auburn in, but their schedule is brutal.
UCLA and Oregon won't both make the final 4. No conference will have 2 teams unless its the SEC
Call me crazy but I don't think bama will win the SEC this year. History has shown you can't sustain that kind of dominance. It seems to me that picking bama is mostly because it's a safe pick. They're coming off an 0-2 record in their last two games, and they still haven't named a QB. It also doesn't bode well for them that they were picked by the local media to win the SEC, having only successfully predicted that outcome in four of the last 22 years. Just because everybody and their brother's final four seems to be FSU, Oklahoma, Al, and OSU I'm going to change it up a little
FSU- for obvious reasons
Oregon- Oregon is a tough place to play and they have most of their toughest opponents at home
Iowa- very favorable home schedule and don't have MSU, UM, or OSU on the regular season schedule and returning some key players
Miss. State- They get LSU early. They catch bama after a visit to Death Valley. They also had one of the toughest defenses last year holding six teams to a season low, not to mention one of the top QBs in the conference.
Call me crazy but I don't think bama will win the SEC this year. History has shown you can't sustain that kind of dominance. It seems to me that picking bama is mostly because it's a safe pick. They're coming off an 0-2 record in their last two games, and they still haven't named a QB. It also doesn't bode well for them that they were picked by the local media to win the SEC, having only successfully predicted that outcome in four of the last 22 years. Just because everybody and their brother's final four seems to be FSU, Oklahoma, Al, and OSU I'm going to change it up a little
FSU- for obvious reasons
Oregon- Oregon is a tough place to play and they have most of their toughest opponents at home
Iowa- very favorable home schedule and don't have MSU, UM, or OSU on the regular season schedule and returning some key players
Miss. State- They get LSU early. They catch bama after a visit to Death Valley. They also had one of the toughest defenses last year holding six teams to a season low, not to mention one of the top QBs in the conference.
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