Buckeye fans aren’t exactly buying into the idea of an Ohio State runaway in the regular season.
That’s the takeaway from a fan survey asking Buckeye Nation to forecast the team’s record, and the numbers point to plenty of caution even with the season about to kick off. A full 94% of respondents said Ohio State would take at least one loss during the regular season, a strong sign of how daunting the schedule looks.
And it’s not hard to see why. Ohio State’s slate includes road trips to Texas, Indiana, Iowa, and USC, plus home games against Oregon and Michigan.
Ryan Day’s team is also set to face six preseason-ranked opponents, with Illinois, Nebraska, and Northwestern also in the mix. The Northwestern note comes with the added wrinkle of an offense led by Chip Kelly.
Even with that level of difficulty, the fan base still found a way to keep some confidence intact. The most common prediction was not undefeated, but that doesn’t mean people are panicking.
One vote stood out from the rest of the crowd: 11-1. That was the choice made by the author of the survey recap, who described it as “the most biased of the semi-hinged predictions.”
That pick came with a clear belief in the team’s upside. The offense, in the writer’s view, could be the best of Ryan Day’s tenure, and Matt Patricia’s defense was expected to stay at an elite level, even if it does not quite match last year’s standard. The transfer portal class was cited as part of the reason for that confidence.
There’s still a recognition that the season could swing in any direction on any Saturday, especially with a schedule this packed. But the outlook remains bullish enough to leave room for a strong finish when the postseason arrives.
The wider college football fan survey told a similar story of confidence, at least in one place and a little less so in another. In the Big Ten, 42% of fans picked Ohio State to win the conference, despite the league’s balance and depth. In the SEC, Georgia was the clear favorite at 56%.
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