ESPN.com puts the Buckeyes at #2

No, it’s not the preseason Top 25. It’s better than that.

ESPN.com is ranking every college football program over the past ten years. They’ve placed Ohio State at #2, just behind USC. I have every reason to believe that USC’s second national championship in that time frame is the lone reason why the two teams are not flipped.

Ivan Maisel describes Ohio State’s ranking as such….

There may be eight Division I-A schools in the state, but there’s only one that rules it from Toledo to Cincinnati. Coach Jim Tressel has polished the Buckeyes program to a fine sheen.

That’s when it hit me…we’re ranked number 2 over the past decade…and 40% of that decade had our football program at the mercy of John Cooper.

– In 1999, we went 6-6, including allowing 42 unanswered points at home to Wisconsin, and giving up 46 points to Illinois…again, at home, and we lost to Michigan again.
– In 2000, South Carolina humiliated us, we couldn’t beat Michigan again, and we got blown out on HOMECOMING DAY to Minnesota.

Check back in four years, ESPN. When the decade includes a full 10 years of Jim Tressel, you’re going to place us at #1.

Here’s a quick look at the important points of the list….

1. USC
2. Ohio State
3. Texas
4. Florida
5. Oklahoma
6. Michigan
7. Florida State
8. Miami
9. LSU
10. Tennessee

I believe that Texas is overrated on this list. In the past ten years, they have won the Big Twelve exactly one time. One Vince Young season does not make a #3 ranking.

Big Ten teams
2. Ohio State
6. Michigan
13. Wisconsin
21. Penn State
25. Iowa
33. Purdue
52. Minnesota
55. Michigan State
68. Northwestern
84. Illinois
94. Indiana

I’m thinking Michigan State might have gotten the shaft a little bit here. I always view them in the top half of the Big Ten. Putting them 8th is a misrepresentation, in my opinion. Other than that, the list looks like the football standings at the end of just about every season.