I live in Columbus — Bexley, to be exact — and covered many Ohio State games from 2014-20, but focus more on Dayton Flyers and Wittenberg Tigers football these days. I’m far from an Ohio State homer, having grown up east of Cincinnati, where I didn’t know many Ohio State fans.
Having said that, I’ve been wary of looking like a homer in the last four years, and that may have played a part in ranking other teams No. 1 at the start of the season.
The AP advises voters, “Base your vote on performance, not reputation. Avoid regional bias, for or against. Your local team does not deserve any special handling when it comes to your ballot. Pay attention to head-to-head results. Please be advised: ‘homerism’ will be challenged and could lead to dismissal from the poll board.”
There’s no danger of that with this vote. Fourteen other voters put Ohio State at No. 1 on their ballots in the 2024 preseason poll released Monday. The Buckeyes returned a number of key players and hit the transfer portal hard, building a roster that should get them back to the top of the Big Ten and into a strong position in the expanded College Football Playoff bracket.
Ohio State ranked second behind Georgia, which received 46 first-place votes and is the preseason No. 1 for the second straight year. No. 3 Oregon received one first-place vote.
No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Alabama, No. 6 Ole Miss, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 Penn State, No. 9 Michigan and No. 10 Florida State rounded out the top 10.
I had all those teams in my top 10 except Penn State and Michigan, who were No. 11 and No. 12 in my poll.
Here’s my top 10: No. 1 Ohio State; No. 2 Georgia; No. 3 Texas; No. 4 Alabama; No. 5 Oregon; No. 6 Florida State; No. 7 Utah; No. 8 Ole Miss; No. 9 Clemson; and No. 10 Notre Dame.
I didn’t take many risks with my poll this year — outside of being one of two voters to include UTSA — though I’ve been known to do that over the years. Last year, I was high on Colorado early after their strong start, and the Buffaloes fell apart down the stretch.
I tend to vote on resumes and award teams with strong victories. That means Ohio State could lose my top vote early this season because they open with Akron, Western Michigan and Marshall.
Georgia, on the other hand, plays Clemson in its opener. The winner of that game could move to No. 1 in my poll.
The winner of the Georgia-Alabama game on Sept. 28 might knock Ohio State out of my top spot, too, if I still have the Buckeyes No. 1 then.
It’s a long season, though, and I like to be flexible with my picks, willing to move teams around. It makes for a more interesting poll.
The College Football Playoff poll overshadows the AP poll late in the season, but the AP remains important mostly because of its history, in my opinion — it’s been going since 1936. It’s also just a ton of fun for sports fans and generates debate, which leads to more publicity for the game. Fans also love to blast sports writers on social media. The poll gives them a great excuse to do that.
I’ve received just as much love as hate over the last four seasons and welcome both as the 2024 season approaches.
About the Author
