The Ohio State Buckeyes are rolling through the season, and Nick Saban says that the Buckeyes and these two teams stand above the rest.
There has been some chatter this week from the ESPN Network about the Ohio State Buckeyes.
NFL Analyst Dan Orlavsky claimed on Thursday with a viral clip slightly discrediting what the Buckeyes have done this year. This sparked quite the conversation in a negative way for the Buckeyes.
On the other side of the coin, legendary head coach Nick Saban made a bold on Friday about the Buckeyes and the top teams in college football.
On the Pat McAfee show, Saban stated that there are three teams that are a "cut above", with the Buckeyes being one of the three programs.
"There are three teams that have proven they are a cut above: A&M, Ohio State, and Indiana. Those three teams have shown that they are a cut above the other teams. The other teams are good enough to beat them, but they all have their flaws."
I tend to argue that the Buckeyes stand even above the other teams in that group that Saban listed. However, his argument is the right one; these three teams have separated themselves from the rest of the league.
From the Ohio State viewpoint, the Buckeyes are on a crash course to take on the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship game in the first week of December. The primetime matchup would spark a lot of conversation about the importance of that game and how teams should approach a Conference Championship contest.
If each team holds serve, which I anticipate that they will, the College Football world will be blessed with a game between two of the top teams in the league.
For Texas A&M, they are on a mission to take the crown in the SEC. They are the frontrunners right now to face any of Alabama, Georgia, or maybe even Ole Miss if it really gets crazy in the loaded conference.
After those three teams, the next tier does include those three teams, with Notre Dame being added in on the fringe.
The Notre Dame conversation is fascinating, as they lost to A&M by one point and Miami by three. The loss to Miami continues to look worse as the Hurricanes stumble through their season. If they do make it in, they will be fighting an uphill battle to take down the real contenders.
Those are the seven teams that have a real chance at making a run at the National Championship. Outside of that grouping, everyone else is there for fun.
Saban called his shot with this statement, but many in Columbus probably would go a step further. It's Ohio State, a gap, and then the rest of the country. Happy hunting to those trying to chase down the Buckeyes.