The Ohio State Buckeyes got slotted a few spots behind where they should be in a couple of post-spring Top-25 rankings.
Spring Ball around the country is officially wrapped up, and every team's offseason programs are through the first phase, just as every team is taking inventory of their rosters and of their outlook, so too are the national media.
There are story lines all throughout the country, such as the heater that Penn State is on under Matt Campbell, the perceived incredible Fighting Irish team in South Bend, Indiana, and the veteran Oregon Ducks out west, just to name a few.
In Columbus, it was a fairly status quo Spring session. There was no real drama in the Buckeyes program, and there are a lot of question marks well on their way to being answered.
The 2026-27 Buckeyes will go as far as their quarterback and their transfers are willing to take them. The quarterback was the main reason why a team that had four top-11 picks and five top-36 picks didn't win a playoff game.
He is going to need to be much better next season, and the transfers on the defensive line and at the wide receiver position are going to be the storylines of this team.
With all of that in mind, two Post-Spring Top 25s were released on Monday, and in both, the Buckeyes were further down than they probably would have liked to be.
The first one was Joel Klatt's ranking. Klatt, who is usually a big Ohio State truther, has the Buckeyes slotted in the third overall position.
He has the Oregon Ducks and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish ahead of Ohio State. That may not be all that far off line as both of those programs are continuing to ascend. Both of them are going to start getting desperate for a title for the same reasons.
Neither of those coaches has an infinite leash, and at some point, they are going to have to get the job done.
The other ranking that was released was college football analyst Josh Pate. Pate just doesn't choose at random; he puts a lot of data points into each selection. Similar to Klatt, Pate has the Buckeyes a little further down than they want to be or they expect to be.
Pate slots the Buckeyes as the No. 4 team in the country behind Notre Dame, Texas, and Oregon, one slot ahead of the No. 5 Miami Hurricanes.
It isn't egregious, but it is enough to land on the Buckeyes' bulletin boards throughout the facility. There is a lot of work to be done for Ohio State as they try to put another run together back to the College Football Playoff National Championship.
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