As Spring practice is now behind us, it is time to revisit the Top 10 preseason rankings. Ohio State checks in behind Alabama as the No. 2 team in the country.
Spring practices are complete, and the Spring Game is behind us. The Ohio State football team conducted its annual scrimmage with an offense vs. defense format that showcased some up-and-coming talent. CJ Stroud, Jaxon Smith-Njigba, and TreVeyon Henderson will lead a prolific offense in 2022.
The Buckeyes’ unit was the best in the country a year ago, and the experience under their belts will only enhance those numbers. Stroud will have one of the top offensive lines in the nation and elite skill position players such as JSN, Marvin Harrison Jr, Emeka Egbuka, Julien Fleming, and more.
However, the college football world has its eyes on the Silver Bullets. Ohio State has not fielded a trustable defense in four of the last five seasons. That streak will end in 2022 under Jim Knowles’s scheme. The Spring Game was a vanilla defensive strategy, but the players had a different edge. Knowles knows installing his defense will take time, but it will be worth the wait once September rolls around.
It’s no secret Ohio State and Alabama have the best players in the country: CJ Stroud, Bryce Young, Will Anderson Jr, and Jaxon Smith-Njjgba. The Buckeyes and Crimson Tide will be the two best teams in the country in 2022 by a wide margin, in my estimation.
There will be a sizable gap between those two teams and the third-ranked team throughout the season. The more time passes, the more confident I become in picking Ohio State and Alabama in the National Championship, despite tough schedules.
Let’s take a look at my post-Spring Top 10:
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Clemson
- Notre Dame
- Michigan
- Texas A&M
- Texas
- Oklahoma
- Utah
My top-3 remains unchanged before the Spring, but Texas leaps to the Top-10. We will see what the Longhorns are all about in September when they have a date with Nick Saban and Alabama. Quinn Ewers and Bijan Robinson will be a tough duo to slow down in the Fall.
Image Credit: The Ohio State University Department of Athletics
Blake Biscardi, a native of Pickerington, Ohio, is The Silver Bulletin’s Senior Editor and Host of the Saturday Cadence podcast, a national college football show. As a trusted voice on Ohio State, the Big Ten, and College Football Playoff since 2016, Blake has worked multiple ventures, namely FanSided (2018-2021) before TSB. Blake is a proud member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) and a two-time Graduate of Temple University in Philadelphia.