Pre-season predictions are, in fact, looking very positive for some of the area teams.
The Ohio State Buckeyes of course are rated in the top-3 of most of the major pre-season polls, fighting around Alabama, mainly. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, most of their schedule is favorable. Alabama is not so fortunate.
In fact, the Buckeyes are even getting love from Phil Steele. Steele, as you know, writes possibly the most comprehensive college preseason football guide. How good is he? His preseason conference picks have ranked number two for the last three years and number one for the last five to ten years.
Why do we care? Well, Steele picked the Buckeyes, “Bama” Jr. College, and the Oklahoma “Boomer Sooners” to compete for the National Championship. Unfortunately, he picked “Oklanoma” to beat the Buckeyes.
Ultimately, strength of schedule was the deciding factor. Alabama, Ohio State and Oklahoma ranked one through three, respectively. “Bama’s” schedule in the SEC was the roughest and most likely to keep them out of the big game, according to Steele. Ohio State, with juggernauts like Marshall and Eastern Michigan, and Oklahoma, have a less stout non-conference schedule.
Aside for things looking up for Ohio State, even the Cincinnati Bengals are getting love as well. Cincinnati is in the top six or seven power rankings in the NFL, depending on where you look and who you listen to. Unfortunately, the Bengals play just about anyone who is anyone in the NFL this year, and division rival Baltimore is ranked in the top three of about every NFL poll. Not an easy schedule for Cincinnati by any means, but they’ll still end up with more wins than the Browns.
Locally, even the Wittenberg Tigers, coming off of a good tournament run last season, are getting pre-season love, as they’re ranking in the top ten in various pre-season polls.
High school football is starting to heat up in the area, and many teams look good. Springfield High leads the pack, as the Wildcats return a strong squad led by 5-star recruit Trey DePriest and QB George Walker.
The point? It’s time to start looking ahead to football season. Stay tuned for more as the pre-season progresses!
