Why not Ohio State?

In what has to be one of the craziest college football seasons in the history of the sport, my Ohio State Buckeyes are #1 with three games to go. Despite having the best defense in the country (statistically anyway) and a balanced offense with many weapons, almost no one believes that they can win the national championship.

This is asinine. All that they have done is win every game. You can't say the same thing for any of the other schools that are supposed to be better. I don't want to hear about their week schedule either. In a year when so many top-10 teams have fallen to un-ranked opponents, strength of schedule almost has no meaning. (Besides, every one of the teams on their schedule has had at least one crushing defeat.)

The fact is that tOSU has won every game and has rarely been challenged. Even when they have been challenged, like last year's team, the games were never in doubt. Sure, Michigan State pulled to within a touchdown on two defensive scores, but their offense couldn't do anything.

Now, their three toughest games are yet to come. Two of these games are at home, versus Illinois and Wisconsin. The third is in Ann Arbor. None of these opponents offer much to fear. Illinois has been exposed as being too young and not quite ready for the big time. Wisconsin has shown many gaping holes in their defense. And Michigan...what about them? Tressel has won five of six from the Wolverines. Besides, isn't this the same Michigan team that lost to Appalachian State?

I know some will point out that LSU is considered to be the nation's best team, but why? First of all, they can't stop anyone on the goal line or in short yardage situations to save their lives. Secondly, they lost. Yes, Kentucky is a good team and they beat LSU in Lexington. That's a fine excuse until you consider that both Florida (3 losses) and Mississippi State (4 losses) beat Kentucky on its own bluegrass.

The third reason not to consider LSU over tOSU is that the SEC is vastly overrated. They were 2-4 versus major contenders of other BCS conferences (2-5 when you include the whooping Mizzou put on Ole Miss - a team that gave Florida fits). Then, they beat up on each other, but is this a sign of parity or mediocrity? Besides, this debate will probably end once Alabama "upsets" LSU this week.

Ohio State keeps winning games in a variety of ways and this is supposed to be a rebuilding year. It's clichéd, but they haven't rebuilt, they've reloaded. They had to replace key players at every skilled position and haven't missed a beat. Their best defensive linemen are gone and one is out for the season, but their defense is stronger than last year's unit.

I'm tired of hearing the doubters. The Buckeyes have won every game and they deserve to be #1. They will most likely win out and play another undefeated team in New Orleans. This is how the system is supposed to work. So, look for a Buckeyes vs. Eagles/Sun Devils/Jayhawks in January...and feel free to bookmark this page in order to call me out. I can take the criticism, but something tells me I won't have to.