3 teams capable of upsetting Ohio State for Big Ten title this year
By John Buhler
Keep an eye on one of these teams to stun Ryan Day’s Ohio State football program this season.
While Ryan Day has his Ohio State football program humming, the Buckeyes could potentially be upset in conference play to miss out on winning another Big Ten championship.
The reason this is so significant is that that’s what will be required out of Ohio State to punch its ticket back into the College Football Playoff. Though the Big Ten should have several high-quality teams, the gap between No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference is so vast. However, all it takes is one team to play a better 60 minutes than the Buckeyes on one random Saturday this season.
One of these three teams may have what it takes to prevent Ohio State from winning the Big Ten.
Ohio State football: 3 teams who can prevent Buckeyes from winning Big Ten
Scouting Report. Big Ten. Indiana Hoosiers. 3. 813. Pick Analysis. East. player
Indiana could be the second-best team in the Big Ten East again this season
Admittedly, you could name a few other division rivals to potentially play spoiler here. However, there are plenty of reasons the Indiana Hoosiers may have what it takes to stun the Buckeyes this year. Tom Allen’s team is coming off a fantastic season and has a quarterback in Michael Penix Jr. who can hold his own with any signal-caller in the Big Ten. Indiana has some major momentum.
Keep in mind that Indiana nearly beat the Buckeyes in The Horseshoe last year. Along with the Big Ten West champion Northwestern Wildcats, these two teams gave Ohio State the most trouble in the condensed regular season. What makes this year’s matchup all the more intriguing is that it will be in Bloomington, which could give the Hoosiers that little extra boost they may need to win.
This Oct. 23 road date does come after a bye for Ohio State and ahead of the Penn State game. While Ohio State will not overlook either opponent, that is a brutal two-game stretch for the Buckeyes. The only issue for Indiana is last year could be an anomaly. The Hoosiers could easily have three losses to Iowa, Cincinnati and Penn State before the Buckeyes even come to town.
Based on what last season, it would be foolish to cross off the Hoosiers altogether.