As Ohio State looks toward its first game against Notre Dame, many national sports websites have fixed their eyes on what lies after the regular season by submitting their College Football Playoff predictions.
CBS Sports, The Athletic and Sporting News were among the many outlets to send their staff writers’ picks to the public. The Buckeyes were a unanimous pick to make the CFP as one of the top four teams in the country, with many choosing them to face Alabama in the national title game.
Ohio State’s returning talent on offense offers confidence to writers with a bird’s-eye view of the program. C.J. Stroud will be a Heisman Trophy frontrunner with an entire season of experience. At the same time, Jaxon Smith-Njigba highlights a receiver room with rising stars Marvin Harrison Jr., Julian Fleming and Emeka Egbuka. TreVeyon Henderson also returns with All-American expectations after a breakout year as a freshman.
The only concerns writers possess for the Buckeyes lie with the defense. However, with first-year defensive coordinator Jim Knowles in control, there’s a lot of optimism that Ohio State will reach its full potential defensively as four- and five-star talent roam the field.
To dive deeper into the national websites’ picks, we look at how their CFP predictions turned out and what some of their writers said about Ohio State’s chances to win a national championship in 2022.
CBS SPORTS’ COLLEGE FOOTBALL STAFF
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Clemson
Highest Ranking: No. 1 by Tom Fornelli
Lowest Ranking: No. 2 by all other writers
CBS Sports staff writer Chip Patterson picked Ohio State to win the national championship this season. He thinks Stroud and Smith-Njigba will thrive in Ryan Day’s offense and believes Henderson is poised for another strong year running the football. With Jim Knowles now handling the defense, the Buckeyes have everything Patterson needs to make him feel comfortable picking them to win it all.
“This is not a controversial pick as Ohio State is clearly one of the two or three top selections on the board,” Patterson wrote, “but what has me choosing the Buckeyes over the Tide or a repeat from the Georgia Bulldogs is considering the lessons learned by a team that took its first regular-season losses of the Ryan Day era last season.”
THE ATHLETIC’S COLLEGE FOOTBALL STAFF
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Utah
Highest Ranking: No. 1 by Bruce Feldman
Lowest Ranking: No. 2 by all other writers
Feldman has high hopes for Ohio State, with the team returning much of its offensive talent from last season. He looks forward to Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka developing as sophomores and thinks Julian Fleming will come into his own during his third season in Columbus. Knowing this, Feldman pushed in all his chips for the Buckeyes to win their first title since 2014.
“This will be the best offense Ohio State has ever had. C.J. Stroud will win the Heisman, but TreVeyon Henderson will have almost as big a year, and there’s no better receiver room than the one in Columbus,” Feldman wrote. “Ryan Day made two key hires this offseason that I think really improve the Buckeyes, with Jim Knowles taking over the defense (including a restocked front line) and Justin Frye handling the offensive line. Frye has worked with Ryan Day before and is known for developing talent and being creative in the run game.”
“This will be the best offense Ohio State has ever had.”– Bruce Feldman of The Athletic
The remaining outlets didn't offer context to their predictions. Still, the Buckeyes were considered a cut above with Alabama, Georgia and Clemson as one of the best programs in college football ahead of this season.
SPORTING NEWS’ BILL BENDER
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Clemson
ESPN’S KYLE BONAGURA AND MARK SCHLABACH
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Clemson
USA TODAY’S ERICK SMITH
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Georgia
- Oklahoma
YAHOO! SPORTS AND COLLEGE FOOTBALL NEWS
- Alabama
- Ohio State
- Clemson
- Georgia
Sources for this article include CBS Sports, The Athletic, Sporting News, ESPN, USA TODAY and YAHOO! Sports.
