COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State is No. 1 in college football and some Buckeyes fans are probably feeling torn. Being No. 1: Is that good or bad?
On one hand, who wouldn’t want their favorite team acclaimed as the best in the land?
Then again, things haven’t turned out so well recently when the Buckeyes were leaders of the pack.
“I love it for the Ohio State students and fans, but it’s a big responsibility and opportunity for us,” star quarterback Terrelle Pryor said Sunday. “How we react to being No. 1, and how we stay determined in our focus and in our work habits, will tell us how long we will stay there.”
The Buckeyes (6-0), ranked second all season to Alabama, took advantage of the Crimson Tide’s 35-21 loss at South Carolina to ascend to the top spot in the latest Associated Press rankings released Sunday.
Buckeyes coach Jim Tressel didn’t put a whole lot of stock in being ranked No. 1 with the season just half over.
“You take a look at the top 10 week to week and the precarious nature of any ranking is obvious,” he said Sunday after the Buckeyes beat out Oregon and Boise State to take over the top spot. “Just review the change in the makeup of the top 10 between the beginning of the season until now.”
The Buckeyes have a lot of experience being No. 1. It’s just that not all of those are experiences are positive ones.
A lot of fans were fed up seeing No. 1-ranked Ohio State teams in the national title games after the 2006 and 2007 seasons — and getting humiliated both times.
Being ranked high is nothing new at Ohio State. The Buckeyes have finished in the AP’s top 10 every year since 2005 and seven of the last eight seasons. They have been made 91 consecutive appearances in the AP top 25, the longest current streak in the nation.
The Buckeyes won AP titles in 1942, 1954, 1968 and in Tressel’s second year on the job in 2002. That last team sidestepped a season of close calls while going 14-0, winning seven times by a touchdown or less. But that team wasn’t No. 1 until the very end, capping a season of drama with a Miami 31-24 upset in double overtime over top-ranked Miami.
The Buckeyes then spent all of the 2006 regular season atop the AP poll. With Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Troy Smith leading the way, the Buckeyes rolled through 12 opponents.
There were many who did not think Florida, which slipped through the year with a 12-1 record, could compete with the Buckeyes in the Bowl Championship Series title game in Glendale, Ariz.
But Florida destroyed them 41-14, with Smith and a star-studded offense of future NFL players amassing just 82 yards of total offense.
