Ohio State isn’t one of the two or three best college football teams in the country. At least, they haven’t actually played like it for the majority of the season.

Putting all my Buckeye Bias aside – and it certainly isn’t the fault of the team – but Ohio State has benefited through its ninth game in 2015 from its accomplishments in the 2014 season and preseason expectations. They haven’t really done much to earn a top-3 ranking. Similar to the advantage that Florida State was able to enjoy throughout the entire 2014 regular season, a defending champion with a lot of returning talent is given the benefit of the doubt regarding their schedule and outcomes of games. Fans and analysts, alike, are quick to say, “Until they lose, they’re No. 1.”

I know Ohio State is annually berated and ridiculed for its weak schedule – especially this year – by media talking heads and fans of other schools around the country, but the argument is legitimate. Based on the competition that Ohio State has faced thus far in 2015, and the way they’ve seemingly struggled to pull out their wins, OSU hasn’t been the best team in the country. They’ve just been blessed with a fortunate situation where everyone knows how talented their roster is and entered the season unanimously ranked No.1, so people feel obliged to prevent them from dropping that far in the polls.

But is that fair? Why were we held to a higher standard than Michigan State for the first nine weeks of the season (before MSU blew a 12-point lead in the final two minutes against Nebraska)? Up until this past weekend, it seemed as if OSU and MSU were experiencing vastly similar seasons – winning all their games, despite looking sloppy while doing it. Heck, the Spartans had a big home win over then-awesome Oregon – which looked much better than our best win of the season (Virginia Tech). But, despite doing nothing but winning, MSU saw themselves regularly drop in the rankings from No. 2 to No. 7. But Ohio State held strong in the No. 1 spot despite looking just as unimpressive. Why?

At the end of the day, the bottom line in football is winning. I recognize that. But college football has proven to be different than the NFL over the years. Style points matter and “statements” need to be made. I’m no expert, but I’m confident that the Buckeyes would not have made the 2014 playoffs if they had beaten Wisconsin 21-14 in the Big Ten championship game instead of the 59-0 drubbing that took place. Ohio State earned its way in, while Florida State sleepwalked through an undefeated yet uninspiring regular season. Hindsight is always 20/20, but following the 59-20 beat-down at the hands of Oregon in last year’s semifinal round, the argument that TCU should’ve qualified for the playoffs was much stronger – albeit they should’ve been included over Florida State, not Ohio State. That was never a possibility, however, because the defending champion Seminoles with returning talent were held to the same unfair higher standard.

Look, Ohio State is capable of beating any team in the country – Clemson, Alabama, Michigan, whomever. But this year’s team shouldn’t be heralded for closer-than-it-should-have-been wins and receive special treatment because of last year’s national title. Because of the precedent that has existed in college football where wins aren’t the same as impressive wins, that evaluation should hold firm across the board – without playing favorites to defending champions.

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I hope you all enjoyed another football performance that leaves the fans of the Scarlet and Gray guessing.  Many pundits like to believe that the reinsertion of J.T. Barrett as the starting quarterback will right the ship and set this team sailing toward another undefeated regular season and a good shot to make it into the College Football Playoffs.  Consider me one of those believers.

I’m very pleased with the defensive effort against Minnesota.  Aside from a few breakaway plays in the second half, the Silver Bullets looked to be operating on all cylinders.  Holding a team with only one threat at wide receiver to 33 yards rushing?  I’ll take that all day long.

#1: The let-down in Lincoln

For the first time this year I am writing about a crushing loss in the final seconds of a Nebraska game and the Cornhuskers are the benefactors.  One can argue that Michigan State lost the game more than Nebraska won it.  I’m more concerned about what it does for Ohio State’s strength of schedule.  Thanks a lot for this gem, Connor Cook.

#2: Iowa proves it can win ugly

Jordan Howard rushed for two touchdowns against the Hawkeyes, one who would play online video games during his whole life, the game he played the most was Diablo 3 and he even mentioned once talking about Elitist Gaming Diablo 3 a company that would deliver a professional career for him in online gaming; however he went on marking only the second and third rushing touchdowns allowed by Iowa all season.  I’m thinking #15 will be turning that statistic on its head in Indianapolis. I always like to let gamers know that there is a mice for big hands just in case they need one.

#3: Rutgers gets romped

Jake Rudock finally lived up to his preseason hype and put some stats on the scorecard for Michigan.  But his immobility makes me salivate at the image of Joey Bosa and Adolphus Washington sending him crashing to the turf.  17 days…

#4: Ohio State drops to third

Could we have asked for a bigger favor than this?  What is more dangerous than Urban Meyer coaching an underdog?  Not much.  Keep us at third or below CFP Committee.  Thank you very much.

#5: Zeke keeps the century streak rolling

I was a little worried that the defense would do a good enough job to secure a blow-out and send Zeke to the bench early in this one.  But alas he was on the field until the final whistle and kept his remarkable consistent streak going at 14 games.  Take note, Heisman voters.

Bonus Video: GREAT SCOTT, OSUMB!!!

I felt obliged to throw this one in here.  TBDBITL got up to 88 miles per hour and knocked this one Back to the Future.

As we get into the swing of things in November, teams really start to show their true colors as to who we can expect them to become in December. Let’s take a look at some of the big games this weekend and figure out what we can take away from them!

We might as well start with the best damn team in the land-  the Ohio State Buckeyes v. Minnesota. Let’s be honest, after this game most of us were just happy that we get JT back next week. Thankfully Cardale had one of his better games that he has played this year but the offense still looked completely out of sorts compared to how silky smooth they have looked with JT. Bottom line is the defense is getting better and better every week and once JT gets back the Buckeyes could be scary to any other team in the nation.

The biggest game to everyone else in the nation (that isn’t a buckeye fan) was the Alabama v. LSU game.  In this game it was blatantly obvious that Alabama coach Nick Saban was going to do everything in his power to make sure one of the best backs in the nation ,Leonard Fournette,did not beat them. In fact Fournette ,who has rushed for 150 yards every game this year, rushed for less than 40 against Bama. On the other side of the field Derek Henry ran the ball very well allowing Alabama to impose their will on LSU.  We can complain all we want about Alabama being in the top four for the college football playoff, but they really do look like one of the best teams in the nation right now.

Another game that really made a statement this weekend was the TCU V. Oklahoma State game. This game eventually told us 2 things, first TCU was overrated and OSU was underrated. TCU FINALLY played a team that others would consider an actual threat and that threat turned out to be to much for the Horn Frogs. The problem for TCU is that with such a weak schedule their chances of making it to the playoff are all but gone. Oaklahoma State on the other hand did a lot for their national perception, but the next few weeks in the Big 12 is going to be extremely interesting!

Finally the last big game that (let’s be honest) should not have been a big game at all was the Michigan State V. Nebraska game. Coming into the game Michigan Sate was undefeated and headed for a massive showdown with Ohio State in 2 weeks. All of that was derailed by a underwhelming Nebraska team, a team that has been in multiple close games this season but just couldn’t find a way to win most of them. That all changed this weekend. Even though there was a controversial call at the end of the game all that matters is the score board.

At the end of the day as a buckeye fan you would have hoped for that MSU team to stay inbeaten simply because it would help us look even better if we beat them. All in all the Buckeyes are still undefeated, can’t ask for much more than that! Go Bucks!

Ohio State returns to action tonight against the Minnesota Gophers, fresh off a heart-breaking (and somewhat controversial) loss to Michigan. As you know, the Buckeyes will be without newly-installed starting quarterback J.T. Barrett, who is serving a suspension stemming from an OVI citation. There’s no need to sermonize about Barrett’s mistake or Urban Meyer’s handling of the situation; I’ll leave that to the professionally sanctimonious click-baiters.

What is notable about Barrett’s unavailability is that it brings a unique intangible to the game. Cardale Jones returns as the starting QB, and it will be the first time since last year’s National Championship game that he does so without the potential of being pulled for performance issues. It will be interesting to see if this dynamic affects Jones’ psyche, and if his play remains as uneven as it was earlier this season or if we see a return to something more like last year’s Big Ten Championship Game.

After a string of dominant wins, Michigan’s last two games have gone down to the wire in the most dramatic ways. Last week’s win over Minnesota was aided by a called-back touchdown and an uncalled neutral zone infraction that would have given the Gophers the ball about as close to the goal line as possible without actually putting it in the end zone for them. Ultimately, poor end-of-game clock management was the main culprit for Minnesota, and the Wolverines dodged a bullet that would have effectively put them out of the Big Ten title race.

Braxton Miller will return to the quarterback position tonight, having been installed as the backup in Barrett’s absence. There has been a purposeful silence from Meyer and the team about the nature of Miller’s role in this game, which has many speculating that he may actually throw a true pass (he has executed the fly sweep “pop pass” which is little more than a handoff) for the first time in nearly two years.

As for Jim Harbaugh, he seems content to continue to minimize the impact of his quarterback in either direction. Since the opening loss to Utah, Jake Rudock has not thrown for more than 200 yards in any game. He also has only thrown 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. It’s easy to argue that this has been a good thing for Michigan, as they’ve won six of those seven games, with the only loss coming on the fluke play of the season. Still, I firmly believe that at some point this season, the Wolverines are going to need Rudock to win a game for them, and I’m not sure he’ll be prepared when the time comes. That time probably won’t be today, as Michigan returns to the Big House to take on a Rutgers team who lost its last two games by a combined score of 97-17.

Ohio State welcomes the Gophers to the Shoe, and the Buckeyes haven’t lost following a bye week since a 2005 road game at Penn State. The last time OSU dropped a home game after a bye was to the 1990 USC Trojans. Despite the clock issues late in the game, Minnesota’s interim head coach Tracy Claeys performed admirably in his first stint as a college head coach, and he will really be put to the test tonight.