The new poll is PHENOMENAL for Ohio State from a total stat nerd perspective.
Obviously being #1 is always great but this poll is better than just that for Ohio State for a number of reasons.
Total appearances:
Ohio State is the all-time leader here by a mile. Changes at the top of this list tend to be glacially slow because all of the teams near the top in all-time appearances are, by definition, pretty much always ranked. Still, Ohio State is holding serve and (among the top-19 all-time) gaining on:
- #6 USC is unranked
- #8 Nebraska is nr
- #14 Auburn is nr
- #16 UCLA is nr and VERY unlikely to be ranked anytime soon
Appearances in the top-10:
Ohio State is the all-time leader here as well but one of the things that makes this poll great for tOSU is that most of the other most frequent top-10 teams are NOT in this top-10:
- 720 Ohio State, currently #1
- 638 Bama, currently #21
- 630 Oklahoma, currently #18
- 601 Notre Dame, currently #9
- 568 Michigan, currently #15
- 518 Nebraska, currently nr
- 493 USC, currently nr
- 486 Texas, currently #7
- 431 Penn State, currently #2
- 385 Florida State, currently #14
Teams in
bold are in the current top-10. So Notre Dame, Texas, and Penn State are keeping up with Ohio State but those four are running away from all the others and nobody within 119 top-10 appearances of Ohio State is keeping up.
Appearances in the top-5:
Ohio State is second all-time here with 449 top-5 appearances which trails Alabama by 14. It is a three-team race with Oklahoma in third, 18 behind tOSU and 32 behind Alabama. Note that Alabama (#21) and Oklahoma (#18) are nowhere close to the top-5 so the Buckeyes are closing in on Bama (whom they realistically might catch this year) and running away from Oklahoma who is now mathematically incapable of catching Ohio State in a single season. Here are the teams most frequently in the top-5:
- 463 Bama, currently #21
- 449 Ohio State, currently #1
- 431 Oklahoma, currently #18
- 325 Michigan, currently #15
- 323 Notre Dame, currently #9
- 296 Nebraska, currently nr
- 290 Texas, currently #7
- 286 USC, currently nr
- 257 Florida State, currently #14
- 207 Miami, currently #5.
Teams in
bold are in the current top-5. #2 Penn State is 13th all-time in top-5 appearances with 184, #3 LSU is 14th all-time with 137, #4 UGA is 11th with 203. The Buckeyes are gaining on Bama and running away from all the other contenders.
Appearances at #1:
Quite simply, Alabama is in their own stratosphere here with 34 more #1 appearances than Ohio State but the Buckeyes are gaining and none of the leading contenders could realistically take over the #1 spot anytime soon.
After Alabama there is a gaggle of four teams within 15 spots for second through fifth. Ohio State is first among those four and if they can hold #1 for the bulk of this season (a big "if"), they will break free of them. Here are the ten teams most frequently ranked #1:
- 141 Bama, currently #21
- 107 Ohio State, currently #1
- 101 Oklahoma, currently #18
- 98 Notre Dame, currently #9
- 91 USC, currently nr
- 72 Florida State, currently #14
- 70 Nebraska, currently nr
- 68 Miami, currently #5
- 54 Georgia, currently #4
- 50 Texas, currently #7
Ohio State is obliviously the only current #1 so they are gaining on Bama and running away from all the others.
