My Buckeyes are improbably sitting atop the B1G at 2-0 (tied with PU and MSU) and Holtmann may well be the leading candidate for COTY at this point.
It is hard to tell how this season will go and right now we really aren't learning much. As I see it, the next eight games do not give us much opportunity to assess this team:
- v ApSt, 12/16
- v Citadel, 12/19
- v UNC, 12/23 (neutral site in NOLA)
- v Miami (OH), 12/30
- @ Iowa, 1/4
- v MSU, 1/7
- v UMD, 1/11
- @ RU, 1/14
As I see it, the Buckeyes should win 1-3, 5, and 8 even if they aren't very good. Losing one of those would raise alarms but winning all of them proves basically nothing. Similarly, the Buckeyes should lose 4, 6, and 7 even if they are pretty good. Winning one of those would be nice and losing all of them doesn't prove that Ohio State is terrible.
The Buckeyes are currently 8-3/2-0 so if things go as I predicted, after the Rutgers game they will be 13-8/4-2. Then the Buckeyes head to NU. That is the game I am looking forward too right now because that is one that could go either way.
As I look ahead at Ohio State's schedule and try to make predictions I get that the Buckeyes should finish roughly somewhere between 17-14 and 20-11.
As I see it, if the Buckeyes get to MSG at 17-14 they'll need to win the B1G to go to the Dance. If they get there at 20-11 then they'll possibly be a bubble team that could get in with a win or two. Games like the game at Northwestern on January 17 will likely be the difference between those two things.