Ohio State coach Ryan Day surrendered his hold on the national championship after a loss to the Miami Hurricanes in the Cotton Bowl last season. In addition, after completing an unbeaten regular season, the Buckeyes were beaten in the Big Ten championship game by eventual national champions, the Indiana Hoosiers.
On Monday, FanDuel predicted that next season, Day’s much-changed Buckeyes would tally a total of 9.5 wins. Since the regular season was expanded to 12 games in 2006, Ohio State has only lost more than two regular-season games once, in 2011.
Adam Rittenberg Weighs in on Ryan Day’s Grim Win Total Prediction
During Monday’s segment of the “97.1 The Fan” show, ESPN analyst Adam Rittenberg weighed in on the low win prediction for Day’s Buckeyes next season, detailing the factors like their tough schedule as a variable in the conclusion.
“Is the Big Ten different? When Ohio State was annually winning 11 games, it wasn’t the league that it is now,” Rittenberg said. “You look at the depth, look at Indiana coming out of nowhere to be a sustained national power, coming off a national championship. Look at Oregon, they’ve been the best on-field addition to the Big Ten, maybe since Penn State.
“They’ve been a big addition in terms of top-10 or top-five teams. USC is getting better and then you have a very difficult non-conference game on the road against a Texas team that is facing real pressure to win a national championship. Certainly less than 9 wins is not acceptable in Columbus, but it’s going to be a more taxing schedule.”
Five teams were predicted to have better win totals than Day’s Buckeyes next season, including the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Texas Tech Red Raiders (both 11.5), the Indiana Hoosiers, Oregon Ducks, and the Miami Hurricanes (10.5).
Why Ohio State Is Listed as a Big Ten Title Favorite
During Friday’s segment of the “Josh Pate College” show, analyst Josh Pate listed the Buckeyes as one of the favorites to win the Big Ten next season despite their tough schedule.
“Ohio State, yes, I have no doubt about that,” Pate said. “Oregon, I have no doubt about that. I don’t want to be disrespectful to Ryan Day and Dan Lanning. I’m not going to waste a whole lot of time talking about them here.
“I’ve got so few questions about Oregon relative to the rest of the Big Ten. So I’ve got them as a 10 as well as Ohio State on my confidence level that they can win the Big Ten.”
The Buckeyes have one of the most treacherous schedules in college football next season, including road games against Indiana, Iowa, and USC and home games against Oregon and Michigan.
