Ohio State has been playing like the top team in the country and will get its first opportunity to prove the College Football Playoff rankings were right when the No. 1 Buckeyes face Purdue on Saturday afternoon in West Lafayette, Ind.
The Buckeyes (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) received the top ranking in the first CFP poll, released on Tuesday night.
“My expectation is I hope that none of our team or anybody really pays attention to it, because it doesn’t matter,” Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. “It’s good for the fans. I think it’s great for college football to be talking about it, but nothing matters if we don’t continue to win.”
Last season, the Buckeyes were No. 2 in the initial rankings and entered the playoffs at No. 8 after losing to unranked Michigan in the regular-season finale. From there, Ohio State defeated Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame to win the national championship.
Purdue (2-7, 0-6) has lost seven straight games this season and 15 consecutive conference games dating to 2024, but first-year coach Barry Odom said he doesn’t want his players to be awestruck by the Buckeyes’ No. 1 ranking.
“Respectfully, that’s wasted time,” Odom said Monday. “I think you try to look for advantages for your team. Again, I’ll say it, got a lot of respect for how they play the game and the players that they have and the coaches that they have.
“Our guys will be excited to play at home against what I think is one of the top-playing teams right now in college football.”
Even though the Boilermakers have not won since Sept. 6 — 34-17 over Southern Illinois — Odom said he saw progress in a 21-16 loss at then-No. 21 Michigan last Saturday.
“I was excited about the way our team competed and fought for four quarters,” Odom said.
Purdue hung in despite the absence of Devin Mockobee, the fourth-leading rusher in program history (2,987 yards). Odom said he will miss the rest of his final season after undergoing ankle surgery last week.
“I sure hate that because he is such a wonderful young man, a great leader of this program, and a great representative of Purdue University,” Odom said.
Ohio State boasts the top scoring defense nationally, giving up an average of 6.9 points per game, and quarterback Julian Sayin is a contender for the Heisman Trophy after throwing for 316 yards while having more touchdown passes (four) than incompletions (20 of 23) in a 38-14 victory against Penn State last week.
Carnell Tate (five catches, 124 yards, one touchdown) and Jeremiah Smith (six, 123, two) were nearly unstoppable, and each had a 57-yard reception.
Sayin leads the nation in completion percentage (80.7) and passing efficiency (197.1).
“If you’re an offensive player right now, you know that Julian’s back there with the ball coming out of his hands quickly and the confidence and decision making, it’s obviously exciting to be around that not only for right now but into the future,” Day said. “He’s handled that well and produced at a high level up to this point, but he knows this is about accomplishing goals as a team.”
