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August 23, 2016For the second consecutive season, former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN college football analyst Kirk Herbstreit has picked his alma mater to make the College Football Playoff. While he may have had a legitimate case prior to last season, with the Buckeyes coming off their incredible run to the inaugural College Football Playoff Championship, head coach Urban Meyer and his team will have a much tougher time in 2016. Nevertheless, Herbie believes they can shock many across the college football world and make the playoffs for the second time in three years.
While appearing on ESPN Radio’s Russillo and Kanell show on Monday, Herbstreit penned Ohio State into the playoffs, along with Clemson, Alabama, and TCU, per saturdaydownsouth.com.
“I think Ohio State still comes out of the Big Ten. I think J.T. Barrett, despite all their losses, will be able to allow Ohio State to maneuver through their schedule and get there to win a Big Ten Championship.”
Do the Buckeyes have a young team this year? Absolutely, as I have stated so many times over the last couple months. Having such a young squad, however, doesn’t mean they don’t have the talent to be one of the best teams in the country. After losing plenty of talent to the NFL and/or graduation, Meyer’s squad will look to reload—not rebuild—in 2016. With just six returning starters, that may be tough to do, but Herbstreit believes the Bucks will make it work, and work well. This is where all of those top-ranked recruiting classes come in to play.
If you think he is being biased, don’t forget that in 2011, Herbstreit moved out of Ohio due to the fact that he kept receiving criticism from some Ohio State fans for continuously dissing his alma mater. In reality, he was just being a realist and not trying to show any favorites, but don’t tell that to crazy college football fans. For what it’s worth, in 2015, just one (Oklahoma) of Herbie’s four teams that he predicted to make the playoffs actually did so.
The sixth-ranked Buckeyes start their season September 3 when they host Bowling Green at 12 p.m. ET.