By Matt McCoy
The good news for the Buckeyes is they moved up a spot to number three in the final regular season AP poll. The bad news, it's obvious any hope of an AP national title is gone. In fact, third might be as high as the Buckeyes can go.
Undefeated Notre Dame is first, with 12-1 Alabama second so the winner of the January 7 BCS national title game will obviously win the AP title. If Alabama wins (and they're favored) Ohio State would finish as the only undefeated team in the nation. The Buckeyes might get some first place votes, but there's no way they'll pass the Crimson Tide. That would make a second place finish as good as it gets for the Buckeyes. In fact, I think there's an equal chance that the Buckeyes remain number three, or move down.
If Alabama beats Notre Dame, but the Irish play well, N.D may only drop a spot to second. Also if Florida or Oregon have impressive bowl victories, I could see those schools passing the Bucks as well.
Whatever the case, Ohio State can certainly boast its undefeated season. They don't happen very often and if the boys in Vegas are right about the title game, the Buckeyes will have the only one in 2012.
Like the overall AP poll, I have Ohio State third. Here's my final regular season AP ballot, with each schools overall AP rank in parentheses.
1) Notre Dame 12-0 (1)
2) Alabama 12-1 (2)
3) Ohio State 12-0 (3)
4) Georgia 11-2 (6)
5) Florida 11-1 (4)
6) Stanford 11-2 (8)
7) Oregon 11-1 (5)
8) Kansas State 11-1 (7)
9) LSU 10-2 (9)
10) Texas A&M 10-2 (10)
11) South Carolina 10-2 (11)
12) Florida State 11-2 (13)
13) Oklahoma 10-2 (12)
14) Clemson 10-2 (14)
15) Oregon State 9-3 (15)
16) UCLA 9-4 (17)
17) Northern Illinois 12-1 (16)
18) Utah State 10-2 (18)
19) Louisville 10-2 (22)
20) Nebraska 10-3 (23)
21) Michigan 8-4 (19)
22) Northwestern 9-3 (21)
23) Vanderbilt 8-4 (NR)
24) Boise State 10-2 (20)
25) Kent State 11-2 (25)
**The AP poll has San Jose State (10-2) ranked No. 24. They were unranked on my ballot**
Big Ten Bowling
With the Buckeyes and Penn State banned from the post-season by the NCAA, the Big Ten is without two of its best teams headed into the bowl season. It shows when you look at the bowl match-ups. I'm not sure the Big 10 will be favored in any of its seven games. Ironically, Northwestern, with its horrific bowl win drought, in my opinion, has the most favorable match-up. We'll see. Here's the line-up.
Dec. 28, Meineke Car Car Bowl: Minnesota vs Texas Tech
Dec. 29, Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl: Michigan State vs TCU
Jan. 1, Heart of Dallas Bowl: Purdue vs Oklahoma State
Jan. 1, Outback Bowl: Michigan vs South Carolina
Jan. 1, Gator Bowl: Northwestern vs Mississippi State
Jan. 1, Capital One Bowl: Nebraska vs Georgia
Jan. 1, Rose Bowl: Wisconsin vs Stanford
Ohio well represented
Even though Ohio State cannot play in a bowl, five other Buckeye State schools got invitations.
Dec. 15, Idaho Potato Bowl: Toledo vs Utah State
Dec. 27, Military Bowl: Bowling Green vs San Jose State
Dec. 27, Belk Bowl: Cincinnati vs Duke
Dec. 28, Independence Bowl: Ohio University vs Louisana Monroe
Jan. 6, Go Daddy.com Bowl: Kent State vs Arkansas State
