ESPN analyst tabs Ohio State as favorite to win national championship

After winning a third-straight B1G title and reaching the College Football Playoff last season, Ohio State enters the 2020 season as one of the favorites to claim this year’s national championship. The Buckeyes are included on a list with the usual suspects like Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Penn State, Oklahoma and Oregon.

Spring practice was taken away from us this year as a result of the ongoing pandemic, robbing us of the opportunity to see some of these teams in action during the months of March and April. But that doesn’t stop us from making our preseason predictions about who will claim this year’s national title.

Following a recent spot on ESPN’s Get Up, analyst David Pollack made a bold prediction for this season. He is expecting Ohio State to return to the College Football Playoff but to take home the trophy this time.

“I’m going with a team that, the last time we saw them play, should have beaten Clemson,” Pollack said. “Ohio State had them on the ropes. Justin Fields was limping around. J.K. Dobbins was limping around. I think Justin Fields with another year to mature in the system, he’s going to be neck-and-neck with Trevor Lawrence to see who’s drafted first.

“Who replaces Nick Bosa? Well, Chase Young comes onto the scene. They’ve found cornerbacks and defensive linemen that are a notch above everybody else in that league. I think Ohio State will continue their reign, continue to run through the Big Ten. And at the end of the season have a good chance to be holding that trophy.”

Ohio State finished 13-1 last season with its lone loss coming to Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl. All that was with Fields being a first-year starting quarterback and Ryan Day in his first season as a head coach. Now that both bring a little more experience to the field, the Buckeyes are expected to do big things again in 2020.

Already, the Bucks are the favorite to win the B1G and are one of the top three teams expected to win the national title.