12-0.

That’s how four of five writers from Athlon Sports felt Ohio State would finish the 2017 regular season. The only writer that didn’t have the Buckeyes escaping the year unscathed had the team finishing 9-3.

Athlon Sports recently ranked Ohio State No. 2 with its top 25 poll, and several are already picking Urban Meyer’s bunch to return to the College Football Playoff for a third time. If the Buckeyes do go undefeated this fall, it’d be a lock for one of the four spots.

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Why so much faith in the Buckeyes? Here are a few explanations that were provided.

Even with the inexperienced secondary, and a wide receiver group that needs to take a significant step forward, the talent and the coaching have me comfortable projecting Ohio State to win every game in 2017. If the Buckeyes should stumble, I do not see it happening more than once. – Chip Minnich

The Buckeyes have more talent than anybody on their schedule by a wide margin outside games against Penn State and Oklahoma. There should be massive strides made offensively with new coordinator Kevin Wilson and it wouldn’t be surprising to see J.T. Barrett return to form and wind up in New York this December when all is said and done. – Bryan Fischer

And what about that guy who picked Ohio State to finish with three losses?

J.P. Scott was the only one not sold on the Buckeyes this year, having them dropping games to Oklahoma, Penn State and Michigan. He provided his reasoning, too:

I know it’s Ohio State, and I know it’s Urban Meyer. I also know I’ll probably be proved wrong, but I have a hard time seeing teams lose the number of talented players the Buckeyes did from a season ago and coming back as good as or better than they were. – J.P. Scott

There’s really no middle ground, here. Either Ohio State is headed to the College Football Playoff or its going to settle for a mediocre bowl bid. At least according to Athlon Sports.

Knowing how much success Meyer has had in his five years, it’ll be really hard to be against the Buckeyes.