Football: Buckeyes ranked No. 2 in preseason AP Poll

Ohio State earned the No. 2 spot in the 2024 Associated Press preseason Top 25 poll .

From a pool of roughly 60 voters, the Buckeyes received 15 first-place votes. However, those 15 were no match to the Georgia Bulldogs’ 46, meaning Georgia will once again begin the season as the No. 1 team. The Oregon Ducks were the only other team to receive a first-place vote.

In last year’s AP preseason poll, Ohio State began at No. 3 and finished the year at No. 10 on the heels of an 11-1 regular season record, with its lone regular season loss to Michigan. The Buckeyes also fell to Missouri 14-3 in the 2023 Cotton Bowl in Arlington, Texas Dec. 29, 2023.

The new 18-team Big Ten conference has the second-most teams included in this preseason’s poll with six, while the SEC has the most teams with nine.

Looking ahead to the 2024 season, the Buckeyes are set to face off against four teams that are included in this year’s poll.

Ohio State will host the No. 25 Iowa Hawkeyes Oct. 5, immediately followed by a trip to Eugene, Oregon to square off against the No. 3 Ducks Oct. 12.

A few weeks later, on Nov. 2, the Buckeyes will head to State College, Pennsylvania for a battle against the No. 8 Penn State Nittany Lions. The final of Ohio State’s Top 25 matchups will be during the last week of the season, when the Buckeyes host their archrival — and the defending national and Big Ten champion — the No. 9 Michigan Wolverines Nov. 30.

Ohio State is set to return over half of its starters in 2024, including nine defenders and six on the offensive side of the ball.

In addition to its top-ranked 2024 recruiting class and its returning players, the Buckeyes also made several key transfer additions, including three former Alabama players in sophomore safety Caleb Downs, graduate offensive lineman Seth McLaughlin and freshman quarterback Julian Sayin.

Ohio State also acquired graduate quarterback Will Howard from Kansas State and junior running back Quinshon Judkins from Ole Miss, both of whom are top candidates to start for the Buckeyes.

The Buckeyes will open their season Aug. 31 against the Akron Zips. The game is scheduled to start at 3:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on CBS.