COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State showed its potential against Akron, beating the Zip, 56-7, with its most balanced offensive effort and most stout defensive performance to date.
But its what Ohio State should have done against a historically poor Mid-American Conference team. And in the latest editions of the AP Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll, voters saw that too.
The Buckeyes moved down one spot to No. 11 in the AP Poll and moved up two spots to No. 10 in the Coaches Poll.
Here's what the two polls mean for Ohio State moving forward.
The Big Ten remains in the hunt for a College Football Playoff bid.
While Ohio State was the favorite to win the Big Ten and earn a trip to its third-straight College Football Playoff appearance at the end of the year, Penn State and Iowa have shown up as conference title contenders four weeks into the 2021 season.
Penn State has two wins against ranked opponents: No. 18 Wisconsin in Week 1, a program that earned 13 votes in the latest AP Poll, and No. 23 Auburn, a team that has moved up to No. 22 heading into Week 5. The Nittany Lions also have dominant wins over Ball State and Villanova.
Iowa has not allowed an opponent to score more than 17 points in a game this season, earning wins against No. 17 Indiana, No. 9 Iowa State — who earned 25 votes in the latest AP Poll — Kent State and Colorado State.
With only the top four teams advancing in the playoff, there always seems to be one major conference that's left out of the hunt. Even without the presumed favorite, the Big Ten still seems to have a chance at a spot in either the Cotton Bowl or the Orange Bowl.
SEC remains supreme
While contenders like Clemson have fallen short of expectations, the SEC has remained consistent in its dominance at the start of the 2021 season.
The SEC has four teams — No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 8 Arkansas and No. 10 Florida — in the top-10 of the AP Poll and seven in the top-25 overall, leading all conferences, with the Big Ten coming in second with five representatives.
The Crimson Tide's next two games will be against Ole Miss and Texas A&M, both ranked in both the AP Poll and the Coaches Poll, but Alabama will not faced another rank team until the final two games of the season against Arkansas and Auburn.
What does this mean for the Buckeyes? There doesn't seem much movement possible at the top of each of the polls until the likely SEC Championship game between Alabama and Georgia.
Even then, the SEC could have two representatives in the playoff when its all said and done. Two teams from the same conference have made the playoff only once: when Georgia and Alabama made it in 2018.
Ohio State's opportunity remains
If anything, Ohio State has the change to end another Big Ten team's playoff hopes.
The Buckeyes still have games against Rutgers — who earned six votes in the latest AP Poll — Indiana, Maryland — who earned votes in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll — Michigan State, Michigan and Penn State.
Even though Ohio State currently remains on the outside looking in in terms of the playoff hunt, the path remains for both a conference championship and a playoff bid, albeit slim.
