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Ohio State is No. 2 in the coaches’ poll and No. 3 in the BCS rankings. To a Buckeye, however, they see themselves as the best in the land.
“I’m a little biased,” wide receiver Evan Spencer told reporters Monday. “I think we’d wipe the field with both of them.”
It is no wonder Ohio State players feel as they do about themselves. They have won 21 games in a row, have a diverse and powerful offense and a defense, led my senior cornerback Bradey Roby of metro Atlanta, that prides itself of making plays.
But Spencer’s chatter aside, the Buckeyes put on a united front about being respectful of all teams, especially top-ranked Alabama and No. 2 in the BCS poll, Florida State.
“I don’t want to talk about [the BCS],” left tackle Jack Mewhort said. “Right now, we’re just focused on beating Illinois (Saturday). If we ever come to that hurdle, we’ll think about that then.
[Alabama is] a great football team, obviously; No. 1 in the nation, so they’re doing something right. If we ever get that shot, I think we’ll be ready for it.”
Coach Urban Meyer admitted to having his team ranked second in his mind.
“I have Ohio State in the top five,” Meyer said during his weekly news conference Monday. “I believe we have Alabama, Ohio State, Florida State. I had us No. 2 all year, and I just think we’re playing like one of the top teams in the country right now.”
The Buckeyes had a bye week and benefited in the polls from Oregon losing to Stanford.
“The message is you have to play great,” Meyer said. “You’re held to [a higher standard] to be even mentioned with those other teams. Be careful what you wish for–that means you have to practice and play at a certain level.
We practiced at a very, very high level today. And we all expect them to play at a very high level, because you’re in the same breath with some very, very good teams.”
