By JOHN P. WISEOne Great Season
Everyone seems to agree that in college football in 2010, it's Alabama and Ohio State and everybody else.
But it rarely happens that the top two preseason teams skate through their schedules unscathed and meet in the championship game as predicted. This is college football. There may be a script, but it's rarely followed.
So if one of the aforementioned teams doesn't make it to Glendale, which one will it be and why?
My answer: Alabama, because after a light jog at Duke this weekend, its next three games are at No. 12 Arkansas, vs. No. 10 Florida and at No. 13 South Carolina. The Tide also visit No. 15 LSU on Nov. 6 and finish against No. 16 Auburn on Nov. 26. Should 'Bama find itself in the SEC Championship Game in December, it would likely be playing an SEC East champion ranked among the Top 10.
YOUR THOUGHTS: Who Do You Think Will Lose First?
Ohio State, meanwhile, should run over regional Nancys Ohio and Eastern Michigan, then league cupcakes Illinois and Indiana in its next four games. The Buckeyes don't face their next true test until Oct. 16 at No. 11 Wisconsin, the week after Alabama concludes that murderous three-game stretch. OSU could very possibly take the field in Madison a month from now ranked No. 1 in the country.
Ohio State has a difficult stretch of its own to close the season. After playing the Badgers, OSU gets Purdue and Minnesota, then a well-timed bye week. But the Buckeyes then play No. 22 Penn State, at No. 9 Iowa, then No. 20 Michigan.
Every team every year has its more difficult parts of the schedule. Alabama's just happens to be in the first half of the season, and Ohio State's is in November. Whatever happens, I think OSU has a slightly better chance of getting through its season undefeated, but Alabama's strength of schedule is such that even with one loss, the Tide could find itself in the title game.