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Expectations are High

LandoComando said:
Only behind Texas and Ohio State as the favorites next year...tied with Oregon

www.espn.com

UT, OSU open as betting favorites to win '26 CFP

The top two favorites to win next season's College Football Playoff will square off in Week 1, when Ohio State hosts Texas on Aug. 30.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
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Don't understand Ohio State being rated that high. They lose about nine people on defense and I don't think they can be replaced. As it looks now, barring obtaining some stud players through the transfer portal, I think Ohio State should be somewhere around the 10th best team in the country next year.
 
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dailybuck777 said:
Don't understand Ohio State being rated that high. They lose about nine people on defense and I don't think they can be replaced. As it looks now, barring obtaining some stud players through the transfer portal, I think Ohio State should be somewhere around the 10th best team in the country next year.
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Works for me😀
 
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dailybuck777 said:
Don't understand Ohio State being rated that high. They lose about nine people on defense and I don't think they can be replaced. As it looks now, barring obtaining some stud players through the transfer portal, I think Ohio State should be somewhere around the 10th best team in the country next year.
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Jeremiah Smith alone puts them in the top 5 lol
 
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dailybuck777 said:
Don't understand Ohio State being rated that high. They lose about nine people on defense and I don't think they can be replaced. As it looks now, barring obtaining some stud players through the transfer portal, I think Ohio State should be somewhere around the 10th best team in the country next year.
Click to expand...
They have the gin up the first game of the year.
 
dailybuck777 said:
Don't understand Ohio State being rated that high. They lose about nine people on defense and I don't think they can be replaced. As it looks now, barring obtaining some stud players through the transfer portal, I think Ohio State should be somewhere around the 10th best team in the country next year.
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A lot of four and five stars left on that roster, including the best WR in the country.
 
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SR108 said:
A lot of four and five stars left on that roster, including the best WR in the country.
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Possibly the highest NIL payroll in the country. Maybe $8 million more than PSU. I bet we could fix our WR, S, and LB problems with $8 million.
 
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bdgan said:
Possibly the highest NIL payroll in the country. Maybe $8 million more than PSU. I bet we could fix our WR, S, and LB problems with $8 million.
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Yeah, this has been consistently disproven. But even if true.....why would elite WRs want to come to Penn State exactly? Because of Hagans' magnificent development?

The way these NIL figures are used, it's usually based on collectives. Even using that category, OSU wasn't the richest roster this year. They were like #3.

But what doesn't get counted is the money given by billionaires like Phil Knight. If you think OSU's roster will be wealthier than Oregon's, you're not paying attention to reality.

And frankly, while our roster is certainly short of OSU's, it's probably on par with Notre Dame. What was our excuse then?

NIL is just providing a ready-made excuse for people to explain away why they're not #1. It's as if coaching, player development, and execution don't matter anymore.
 
NittanyIllinois said:
Yeah, this has been consistently disproven. But even if true.....why would elite WRs want to come to Penn State exactly? Because of Hagans' magnificent development?

The way these NIL figures are used, it's usually based on collectives. Even using that category, OSU wasn't the richest roster this year. They were like #3.

But what doesn't get counted is the money given by billionaires like Phil Knight. If you think OSU's roster will be wealthier than Oregon's, you're not paying attention to reality.

And frankly, while our roster is certainly short of OSU's, it's probably on par with Notre Dame. What was our excuse then?

NIL is just providing a ready-made excuse for people to explain away why they're not #1. It's as if coaching, player development, and execution don't matter anymore.
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Hagans recruits are only true freshman.

Who has anyone developed from the freshman class?

In 2026 he probably has more incoming talent than most position groups.
 
LandoComando said:
Only behind Texas and Ohio State as the favorites next year...tied with Oregon

www.espn.com

UT, OSU open as betting favorites to win '26 CFP

The top two favorites to win next season's College Football Playoff will square off in Week 1, when Ohio State hosts Texas on Aug. 30.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
Click to expand...
IMO expectations are unrealistic unless we can somehow fill holes at WR, LB, and DB.

Until then I see PSU making the playoffs but closer to 9th or 10th.
 
voltz99 said:
Hagans recruits are only true freshman.

Who has anyone developed from the freshman class?

In 2026 he probably has more incoming talent than most position groups.
Click to expand...
3* incoming talent except Outten.
 
bdroc said:
IMO expectations are unrealistic unless we can somehow fill holes at WR, LB, and DB.

Until then I see PSU making the playoffs but closer to 9th or 10th.
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Nah, I think a top-5 team is realistic given what we return.

Michigan and Ohio State wrote the script. Bring back a core of kids that have spent 4+ years in your program, add a few key additions, and go to war.

The problem is, those two programs were ELITE at what they did best. What we COULD be elite at is a ground-and-pound approach, but in this current system, we absolutely need better WRs and better QB play (Drew can be the guy, but he needs to elevate his game -- plain and simple). Michigan had shit WRs and won a natty. But they knew who they were.

Who are we? And what will be our identity?

If we figure that out and play to it, there's no reason why we can't be top-3 if not a champion.
 
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bdroc said:
IMO expectations are unrealistic unless we can somehow fill holes at WR, LB, and DB.

Until then I see PSU making the playoffs but closer to 9th or 10th.
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Everyone has gaps--we're easily a top 5 team on paper with Allen, Allen and Singleton. Again, we could win 10 games without throwing the ball.
 
LandoComando said:
Only behind Texas and Ohio State as the favorites next year...tied with Oregon

www.espn.com

UT, OSU open as betting favorites to win '26 CFP

The top two favorites to win next season's College Football Playoff will square off in Week 1, when Ohio State hosts Texas on Aug. 30.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
Click to expand...
You cannot discount the senior leadership we have returning. Singleton, Allen, Allar, Sutton, Deluca, Durant, Rojas etc. should be tremendous leaders that will hopefully turn around our tendency to pucker up in the big games. Their experience in the playoffs this year is invaluable. They have all "been there before" and should be better able to handle the pressures of such big games. Other players should be able to follow their lead.

Obviously a big time receiver and a starting linebacker from the Portal will be helpful.
 
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dailybuck777 said:
Don't understand Ohio State being rated that high. They lose about nine people on defense and I don't think they can be replaced. As it looks now, barring obtaining some stud players through the transfer portal, I think Ohio State should be somewhere around the 10th best team in the country next year.
Click to expand...
How long have you been a Buckeye fan ? I'm a B1G fan (Northwestern grad) and follow-root for all B1G teams in the Bowls and out-of-conference games, and I know one thing for sure --- OSU has DEPTH coming out their ass no matter who they lose. And they play a ton of those 4 and 5 star players throughout the year. And if they don't lose more than a game or two, they'll be in the Playoffs and from there, anything can happen as their 2025 pups will be experienced

Right now (very early), out of Vegas, they're a 5 point favorite over Texas and a 9 point favorite over Michigan......again, still very early though. Plus, they're the favorites on FanDual to win the NC at +450 with Texas and Oregon coming in 2nd at +650. PSU is right there at 4th at+800 to 850

Also, they seem real happy with 2nd year (in 2025) QB Julian Sayin and the progress he's made. He passed Devin Brown on the depth chart which is why Brown entered the Portal. We'll see what happens when he gets real game time experience. Plus, keep an eye on incoming true freshman St. Clair who will probably RS but supposedly, he's the best HS QB to come out of Ohio in a couple of decades
 
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rrdd2021 said:
How long have you been a Buckeye fan ? I'm a B1G fan (Northwestern grad) and follow-root for all B1G teams in the Bowls and out-of-conference games, and I know one thing for sure --- OSU has DEPTH coming out their ass no matter who they lose. And they play a ton of those 4 and 5 star players throughout the year. And if they don't lose more than a game or two, they'll be in the Playoffs and from there, anything can happen as their 2025 pups will be experienced

Right now (very early), out of Vegas, they're a 5 point favorite over Texas and a 9 point favorite over Michigan......again, still very early though. Plus, they're the favorites on FanDual to win the NC at +450 with Texas and Oregon coming in 2nd at +650. PSU is right there at 4th at+800 to 850

Also, they seem real happy with 2nd year (in 2025) QB Julian Sayin and the progress he's made. He passed Devin Brown on the depth chart which is why Brown entered the Portal. We'll see what happens when he gets real game time experience. Plus, keep an eye on incoming true freshman St. Clair who will probably RS but supposedly, he's the best HS QB to come out of Ohio in a couple of decades
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Ohio State doesn't have the depth on the defensive line that it has historically had. Very little substitution during games which used to be standard several years ago. Offensive line doesn't have any five stars although they seem to be coached up fairly well this year. Don't know how Julian Sayin, although a five-star, will perform although Ryan Day may be the best quarterback coach in college football. Will Howard'd running was very helpful to the Ohio State this year and I don't know whether saying is an equivalent runner.

If Ohio State can use the national championship to get some blue chip portal transfers then it would be a different story.
 
Ohio State will also lose additional dudes to the portal. Their window is open for a few more days. The sharks will be coming for the Carnell Tates and kids like that......kids that have high value but are overshadowed by Jeremiah Smith.

They're going to lose more people. And they can't afford to just throw money at everybody. Not at Oregon's level.

I think they'll take a sizable step back next year. Granted, that simply means they'll be a top-7/8 team instead of a top-3 team. But I imagine 2026 will be their next title run. I think we're the team to beat in the Big Ten next year, at least roster-wise. What remains to be seen is how we put all the intangibles together.
 
Psu is the graveyard for wide receivers until they push Hagans out the door nothing will change
 
dailybuck777 said:
Ohio State doesn't have the depth on the defensive line that it has historically had. Very little substitution during games which used to be standard several years ago. Offensive line doesn't have any five stars although they seem to be coached up fairly well this year. Don't know how Julian Sayin, although a five-star, will perform although Ryan Day may be the best quarterback coach in college football. Will Howard'd running was very helpful to the Ohio State this year and I don't know whether saying is an equivalent runner.

If Ohio State can use the national championship to get some blue chip portal transfers then it would be a different story.
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OK. I'm not familiar (being a Northwestern grad) with OSU like you, but I read an article on Eleven Warriors that mentioned how some 2nd, 3rd and 4th year players like Jackson, McDonald, Houston, Malone, Kanu and a few others have bigtime ability and have waited their turn to play. But the one they really singled out and will be their next superstar DE was Caden Curry who would have started this year before JTT and Sawyer announced they were returning. Curry was the 1st DE off the bench to give Sawyer and JTT a rest. And there were 2 high quality DTs that saw some decent playing time off the bench but I can't remember their names.

In other words, yes, your current DL might have been the best in the country - especially at the end of the season - but their replacements won't exactly be chopped liver. My son is an OSU grad and fills me in on everything OSU and yes, there could be a drop off in the beginning of the season, but by season's end - watch out.

Jesus Christ - it's OSU - and they just replace stars with future stars every year. I've seen this act too many times now.
 
rrdd2021 said:
Jesus Christ - it's OSU - and they just replace stars with future stars every year. I've seen this act too many times now.
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Caden Curry looked really good 2 years ago. Didn't see that much out of him this year. Seemed like Houston was their first defensive line replacement. At OSU when someone is really good you hear the other players talking about him in training camp. For instance, in training camp Howard said that JJ was a DUDE.

Haven't heard any of that about the current backups at OSU.
 
dailybuck777 said:
Caden Curry looked really good 2 years ago. Didn't see that much out of him this year. Seemed like Houston was their first defensive line replacement. At OSU when someone is really good you hear the other players talking about him in training camp. For instance, in training camp Howard said that JJ was a DUDE.

Haven't heard any of that about the current backups at OSU.
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There's a piece on You Tube that goes through the likely 2025 OSU lineup that singles out Jackson and Houston as stars on their DL. Curry was another mentioned but I can't remember who the 4th was. Just going by what I've read and heard
 
dailybuck777 said:
Caden Curry looked really good 2 years ago. Didn't see that much out of him this year. Seemed like Houston was their first defensive line replacement. At OSU when someone is really good you hear the other players talking about him in training camp. For instance, in training camp Howard said that JJ was a DUDE.

Haven't heard any of that about the current backups at OSU.
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I disagree some what, I don't know if we have a game changer like Sawyer, but we have 6-7 good 4 star guys that got a lot more playing time this year, especially in the playoffs. The staff did a much better job rotating guys in at the D-Line, especially after the first Oregon game. We also will likely have Sonny back as well as Downs and we have elite talent waiting in the wings for the defensive backfield. In my opinion the only real questions for next year will be at QB and RB. Defense will not be AS good, but should still be very good to elite.
 
dailybuck777 said:
Don't understand Ohio State being rated that high. They lose about nine people on defense and I don't think they can be replaced. As it looks now, barring obtaining some stud players through the transfer portal, I think Ohio State should be somewhere around the 10th best team in the country next year.
Click to expand...
Who do you think will win next year’s game at O$U?

There is your answer.
 
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