Scarlet Sunrise: Ryan Day falls in latest Power Five head coaching rankings
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Ryan Day falls in latest Power Five head coaching rankings
A panel of college football writers at CBS Sports has been ranking the Power Five head coaches since 2016. They continued that exercise this offseason, and Tom Fornelli is chronicling it here.
The top 25 consists of seven SEC head coaches and six Big Ten head coaches. What’s more, seven of the top 10 are coaches from those two powerhouse conferences.
Ohio State’s Ryan Day, who is now in his fifth year as the Buckeyes’ full-time head coach, dropped to No. 8 in CBS Sports’ rankings. He was No. 6 ahead of the 2022 season.
“I don’t want to keep harping on this, but let’s compare results. Day failed to win the Big Ten for the second straight season but led Ohio State to the CFP for the third time in his four seasons, nearly knocking off Georgia in the Peach Bowl semifinal. And he falls two spots. Make it make sense! Anyway, while not winning the Big Ten two years in a row will always be seen as a failure in Columbus, Ohio, Day has lost six games total in his four seasons and is 31-2 in the Big Ten. The problem is who those two losses have come against.”
Tom Fornelli, CBS Sports
As Fornelli pointed out, Day has lost only six games on the job. He’s 45-6 since taking over for Urban Meyer, and two of his three CFP losses have been decided by six points or fewer. Granted the other was a blowout defeat to Alabama in the National Championship, but that Crimson Tide squad was one of the best college football teams in recent history, and arguably all-time.
Day has enjoyed remarkable success with the Buckeyes, except against Michigan, which has beaten Ohio State back-to-back years after a 10-year drought in the series. That, of course, is the origin of most of the criticism that he receives.
Even so, Day’s resume speaks for itself, but those losses in The Game — and subsequent absences from the Big Ten Championship — can’t be ignored, hence why Day slipped two spots in CBS Sports’ ranking.
Here are CBS Sports’ top-10 Power Five head coaches heading into 2023:
Nick Saban, AlabamaKirby Smart, GeorgiaDabo Swinney, ClemsonLincoln Riley, USCJim Harbaugh, MichiganBrian Kelly, LSUKyle Whittingham, UtahRyan Day, Ohio StateLuke Fickell, WisconsinJames Franklin, Penn State
The three toughest offenses for the Ohio State defense in 2023
The pressure is on for Ohio State defensive coordinator Jim Knowles to produce top-end results in his second year on the job. The Buckeyes’ defense showcased improvement much of last season, but, when it mattered most, the unit cratered. In fact, Ohio State set the single-game record for most yards per play allowed (8.83) against Michigan in the regular season finale and then reset that same mark (8.88 yards per play allowed) in the Peach Bowl College Football Playoff semifinals against Georgia.
Ohio State is returning a bunch of defensive talent. ESPN NFL Draft analyst Todd McShay even projected four Buckeyes defenders to go in the first round of next year.
Can Knowles maximize that talent and put it all together in the biggest of games? With that question in mind, Lettermen Row is exploring which opposing offenses present the biggest challenge to the Buckeyes in 2023. Check it out here.
Where is Brice Sensabaugh landing in post-lottery NBA mock drafts?
Ohio State freshman forward Brice Sensabaugh has to decide if he’s remaining in the NBA Draft or returning for a second year in Columbus by May 31. That’s 10 days after the conclusion of the NBA Combine, which is taking place this week in Chicago. Also this week was the NBA Draft lottery.
Now that the order for the top-14 picks is set, a horde of new mock drafts have been released.
Lettermen Row rounded up five of those mocks to get a pulse on where Sensabaugh is currently projected to land in this year’s draft.
For the roundup and analysis, go here.
Counting down
Buckeyes vs. Indiana: 109 days
Buckeyes vs. Michigan: 193 days
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