Ohio State Football Ranked No. 5 In Preseason Poll

COLUMBUS, OH — Even with controversy surrounding the team's head coach, expectations are sky high for the Ohio State Buckeyes football team. The Associated Press's first poll of the season has the squad ranked No. 5 in the nation.

The preseason top five, according to the AP, is Alabama (1), Clemson (2), Georgia (3), Wisconsin (4) and Ohio State (5). The Buckeyes are scheduled to play four top 25 teams this year: Penn State (10), Michigan State (11), Michigan (14) and TCU (16).

This year's offense will be led by sophomore quarterback Dwayne Haskins, who will step into the cleats left by JT Barrett. There will be plenty of new faces on defense, too. Still, the Buckeyes seem to have replenished the proverbial cupboard and seem poised for another big season...if controversy doesn't swallow the team first.

Ohio State will kick-off the season at home with a game against Oregon State on September 1, the Big Ten Network reported. It's not yet clear if head coach Urban Meyer will have rejoined the team by that time.

Meyer is currently the focus of an internal investigation looking to determine what he knew about domestic violence accusations against his assistant coach Zach Smith. Meyer has stated he reported the allegations against Smith to management and followed all proper reporting protocols.

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Photo from Rick Uldricks, Patch