COLUMBUS, Ohio — It won't officially kick off the season for another two weeks, but the 2015 Ohio State football team has already made history.
For all of the teams that have entered a college football season highly touted following a national championship campaign—1995 Nebraska, 2002 Miami (Florida), 2005 USC, 2009 Florida, 2013 Alabama—none has earned a unanimous No. 1 ranking in the Associated Press preseason Top 25.
That, however, changed Sunday, when the Buckeyes became the first team to do just that, earning all 61 first-place votes in the AP's first Top 25 poll of the season.
Is Ohio State's 2015 season worth that sort of hype?
It sure seems that way.
Returning 15 combined starters on offense and defense from a season ago, the losses from a Buckeyes team that beat Alabama and Oregon en route to capturing the first College Football Playoff championship appear minimal. No Ohio State player was drafted before the second round of the 2015 NFL draft, with only a total of five Buckeyes being chosen in the draft's seven rounds.
Ohio State's minimal presence in the draft shouldn't last for long, however, as this year's Buckeyes team appears to be loaded with first-round talent.
Depending on the mock draft you're looking at, Ohio State players could potentially make up as many as six picks in the 2016 NFL draft in the first round alone.
Joey Bosa, Ezekiel Elliott, Taylor Decker, Adolphus Washington, Cardale Jones and Darron Lee have each been viewed as potential first-round selections, while Eli Apple, Michael Thomas and Vonn Bell could each play themselves into the front end of next year's draft.
NFL talent, of course, isn't the be-all and end-all in college football, but this collection of talented Buckeyes has already proven to possess the makeup of a great team.
Despite Heisman Trophy candidate quarterback Braxton Miller going down with a season-ending injury two weeks prior to the start of the season, last year's Buckeyes compiled an 11-1 regular-season record behind a record-breaking campaign from freshman quarterback J.T. Barrett.
When Barrett went down with a fractured ankle in the regular-season finale, Jones picked up right where he left off, helping carry Ohio State's young roster to three postseason wins.
"I thought it was a year away," Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer said after Ohio State made the playoff as the No. 4 seed in December. "The future is bright."
It's also here.
Both Barrett and Jones have returned, currently engaged in an unprecedented quarterback competition as far as qualified candidates go. Meyer may not have his answer yet for which one will line up behind center when the Buckeyes take the field for their season opener against Virginia Tech on Sept. 7, but his dilemma is one every other coach in America would be begging to deal with.
Lining up behind Ohio State's quarterback—whoever it winds up being—will be Elliott, one of the preseason front-runners to win the 2015 Heisman Trophy, who rushed for 696 yards and eight touchdowns in the Buckeyes' three postseason games. Up front will be four of five starters from last year's offensive line, anchored by Decker at left tackle and preseason All-American guard Pat Elflein.
The receiver position might be Ohio State's only question mark, with Devin Smith, Evan Spencer and tight end Jeff Heuerman having all moved on to the NFL. But Thomas returns as the Buckeyes' leader in receptions (54), and Meyer has raved about the offseason work of sophomores Noah Brown and Curtis Samuel, as well as tight end Nick Vannett, who had more catches, yards and touchdowns than Heuerman in 2014.
Corey Smith, Dontre Wilson and Jalin Marshall will each miss the first game of the season due to suspension but will each add experience to the OSU receiving corps upon their return to the lineup.
Freshman Torrance Gibson has also made waves since moving from quarterback to wideout in the first week of fall camp, and the shifty Miller will now use his talents to catch passes rather than throw them.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Buckeyes have even fewer concerns to deal with, as all 11 starting spots appear to be set in stone. The biggest question might be how Gareon Conley will fill in at corner for first-team All-Big Ten corner Doran Grant, but Apple's ability on the other side of the field should put Ohio State fans at ease.
But perhaps the biggest reason to believe in the Buckeyes has nothing to do with their abundance of talent or even their manageable schedule, which may not see them challenged until a matchup with Michigan State in the second-to-last week of the regular season in Columbus.
No, the optimism surrounding Ohio State is predominately due to their head coach, who has been in this situation before.
Having coached a 2008 national title Florida team that returned 18 starters—including star quarterback Tim Tebow and its entire defense—a year later, Meyer knows what it's like to enter a season with sky-high expectations and a target on his team's back.
With lessons learned from the 2009 Gators' failed attempt at a repeat, the three-time national champion coach will no longer have his attention focused on going back-to-back.
"Repeat is not the conversation," Meyer said after Ohio State's first fall camp practice in August.
Maybe it's not for Meyer and his players, but based on the history the 2015 Buckeyes have already made, that's certainly the expectation. Ultimately, we'll find out whether or not Ohio State is worth the hype in the coming months, but for now, this Buckeyes team appears to having the makings of an all-time great.
At least that's what the pollsters believe.
Unanimously.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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