Back in March, Sunday Morning Quarterback had this to say about Ohio State:

I, for one, was having none of it:

Now that the early returns are starting to roll in, Buckeye Commentary has tallied the poll votes and come to this conclusion:

To put it generously, the evidence for this Buckeye backlash is less than overwhelming:

* Mark Schlabach, who has Ohio State languishing all the way down at No. 3, praises the Buckeyes’ "very stingy defense" and touts Beanie Wells as a Heisman Trophy candidate before revealing his deep-seated doubts in this suspicious sentence: "Ohio State is good enough to go through the Big Ten schedule unbeaten, but a Sept. 13 road trip to USC might decide its BCS title hopes."

* Dennis Dodd tosses out the phrase "against my better judgment," revealing his true colors in spite of the fact that he ranks Ohio State No. 1 while offering this explanation:

Truly, the disdain for the Buckeyes and the fawning over the S.E.C. are palpable. But, wait! There’s more:

* Stewart Mandel ranked Ohio State second, noting that "[i]t’s becoming increasingly clear to me that those three teams are absolutely loaded heading into this season" . . . "those three teams" being Georgia, Ohio State, and Southern California.

* College Football News has Ohio State ranked No. 1 and, after debunking the silly notion that the Buckeyes lack athleticism with the cogent point that the team annually sends scads of players to the N.F.L., the site explains that the former "national punching bag . . . will be good enough to get another shot with almost everyone of note returning." To those who would "let out a collective groan at the thought of OSU in another national title game," College Football News offered the reminder that, "with all the returning talent, this really should be 2008’s best team."

* Matt Hayes vaulted the Buckeyes from seventh to second after spring practice, stating his case plainly:

Of the five sets of rankings released already, two have Ohio State ranked No. 1 and none have the Buckeyes ranked lower than third. O.S.U.’s composite score of 121 narrowly trails that of consensus No. 1 Georgia (123) and well outpaces those of No. 3 Oklahoma (112) and No. 4 U.S.C. (111).

The Buckeyes, it should be noted, face that fourth-ranked Trojan club in Los Angeles on September 13, as well as running up against No. 10 Wisconsin in Madison on October 4, No. 17 Illinois in Champaign on November 15, No. 21 Penn State in Columbus on October 25, and No. 23 Michigan State in East Lansing on October 18.

I’m sorry, but I ain’t buying this "Buckeye backlash" business.

Ohio State, which boasts one of the most storied programs in the history of the sport, has attended three of the last six designated national championship games and has appeared in B.C.S. bowl games five times in the last half-dozen seasons. Everyone agrees that the Buckeyes are one of the two or three best teams in college football right now, and influential voices argue that they ought to be ranked No. 1.

The Buckeyes’ daunting slate includes the autumn’s marquee out-of-conference match-up and five games against teams in the consensus preseason top 25, four of which will be played on the road. If Ohio State goes unbeaten, they’re in the national championship game, no matter how many other teams finish with unblemished records; if the Buckeyes drop one along the way, they’ll still get in ahead of several other once-beaten teams, and probably ahead of an unbeaten A.C.C. or Big East champion.

If the preseason polls are at all accurate---and, after last year, heck, we could be in for a bland, predictable, uneventful year in 2008---it all ought to come out in the wash: No. 1 Georgia, No. 6 Florida, and No. 7 Louisiana State square off with one another in an S.E.C. round-robin; No. 2 Ohio State and No. 4 Southern California meet early in the year; and No. 3 Oklahoma, No. 8 Texas, and No. 12 Texas Tech will battle for the Big 12 South crown, with the winner to meet the victor of the showdown between No. 5 Missouri and No. 11 Kansas in the conference championship game. It seems likely that the process of elimination in selecting the national championship game participants will rely heavily on head-to-head results.

The Buckeyes are a major program in a major conference. Given the toughness of the slate they face, Ohio State will be given every opportunity to earn its way into a third straight national title tilt. What we are witnessing in this oh-woe-is-me hand-wringing by partisans of the No. 2 team in the country is the "backlash to the backlash."

The Buckeyes are one of the three teams whose fans need to learn to cope with being at the top of the food chain. Ohio State is where every team in the country wants to be. The Buckeyes are a perennial source of N.F.L. talent and a constant contender on the national stage. They need to come to grips with the terrible tragedy of being universally recognized as one of the best teams in the land.

Go ‘Dawgs!