Ohio State Buckeyes In Top 5: JD PicKell's Post-Spring Top 25

Coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes have worked hard to add to an already stout roster this spring.

After the first round of transfer portal moves and after spring ball, the latest rankings are making headlines throughout college football. Against that backdrop, national college football analyst J.D. PicKell has released his post-spring and post-portal top 25 rankings.

Mar 7, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day talks to quarterbacks during | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA

2. Ohio State Buckeyes

"Ryan Day isn't messing with y'all. Ryan Day has heard all the slander and he's heard all the talk and all the jokes. He hears all of it," PicKell said. "And all he did this past portal cycle is go out into attack mode. 'Quinshon Judkins, come play for us, Caleb Downs, come play for us.'

"Caleb Downs was the best player in the transfer portal and you didn't even really need Caleb Downs. You bring back pretty much everyone from last year's defense that was one of the best units in the country."

As PicKell points out, Downs was more of a luxury than a necessity. The same could be said for Quinshon Judkins. Ohio State already had TreVeyon Henderson returning, who was one of the best backs in the game last season.

But because Day - as PicKell puts it, "isn't messing around this year" - went out and got them anyway, just because he could.

The team in front of the Buckeyes is the SEC's Georgia Bulldogs, but it's hard to imagine this Buckeyes team losing to any team from the SEC this upcoming season, especially in a playoff scenario.