Are the Ohio State Buckeyes the best program in college football?

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College football was the domain of the SEC for the large part of two decades, but over the last few years, things have begun to shift.

Three consecutive national champions have hailed from the Big Ten, including perhaps the league's flagship program — the Ohio State Buckeyes — in 2024. USA TODAY Sports' Paul Myerberg, Blake Toppmeyer, Jordan Mendoza and Eddie Timanus recently ranked the top 25 programs in college football entering the 2026 season, and the Buckeyes took the No. 1 spot.

Alabama followed at No. 2 with Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas rounding out the top five.

The rankings are not based on the quality of each team's roster in 2026 but rather the strength and trajectory of the program as a whole. With that in mind, it's hard to argue with the choice to put the Buckeyes at No. 1.

Perhaps no program in college football has been more consistent than Ohio State over the last 15 years, as the program hasn't won fewer than 11 games in a season since 2011 (except for the COVID-shortened 2020 season, in which it went 7-1).

Even Alabama, which has one more national title than the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff era, has taken a step back since the departure of Nick Saban. While Kalen DeBoer has won 20 games in two years in Tuscaloosa, his eight losses are as many as the Tide had in Saban's final five seasons combined.

Georgia has been highly consistent and, like Ohio State, has a pair of national titles in the CFP era. However, UGA has seemingly hit something of a plateau in the 12-team playoff era, reaching the playoff but dropping its opening game in each of the last two seasons.

The Buckeyes have been a dominant force in college football for essentially the entirety of the 21st century, and they show no signs of slowing down under 47-year-old coach Ryan Day, who holds an 82-12 record entering his eighth season as Ohio State's head coach.

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This article originally appeared on College Sports Wire: Are the Ohio State Buckeyes the best program in college football?

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