Ohio State received 59 of a possible 65 first-place votes, up from 39 last week, and 1,614 points in the media poll. Notre Dame is back at No. 2 off its 41-17 victory over Penn State. The aggressive Irish went down two spots last week when Texas moved up to No. 2.

With Troy Smith and Ted Ginn Jr. leading the way all of us knew that Ohio State had a championship-caliber offense. The questions about the Buckeyes centered on their rebuilt defense with nine new starters.

Ohio State's defense was gashed by Northern Illinois tailback Garrett Wolfe, who had 285 total yards, including 171 rushing. That's an unusually high total for an Ohio State defense. Now, despite the fact they are in No. position, the Buckeyes undoubtedly have some holes to patch before next Saturday.