The Ohio State Buckeyes are clearly one of the best teams in the country and are absolutely national championship contenders as the regular season draws to a close.
But while Ohio State is elite in just about every single category, it actually ranks last in the country in one very peculiar area: opponent’s penalty yards (h/t Chase Brown of Eleven Warriors).
Buckeyes opponents are averaging just 25.5 penalty yards per game thus far this season, which means that Ohio State’s rivals are simply not being flagged.
So what could be the reason for this?
Well, it has very little—if anything—to do with the Buckeyes. It could, however, be related to Big Ten officiating in general.
While Ohio State ranks 134th out of 134 teams in this category, the next five schools on the list all play in the Big Ten.
This is an indication that games are being called very loosely in the Big Ten, which could certainly make for a very interesting Big Ten title game.
Regardless, anyone who attempts to claim that the refs “favor” the Buckeyes should probably take one quick look at those numbers.
Ohio State is 9-1 on the year, with its lone loss coming on the road against the Oregon Ducks in Week 7. The Buckeyes will be facing the undefeated Indiana Hoosiers in a pivotal conference showdown this Saturday.
It will represent just the third ranked opponent Ohio State has played this season, with the other two being Oregon and the Penn State Nittany Lions, who the Buckeyes defeated earlier in the month.