On3 names Ohio State as one of the top ten CFB defenses for 2026

· Yahoo Sports

The hire of Matt Patricia as Ohio State defensive coordinator was nothing less than a home run hire by head coach Ryan Day. The former New England assistant and Lions head coach quickly installed a defensive scheme that played fast and aggressive all the way to the nation's No. 1 defense in the country statistically.

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The challenge will be to back that up in Year 2, especially since the Buckeyes lost some key personnel to the NFL draft, like Sonny Styles, Arvell Reese, and Caleb Downs. But as they say, at a place like Ohio State, they don't rebuild; they reload, and that's the expectation again in 2026. So, don't be surprised if guys like linebacker Payton Pierce, defensive lineman Eddrick Houston, and transfers Earl Little Jr. and Christian Alliegro keep things between the guardrails and have the Buckeyes as one of the top defenses again.

In fact, On3 dropped its list of top ten college football defenses for 2026, and OSU is among them, but maybe not as high as others have ranked the unit. According to On3, Ohio State is ranked as the No. 8 defense in the country for 2026 behind Oregon (1), Oklahoma (2), Notre Dame (3), Georgia (4), Texas (5), Miami (FL) (6), and Texas Tech (7). The other two teams behind the Buckeyes, rounding out the top ten, are Iowa (9) and Indiana (10).

If you are keeping track, that's four Big Ten teams, three SEC teams, a Big 12 team, an ACC team, and one independent. If you aren't keeping count, that makes sense too because it's unlikely the final rankings end up like this. After all, it is the preseason, and nobody has put the ball on the ground and had it snapped officially yet.

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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: On3 names Ohio State as one of the top ten CFB defenses for 2026

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