ESPN's Pipeline Project

Drew Thurman (12:01 pm)

ESPN has started this project to find out which NCAA school is the best pipeline to the NFL. They scored teams based on the 1979-2009 NFL Drafts, and the Buckeyes came in at a No. 12 seed. I was a little shocked at the low ranking, especially considering the amount of players the Buckeyes have put into the draft the last two decades. I was especially surprised to see the Buckeyes third in the Big Ten, and also behind teams like Arizona State (sorry that is garbage).

The Buckeyes face No. 5 seed Tennessee in their first round matchup. Rather than letting the general public vote (like with the helmet contest), ESPN has wisely left it up to experts. Personally, I think UT versus OSU in terms of NFL talent is not even close, and it was nice to see the experts back that up. Matt Williamson of Scout Inc. (former NFL and college scout):  

"The Buckeyes win on sheer volume. Peyton Manning is an extremely formidable opponent, but he can't do it alone. Clearly, Ohio State cannot compare at the quarterback position, but its offensive linemen are extremely impressive. The Buckeyes just bring more to the table on a position-by-position overview. I will contend that Tennessee has a little more NFL upside based on the past handful of draft classes. If these two meet again a few years down the road, the results might be different. For this battle, it is just too difficult to go against Ohio State's volume in favor of what is pretty much a one-man show for the Vols."

So, I'm still not sure how the Buckeyes got the No. 12 seed. Anyways, this is just something fun to watch this week since there isn't a ton of news coming out. The Buckeyes will next face No. 4 seed Florida State...