No. 1 Ohio State suspends four players for opener
CHICAGO — Ohio State has suspended All-America defensive end Joey Bosa, receiver Corey Smith and H-backs Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson for its opening football game at Virginia Tech.
The Buckeyes also received 62 of the 64 firstplace votes in the Amway coaches’ preseason poll released Thursday. Alabama was picked third, between Big 12 powers TCU and Baylor, and the Southeastern Conference had eight of the top 25 with league brethren Mississippi State and Texas A&M leading the list of others receiving votes by a wide margin.
Oregon and Michigan State were ranked fifth and sixth with Auburn, Florida State, Georgia and Southern Cal completing the top 10. Ranked 11th through 20th were Notre Dame, Clemson, LSU, UCLA, Ole Miss, Arizona State, Georgia Tech, Wisconsin, Oklahoma and Arkansas, and SEC East members Missouri and Tennessee were 23rd and 25th.
In a statement released about an hour before Big Ten Media Days began Thursday, Oho State said the four suspended players violated athletic department policy.
The defending national champions open the season Labor Day night in Blacksburg, Va., against the only team to beat them last season.
Bosa had 13.5 sacks as a sophomore and enters his junior year as one of the top NFL prospects in college football. Marshall was second on the team in receptions as a freshman with 38 and was also the team’s best punt returner. Wilson and Smith combined for 41 catches for 555 yards.
Ohio State brings back most of its key players from last year’s team, which bounced back from a September loss to the Hokies in Columbus to win the first College Football Playoff. Bosa might be the best of the Buckeyes. He had 21 tackles for loss last season, including a game-ending sack in overtime against Penn State.
Marshall was a versatile playmaker the Buckeyes lined up all over the field, including at quarterback at times. Wilson, a junior, plays a similar role for Ohio State. A foot injury against Michigan State in November cut his season short and kept him out of spring practice.
USC Pac-12 favorite
BURBANK, Calif. — Southern California was picked to win its first Pac12 football title since 2008 in a preseason media poll Thursday.
The Trojans received 21 of 45 votes for the title, edging defending champion Oregon. The Ducks got 17 votes for the top spot and were picked to win the North division, while USC is favored to win the South.
Five teams received votes as the conference champion.
Oregon has won four of the last six league titles, reaching the national championship game last season. Stanford, which won the conference crown in 2012 and 2013, was picked to finish second in the North, ahead of California.
“You know everybody is going to be better than they were a year ago,” said Stanford coach David Shaw, who has quarterback Kevin Hogan back for another year. “It’s going to be an insane year in our conference with the teams we have and the players we have.”
While USC has 16 returning starters from coach Steve Sarkisian’s debut team last season, quarterback Cody Kessler likely is the biggest factor in the selection. The prolific passer is back for his third season as the Trojans’ starter, while Oregon must replace Heisman winner Marcus Mariota.
“USC will be one of the better teams in the country,” Washington coach Chris Petersen said.
The Trojans hadn’t been picked to win the league since 2012, when they were the national preseason No. 1. They finished 7-6 and unranked, and coach Lane Kiffin was fired less than a year later.