Kings of The North -- Ohio State's rare place in college football

On this Tuesday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird and Stephen Means attack a topic they've been talking around for years -- the idea of the Ohio State Buckeyes as The Kings of The North of college football. What does that mean? How did it happen? And will it continue? In the first segment through the 26:23 mark, Doug explains his first part of the series, how Ohio State is the only Northern team to win a national title this century, but Notre Dame, Michigan and Cincinnati may all be on the upswing. In the second segment, from 26:23 to 47:23, Nathan explains the database of regional recruiting data he helped create, and what those numbers show about Ohio State's success in bringing recruits from the South and Southwest to retain their Northern supremacy. In the third segment, from 47:23 until the end, Stephen looks at the recruiting battles ahead, talking teams like Penn State and Iowa, but especially Notre Dame, when it comes to schools challenging the Buckeyes in their backyard and going out into the world as other Northern draws for recruits from other regions. You kind of have to listen to this pod or read the three-part series at cleveland.com to get the idea here. It's a theory, with some numbers and reporting to back it up. And with Ohio State hosting Notre Dame on Tuesday, it was time to finally do this. Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk from cleveland.com.