Ohio State is probably not the best team in the country. I've made my peace with that; the defense remains at least semi-legit, but the offense has been operating without any real identity or fire for the better part of five games now. The talent is still there, but right now that isn't indicative of being the best team out out of 117 or so.
And that's okay! As I've said before in this space, the football season is a process, and it's some that comes in fits and starts. The exponential progress that we saw at the end of last season is an anomaly that we probably shouldn't have gotten used to through many, many re-watchings of the Big Ten Championship, the Sugar Bowl, and the National Championship.