ESPN College Football

Posted by ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg

This week's AP Poll threw a little more fuel on a burning debate in the state of Ohio.

Cincinnati leapfrogged Ohio State into the No. 8 spot, while the Buckeyes held steady at No. 9 despite their third consecutive blowout victory. It marked the first time since 1951 that Cincinnati has been ranked ahead of Ohio State in the poll.

Let me say that no head coach in the country has impressed me more than Cincinnati's Brian Kelly, an offensive genius who actually gets the most out of his teams (Jeff Tedford and Charlie Weis should take notice). And few teams have impressed me as much as Cincinnati, which stands at 5-0 despite losing 10 defensive starters from a Big East title-winning team.

Still, I'm wondering how a Bearcats team that beats up on winless Miami (Ohio) leapfrogs an Ohio State team that pounded 3-1 Indiana. The Hoosiers don't qualify as a great win, but they've been a lot more impressive than Miami, which didn't score a touchdown until Week 3. Let's just say the national bias against the Buckeyes is starting to become less and less subtle. What do they have to do, exactly, to move up the rankings?

But back to the point. The fact that we're even debating whether the Buckeyes are the state's top team is a good thing. It's nice to see a state so rich in football tradition have two programs to brag about. There's a ton of college football played within the state, but outside of Columbus, it has been mostly bad football.

Ohio State is still Ohio State, but Cincinnati has become a legitimate program. It's good for Ohio and good for football in the North/Midwest, which has taken a beating in recent years.

Who would win between the Bearcats and the Buckeyes? We won't know this year, but I like Kelly's take on the matter.

"From my standpoint, you settle that on the field, just as Ohio State has settled it on the field," he said Monday. "These are all just hypotheticals now, so who knows?"

Ohio State and Cincinnati don't meet again until 2012. The Buckeyes are 13-2 all-time against the Bearcats, who haven't beaten the Scarlet and Gray since 1897.

"By [2012], hopefully we've continued to accelerate our program so Ohio State has something to gain by playing us," Kelly said. "In years past, it's been such that Ohio State has everything to lose, because they're supposed to beat Cincinnati. If we continue to win and play at a high level, I think that makes it an exciting matchup. Before, this wasn't much of a matchup."