Could a college team beat a NFL team?

In a hypothetical duel between the pride of Ohio, the Ohio State Buckeyes, and the Cleveland Browns, 53% of Ohio natives believe that the Ohio State Buckeyes could win. Meanwhile, only 23% believe that the Cleveland Browns would win. Now of course, fans always joke that a top ranked college team (Alabama, FSU, OSU) could beat one of the NFL's regular bottom feeders, but is it true? Let's take a look and find out.

First, let's take a look at the OSU's cream of the crop. Daniel Jeremiah says that Ohio State could have five players go in the first round alone. Promising start right? Not really. The Browns currently have seven first rounders on hand, six of which were drafted by Cleveland. CBSSports.com has 12 Buckeyes listed as draftable prospects. A small fraction of the Ohio State Buckeyes roster are said to be worthy of being among the 255 players that will hear the commissioner call their name on draft day this year. The Browns roster has more than 12 drafted players on it. The Cleveland Browns roster is littered with the best players from the best universities. Heck, they just disposed of a Heisman Trophy Winner.

The fact is that even the worst NFL roster is filled with former college superstars that are bigger, faster, stronger, and play in more complex schemes than their college counterparts that are unlikely to have any career in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns wouldn't just beat the Ohio State Buckeyes, they would curb-stomp them. Unfortunately for Browns fans, they probably won't be doing much in the way of curb-stomping against any actual NFL teams.