Grade the take: An Ohio State national championship would put Ryan Day in elite company

The stage is set for the 2025 College Football National Championship Game and Ohio State fans will be on the edge of their seats hoping head coach Ryan Day can lead their team to its first national title since 2015. Despite falling to rival Michigan for a fourth consecutive season and missing out on yet another Big Ten Conference Championship, Day is still in line to potentially immortalize himself in program history.

ESPN's Joey Galloway made a bold prediction Monday afternoon ahead of the Buckeyes' matchup with Notre Dame in Atlanta, going so far as to put Day in the same sentence as the great Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer with regard to his legacy in Columbus.

"[Winning the national championship] puts him in a league with Jim Tressel and Urban Meyer, guys like Woody Hayes who have won," Galloway, a former Buckeye wide receiver, said. "When the season began, people expected Ohio State to be in Atlanta playing for a national championship."

Grade the take: Ryan Day is on the same level as Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer and Woody Hayes if he wins the national title vs. Notre Dame

Galloway's statement carries a heavy connotation in that Day, after six seasons with mixed results, should be put on the same kind of pedestal as all-time great college football head coaches from Columbus. That's a bold claim but it isn't entirely unfounded.

The data behind Day's tenure at Ohio State actually warrants this kind of consideration. He has a better winning percentage than Tressel and a superior SP+ percentile rating than Meyer. Those are hard stats to ignore. But what's even harder to ignore is the lack of hardware in Day's trophy case since taking over in 2019.

He's only won two Big Ten titles but has made four CFP appearances and now two national title game appearances. The only thing that's missing from his resume is a national championship.

A win over a very good Notre Dame team would be the ultimate jewel in his crown and should stave off any ridiculous talk of firing him over the rivalry failures. Does it automatically place him in the Pantheon of Ohio State legends, however? That may take a little more time to debate but for now he should have at least one foot in the door.