Last year was last year, and this year is now. That is how Ryan Day is going about things in his first season leading the Ohio State Buckeyes after they have been crowned national champions. Ohio State has won three national titles in my lifetime, but never once did they go back-to-back. The 2002 team stunned Miami. The 2014 team won the first College Football Playoff. Last season was unreal.
Ohio State finished the regular season at 10-2 overall and 7-2 in Big Ten play with conference losses to Oregon and rival Michigan. The Buckeyes would be the No. 8 seed in the first 12-team playoff. Dripping with talent and a newfound sense of self, Ohio State ran the gauntlet to be crowned champions. They beat Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame in succession to win the playoff.
So when Day offered this message on behalf of his team, I cannot say that I am the least bit surprised.
“The leaders of this group decided they wanted to take some of the national championship stuff down in the facility because they didn’t win the natty, last years team did."
This seems to be a direct shot at Michigan, who won the 2023 national championship as a one-off.
Ryan Day - “The leaders of this group decided they wanted to take some of the national championship stuff down in the facility because they didn’t win the natty, last years team did” pic.twitter.com/bxw0QXXuTW
— BuckeyeM⭕️B (@Buckeye_Mob) March 17, 2025
Of course, Michigan lost Jim Harbaugh and so much off the 2023 team to the NFL, but sure, why not?
Ohio State has removed much of its national championship stuff already
From an overall conceptual standpoint, I love this out of Day and Ohio State. Outside of Day, Caleb Downs and Jeremiah Smith, how much of last year's team remains? That is a rhetorical question, but hear me out. Football, and really any team sport for that matter, tends to follow the same fate of good, ole Sisyphus. It may be a loathsome burden to carry the boulder to the mountaintop, but you have to...
What I am getting at is just because last year's Ohio State team reached the summit does not guarantee this year's squad will get there. The sooner the 2025-26 Buckeyes realize that they are starting at the base of said mountain, the better off they will be. In order for a team to win as a team, you have to sacrifice I. Much of what made the 2024-25 Buckeyes special is no longer in Columbus.
Where I think Day is missing the point is this is not what befell Michigan, or Georgia from pulling off an unprecedented three-peat two years ago for that matter. College football is hard, man! Only so many teams can realistically win a national championship. Right now in the 12-team format, I would argue that only eight teams can do it. You know which ones they are, and Ohio State is among that octet.
To tie a bow on all this, I have Ohio State as one of three-to-four locks to make the College Football Playoff again next season, along with Penn State, Texas and I am getting dangerously high on Clemson. I am betting on Ohio State's infrastructure to get them back to the playoff more than anything. I would be shocked if the Buckeyes were not a top-four team in the Big Ten next season.
What should be noted is Michigan had made the playoff the three previous seasons prior to last year. Eventually, coaching and roster attrition proved too much for the Wolverines to overcome. While I am not ready to pencil the Wolverines into the playoff again just yet, I have them as a fringe contender to do so this fall. What this may come down to is what rebuilding blue-blooded teams are the hungriest.
Day can do no wrong in Columbus now, but this year's Buckeyes team must create a new identity fast.