The Ohio State Buckeyes are coming off a national championship in 2024, but they didn’t enter the 12-team College Football Playoff as one of the best four teams in the country.
After losing in the last week of the season at home to the unranked Michigan Wolverines, the Buckeyes weren’t thought of as even one of the best two teams in the Big Ten Conference, placed behind both the Oregon Ducks and Penn State Nittany Lions. However, they did make it into the 12-team playoff with ease.
The Buckeyes did not win their conference, so they did not earn a first-round bye. However, one could certainly argue that the lack of success from teams that had a first-round bye incentivizes teams to want to keep playing football and not take that week off.
Nonetheless, generally, you’d rather be a top-four team than not be one, and the Buckeyes have yet to have a first-round bye. That could change this coming season, and ESPN commented on that recently in an article penning several topics as college football is just under 100 days from commencing.
“The defending national champion is ranked this low only because it’s behind projected champs from other conferences. If Ohio State beats Texas at home in its season opener — and beats Penn State at home on Nov. 1 — the Buckeyes will be at the top of this list and in position for the committee’s No. 1 ranking and seed,” Heather Dinich wrote while ranking the Buckeyes as No. 6 in the list of 10 potential first-time CFP teams.
The Buckeyes will have an interesting roster that possesses a few of the best players in the country. Jeremiah Smith is the best receiver in the country while Caleb Downs may be the best on the defensive side of the field. There are many looming questions regarding how good Julian Sayin will be able to play along with how they’ll refill many spots on the offensive and defensive line that were vacated by players heading to the NFL.
The potential is there for Ohio State to be one of the best in the country, and there’s no reason to think it couldn’t get a first-round bye this upcoming season.
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