Why Ohio State epitomized the first champion of the modern era of college Football

From the inception of the $20 million roster all the way until Jeremiah Smith hauled in Will Howard’s 3rd-and-long pass Monday night to clinch a national title victory against Notre Dame, Ohio State epitomized a modern college Football champion.

It was a total 180 from last year’s winner. You know, Michigan. As in, the team that was exceptionally talented with developed NFL Draft prospects, but wasn’t built on 5-stars or splashy transfer additions. If the Wolverines felt like the last of a dying breed, consider Ohio State the first of the new style of college football champion for this new era of the sport.

Check that. One doesn’t just replicate what Ohio State did. Only a handful of programs (at best) can roll out a $20 million roster and trust that it’ll have the right ingredients to be the last team standing in the 12-team Playoff era, which forced the Buckeyes to beat 4 consecutive top-10 teams en route to their first title in a decade. A decade removed from squeaking into the field as a 4-seed and winning the first 4-team Playoff, perhaps it was only fitting that Ohio State followed the script that it did.

Like that 2014 Ohio State team, timing was everything with the 2024 Buckeyes. A year earlier and the previous postseason format would’ve left them on the outside looking in.

That’s an important piece in this new era of evaluating teams. In one sense, it’s probably not fair to say this Ohio State squad is an all-time great team because it went 10-2 with a devastating loss to Michigan in the regular-season finalé. You might’ve heard about that.

At the same time, this format is unique that perhaps it doesn’t make sense to compare teams from different eras, no matter how talented it is. This Ohio State team won 6 of 7 games vs. AP Top-7 teams. When the Buckeyes won it all in 2002, they were a perfect 14-0, but the lone matchup vs. a top-7 team was against Miami in the BCS National Championship.

To compare the feat is complicated. So, too, is understanding that as recently as last year with 2023 Georgia, a team could lose a single game and not make the Playoff.

Don’t get it twisted, though. That shouldn’t take away from the feat itself. Nowhere on that championship trophy will they save a spot for “lost to Michigan.” In a pre-2024 universe, that would’ve defined Ohio State, much like how the Michigan State loss in 2015 defined that Ohio State team. Nine years ago, that Ohio State team entered the year as the first unanimous preseason No. 1 in AP Poll history. It was a “repeat or bust” expectation that the Buckeyes ultimately couldn’t live up to. The 2015 Ohio State team lacked the urgency that the 2024 team eventually found.

Take it a step further back. The 2024 Ohio State team’s urgency began last year when it ended the season with losses to Michigan and Mizzou. Instead of that being a bitter end for a slew of draft-eligible players like Jack Sawyer, JT Tuimoloau, Cody Simon and others, they ran it back during an era when doing such a thing finally had great financial benefit.

Again, don’t get it twisted. Nobody is saying those guys only came back for the money, or that dollars were the lone factors big-time transfers like Quinshon Judkins and Caleb Downs. They wanted a title. They got it. But if you don’t think that helped assemble that $20 million roster, why then was it a $20 million roster and not a $20 roster?

There’s no shame in anything Ohio State did. Well, excluding the offensive game plan against Michigan, but that’s ancient history.

OK, there was also some shame in not getting Smith a second-half touch on Monday night until that dagger of a catch he hauled in. In the end, though, nobody will remember that inactivity throughout the second half. They’ll instead remember that on 3rd-and-11, Howard knew his first read against Notre Dame’s pressure was Smith in single coverage, deep down the right sideline. In a not-so-stunning development, the No. 1 recruit in the 2024 class caught it with ease, just as he’s been doing throughout his historically dominant freshman campaign.

In an even less stunning development, talent still wins in this sport. Ohio State, with its combination of unsatisfied upperclassmen, elite but selective transfer portal haul and whatever we’re calling Smith these days (football alien is the best I’ve got), is a lock to become the 6th consecutive team to win a national title and produce the most NFL Draft picks (H/T Jim Nagy). That’s not a coincidence. Beating 4 top-12 teams — that doesn’t even count a conference title game or the regular season — isn’t for the faint of heart. It’s for the uber-talented.

There’s no guarantee that next year’s 12-team Playoff champ will check all the boxes that Ohio State did with its modern run. But this is now the ideal blueprint for winning a title in the 12-team Playoff/NIL era.

And what about the upcoming revenue-sharing era, you ask? Won’t that make it so that everyone is spending the same amount of money on their rosters? If you think that’ll happen, you haven’t been paying attention. Teams like Ohio State will still use NIL to their advantage, as they should.

Nobody should dismiss how titles are won in this era. A skeptic might argue that “Michigan cheated for its title and Ohio State bought one a year later.” It’s not that easy, as Ohio State AD Ross Bjork said after Monday’s victory.

Fair. Also fair? You need all of those things, including the money.

Ohio State had it. In spades. And yet, it still had flaws to work through. It wasn’t perfect. Even on Monday night when Notre Dame made it a 1-score game and threatened to make Buckeyes fans sweat it out to the end, Ohio State showed its flaws.

But often in this sport, talent has a funny way of trumping flaws. Or at the very least, masking them.

Ohio State will forever be remembered as the team that found a different gear when it mattered most. In this modern world of college football, that’ll be accepted more than ever.

There’s no shame in that.