The Ohio State Buckeyes are the national champions of the 2024 college football season, and victors of the inaugural 12-team playoff. The Buckeyes dismantled Notre Dame, 34-23, and despite a valiant effort by the Irish in the second half, the result was never really in much doubt. It was a fitting end to the scorched-earth campaign undertaken by the Buckeyes and head coach Ryan Day who, following an embarrassing 13-10 loss to rival Michigan, went on to blow out Tennessee, then No. 1 seed Oregon, then Texas, and finally Notre Dame. After all that, Day has finally proven he can win the big one, and the projected $20 million that was spent in NIL money to put together this championship roster ended up being a worthwhile investment.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard threw for 231 yards on 17-of-21 passing, ran for another 57 yards, and finished with two touchdowns and no interceptions. After executing an 18-play drive to score first, which included nine QB runs by Riley Leonard, the Irish spent the rest of the first half completely shut out. Leonard threw for 255 yards overall and ran for 40. Although Leonard led a decent comeback to get back within eight points in the second half, Ohio State had too much firepower to feel truly threatened.
Ohio State feels as close to the "right" champion as such a chaotic season could produce. In a year where the SEC ate itself or was on the decline, depending on your vantage point, and no team ever really separated itself from the pack, Ohio State had the opportunity and then eventually gathered the momentum to make their run. And just like every other good team this season, they were not immune to the inexplicable loss. It is reminiscent of their 2014 national championship team, which won it all in the inaugural four-team playoff after being upset by Virginia Tech in the second game of the season. Ohio State seems to be the program that has to christen the new playoff format as a success.
And make no mistake, it was a success. Despite the complaining about blowouts and arguing over who deserved to get in, the games were more interesting than not. People certainly watched them, and there was no shortage of storylines to add drama to the proceedings. Ohio State Vindication. The death of the SEC. The rise of the Big Ten and Midwestern football. Hell, even Notre Dame managed to get talked about like it was a plucky upstart school—mostly because their coach is so handsome. Aside from all that, the TV networks and conferences are certainly happy that they dragged our college football-watching habits deep into January.
Whether this will be good for the players longterm is yet to be determined, but for the time being, it's exciting for the sport. The flip side of this excitement is how completely deflating it's been for the bowls. That Michigan–Alabama game becomes a much bigger deal if they're playing in one of the non-playoff New Year's Six bowl games. As it stands, the bowls are silently inching towards a reality in which only the sickos who watch the Pac-12 after dark will bother to tune in. The sport giveth, the sport taketh away. This is a greedy sport run by greedy, evil people who love to exploit where they can and do anything that fattens their wallets. The 12-team playoff has arrived, and it will probably get bigger until it becomes a true March Madness-style tournament. But that's a worry for the future. Today is for the Ohio State Buckeyes, the last team standing.
