Monday night in Atlanta, Ohio State won the first national championship of the 12-team College Football Playoff era. In the process, the Buckeyes provided the rest of the college football world with the blueprint for success going forward in this new landscape.
Do not delude yourselves. As much as you may want it, an expanded field does not offer an opportunity for Cinderella stories in college football. Yes, Boise State and Arizona State both earned berths, and both received byes, but in the end, it was the team with the second-most national titles since 1936 (the beginning of the poll era) and second-most wins in history hoisting the trophy after defeating the program with the fourth-most wins. It’s a tournament designed to give the best teams a second — and maybe even a third — chance to prove themselves worthy of greatness.
No, the lesson to be learned here is how to become Ohio State if you’re a program that already does or hopes to compete at the elite level of the sport. The formula itself is simple, even if it isn’t easy to pull off.
Ohio State wins national championship: Where do Buckeyes’ nine titles rank on all-time college football list?
Zachary Pereles
The answer is not in the transfer portal. There was a lot of talk about how Ohio State bought its roster in the days leading up to the title game, but what wasn’t discussed as much was the fact Notre Dame had a larger class of transfers in the 2024 offseason (nine players) than Ohio State (seven). Neither team spent the offseason in the portal hunting for players to fix…
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