In the end, the story of Ohio State’s national championship was simple enough to describe in four words.
Just too many dudes.
Same as it ever was in college football.
You can give players the right to change programs every year, you can pay them amounts of money that would have seemed unthinkable a decade ago, you can finally embrace a 12-team playoff that theoretically gives everyone a shot to win a national title.
But the very real parity college football has created over the last few years only goes so far.
Five-star, future NFL talent – and lots of it – is still the only tried-and-true path to a national title. And when you have that talent with experience, program buy-in and a massive chip on its shoulder, you get Ohio State 34, Notre Dame 23.
It’s a coronation that wouldn’t have seemed possible seven weeks ago when the Buckeyes lost to Michigan, in what would have been a self-immolation of their title aspirations in any other season before this one. Now? It’s the most obvious outcome to the 2024 season and a lesson about the true nature of the 12-team Playoff.
Yes, it’s great for the Indianas and SMUs and Arizona States and all the nowhere programs that will get their turn in the spotlight.
But it’s even better for the Ohio States and the Georgias and the handful of elites who – no matter the system – stack blue-chip talent on National Signing Day and get even more of it in the transfer portal.
The reason is simple: Unless something goes badly, badly wrong, they’ll never run out of chances in this system. And by the end, there’s really no difference in what we saw for so many years and so many mismatches in the BCS and the four-team CFP.
In years past, this Ohio State team would have been crushed for losing twice. The performance against Michigan would have gotten people fired. Its $20 million roster failing to make the old CFP would have been endless fodder for social media snark. It would have been remembered as one of the most embarrassing failures in college football history.
Instead, the Buckeyes and coach Ryan Day have a CFP trophy and redemption, plowing through this Playoff field and creating arguably the most impressive body of work any champion has ever had.
You can complain all you want about whether this title run diminishes regular-season games, but you can’t argue the résumé. When you beat six of the top eight teams as the CFP committee ranked them, there’s little doubt you’ve accomplished something incredible.
But in this era of college football, that’s more or less what it’s going to take to win the Playoff. And you’re not going to do it without the bevy of five-star athletes that few programs can attract.
