Your (almost) daily dose of good-natured, Ohio State banter.
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Today’s question: What is the biggest thing needed to make a deep run in the College Football Playoff?
Brett’s answer: A chip on your shoulder
If you told Ohio State fans they would win the first 12-team College Football Playoff after losing 13-10 at home to Michigan, they likely would have thought you were insane. In the days following the loss to the Wolverines, Buckeye Nation seemed more focused on packing Ryan Day’s bags than the football team winning four games to become national champs. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Tennessee fans thought they were going to turn Ohio Stadium into “Neyland North”.
Obviously, the team was ready to go to war for their head coach, as well as defend their home turf against the invaders from Tennessee. After easily dispatching the Volunteers, the Buckeyes got their revenge on Oregon in the Rose Bowl, and the rest is history. It was obvious Ryan Day’s team spent a few weeks channeling the hatred they were receiving into fuel that they used to destroy their first two opponents before outlasting Texas and Notre Dame.
Last year the Buckeyes were the victim of a team playing with a chip on their shoulder. Many didn’t think Miami belonged in the playoff field after the Hurricanes lost two games across a regular season schedule that was less than impressive. I’ll be honest, I didn’t think Miami had much of a chance against the Buckeyes in the Cotton Bowl. Not only did the Hurricanes beat Ohio State in Dallas, but they also went on to take down Ole Miss in the semifinals before giving Indiana a run in the title game.
Teams with a chip on their shoulder have something to rally around, which hasn’t been the case for others during the first two 12-team playoffs. Back in 2024, Oregon didn’t have much turmoil surrounding their team, and they ended up laying an egg against Ohio State in the Rose Bowl. While Indiana didn’t suffer the same fate as the Ducks last year as the top seed, the Hoosiers were still looking for respect nationally since their program had been a doormat for so long, so there was a bit of a chip on the shoulders of Curt Cignetti and his team.
As we work our way towards the playoffs later this year, just remember that the team that has faced adversity and feels like they are disrespected will be a team to watch out for in the postseason. Chances are they’ll make it to the title game, if not win it all.
Matt’s answer: Confidence and resilience to handle pressure
As we’ve seen numerous times from Ohio State, talent alone can be enough to get a team into the College Football Playoff. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes (and more importantly, us as fans), talent alone rarely proves to be enough to carry a team all the way through the playoffs to a national title, especially now that the tournament has expanded to 12 teams. At some point during a championship run, every contender will face a moment when the game plan fails, the opponent lands the first punch, or the weight of expectations becomes impossible to ignore.
The teams that are usually able to survive are the ones with enough confidence to believe the situation can still be fixed and enough resilience to keep playing when everything begins to go wrong. Unfortunately for Ohio State, they got punched in the face twice last year, and weren’t able to get back up either time.
What felt like the makings of a perfect season (literally and figuratively) was detoured in the Big Ten Championship Game by the Indiana Hoosiers and then ultimately derailed by the Miami Hurricanes in the CFP. Neither was a blowout — IU won 13-10, and The U won 24-14 thanks to a last-minute touchdown — but that just underlines what was missing for last year’s Buckeyes. They had their chances; neither loss was out of reach. Therefore, had they been able to bounce back like championship teams are supposed to be capable of, we could have been talking about back-to-back national titles.
We have seen OSU exhibit this kind of resilience numerous times over the years. The 2024 Buckeyes suffered a devastating fourth consecutive loss to Michigan (one that had many in Buckeye Nation, myself included, throwing in the towel on Ryan Day). However, the team and coaching staff developed that chip on their shoulder that Brett talked about, and responded by going on arguably the greatest run in college football history.
Instead of allowing one painful result to define them, they beat Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame to win the national championship.
Even in the title game, Ohio State had to withstand a Notre Dame comeback before Will Howard’s fourth-quarter third-down completion to Jeremiah Smith finally sealed the 34-23 victory. That run was not simply a demonstration of superior talent; it was proof that a team can absorb disappointment, ignore the noise surrounding it, and recover quickly enough to accomplish something historic.
Both the successful lesson of 2024 and the less successful one of 2025 need to inform the Buckeyes’ approach in 2026. Ohio State again possesses obvious championship talent, led by Julian Sayin, Jeremiah Smith, and Bo Jackson, and will return four starting offensive linemen. Personally, I believe new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith will bring a much-needed added dimension to the offensive game plan this season, while Matt Patricia will need to figure out how to replace a historically elite group of defensive starters.
This year’s team will not be judged solely by how explosive it looks when everything is working, or how it even does against its daunting regular-season schedule. The 2026 Buckeyes’ season will ultimately be determined by how it responds to an early deficit, a costly turnover, a difficult road environment, or a loss that threatens to divide the locker room. Championship pressure cannot be recreated during spring practice or preseason camp; it can only be confronted when it arrives.
Ohio State has enough talent to win another national title, and, as is my annual tradition, I will be picking them to do so. But the question is whether the Buckeyes will be able to find the collective confidence to expect victory even in the face of the most adverse of circumstances and the resilience to keep pursuing it even after things inevitably don’t go their way.
For my sake, and the sake of all Buckeye fans reading this, I sure hope they can.
