By Jay Berry
The Ohio State Buckeyes made history on Monday night when they beat the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to become the first 12-team college football national champion.
Monday night was not the only time they were first in national championships; they were also the first-ever four-team playoff national champion in the 2014 season.
On this day in 2015, Ohio State won the first College Football Playoff National Championship. pic.twitter.com/APXtocvmrB
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 12, 2024
The national championship game for the 2014 season was on January 12, 2015, in Dallas, Texas. The inaugural College Football Playoff replaced the previous Bowl Championship Series (BCS) system.
Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer coached the team to a 42–20 win over Oregon to capture the first-ever 4-team national championship.
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In the 2015 playoffs, The No. 4 Buckeyes upset the No. 1 One team, Alabama, 42–35 in the 2015 Sugar Bowl and the No. 2 Oregon Ducks defeated previously unbeaten No. 3 Florida State 59–20 in the 2015 Rose Bowl.
Just like this most recent game where the Buckeyes were 8.5-point favorites and covered, they were favorites in the 2015 game and won by double digits.
There are several similarities between the two playoff runs for Ohio State. In both playoffs, the Buckeyes defeated the number one ranked team, Alabama, in the 2015 semifinal and #1 Oregon in the 2025 second round. Additionally, Ohio State achieved decisive victories against Oregon in both playoff appearances, winning by 22 points in the 2015 national championship game and by 20 points with a score of 41-21 in this year’s Rose Bowl.
This latest championship marks Ohio State’s first national title since Meyer, the former head coach of the Gators, led the Buckeyes team to a championship in the 2014 season. Unlike Meyer, who won his third national championship that year, this was Ryan Day‘s first as a head coach. His victory came during a season when fans were critical of him for losing yet again to Michigan.
With this victory, the Buckeyes are now tied for sixth place in the number of NCAA-recognized national titles. The legendary Ohio State coach, Woody Hayes, secured five of the program’s nine championships. In comparison, Notre Dame holds a total of 13 national titles, although their most recent win was 37 years ago during the 1988 season.
After last night’s game, the hard-hitting action didn’t end when the final whistle blew. Moments after defeating Notre Dame 34-23 to win the college football national championship, Ohio State faced one more unexpected hit. Following the on-field ceremony, head coach Ryan Day, quarterback Will Howard, and linebacker Cody Simon were transported to the post-game press conference in a golf cart.
Some lady just crashed the golf cart carrying Ryan Day and Will Howard in the Mercedes-Benz tunnel after they won the National Championship pic.twitter.com/o3UqM5ZhrO
— Patrick Greenfield (@PCGreenfield) January 21, 2025
The driver initially reversed the vehicle but then accidentally crashed into the wall as she moved forward. The look on Ryan Day’s face showed a mixture of shock and irritation—certainly not a hit they had planned for. After the incident, Day and Howard got off the cart and walked the rest of the way, their spirits still high as they laughed off the minor mishap.
With the 2024 season complete, it’s time to look ahead to the way-too-early preseason top 25 rankings. There will likely be many off-season storylines to follow. A prominent topic is the Big Ten, as the last two national champions have been from this conference. Will next year be the year that Penn State and James Franklin finally break through, returning QB Drew Allar and RBs Nicholas Singleton & Kaytron Allen? Will Marcus Freeman be able to keep the Irish in championship contention?
