How Ohio State Built A Champion In New World Of College Football

Well, it’s official — spending money on NIL, attacking the transfer portal and navigating the new 12-team playoff really works. Ohio State just proved that by getting hot and winning a national title despite losing to Michigan as a three-touchdown favorite in its most storied rivalry game. The Buckeyes also didn’t even have to play in the Big Ten title game. The system has never been perfect and likely never will be, but don’t tell that to the Buckeyes. They’re just fine with the new and massively impactful changes laced all throughout college football and they’ll keep trying to adapt to them as the polish this year’s championship trophy.

The implementation of NIL allowed one of the nation’s most affluent athletic departments to win their ninth title. NIL wasn’t the only factor, but it was certainly a big one. Ohio State itself publicly declared that their football team was making $20 million in NIL money and was built to beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and a championship. The first two didn’t happen, but the biggest prize did, and NIL funding is massive reason why. Per an article by Sports Illustrated and according to Sportico, the Ohio State athletic department spent $274.9 million on athletics in the 2022-23 year, the most among public schools by a significant margin. They have claimed to have the biggest budget in the country, including private schools. Before the season even started, it was reported that Ohio State football players would receive around $20 million in NIL deals, which was the highest figure in the country. Unfortunately, as of right now, a lot of NIL deals are unreported and unregulated, so it is challenging to know just how much of the Buckeyes’ resources and expenditures came from that number. Still, the reports put Ohio State at the top of the mountain financially, and now they’re at the top of the mountain competitively.

The transfer portal also paid dividends for the Buckeyes. Starting quarterback Will Howard, power back Quinshon Judkins, who made up one half of perhaps the best backfield in the country and safety Caleb Downs, arguably the Buckeyes’ top defender, all started their college careers elsewhere. Howard first suited up for Kansas State, Judkins was at Ole Miss and Downs shined even while at Alabama before arriving in Columbus. There were other transfers on the field making plays for OSU, and the Bucks certainly recruited, landed and developed plenty of their “own” talent, but there’s no doubt that the transfer portal helped Ohio State put a team on the field that outplayed everyone in the country at the right times.

Finally, and there’s no debate here, the Buckeyes benefitted completely by the new 12-team playoff format. In years prior, Ohio State wouldn’t have sniffed the playoffs after losing to Michigan and not even playing for the Big Ten Championship. This year, however, they were firmly inside the top 12 and got hot at just the right time. With a $20 million roster, the talent was always there, it just took a little time to put it all together, and Ryan Day and Co. did just that after falling to the Wolverines in late-November.

Now, the Buckeyes are kings of college football. Whether you like how things are in the world of college football right now or not, you have to give credit where credit is due. Ohio State recognized the changes early, put a lot of time, effort, energy and resources into learning about it and did not waste time implementing new approaches and systems. It all paid off and they are now national champs.