Ohio State has won seven national championships, give or take the two mythical ones the school adds. No matter the number, the Buckeyes have never successfully defended a title.
Oh, they’ve been close — only to have a Rose Bowl loss here, an upset to Michigan State there and an always bitter defeat to Michigan thrown in for good measure to spoil their chances.
But there has never been a more opportune time nor possibly a more treacherous route than what the third-ranked Buckeyes face beginning with the showdown against No. 1 Texas in Columbus on Saturday.
The loser in Ohio Stadium will be disappointed but not deflated thanks to the latest iteration of the College Football Playoff, which allows for mulligans among the 12-team field.
Just ask last year’s Buckeyes, who lost to Oregon in the middle of the regular season and unfathomably to Michigan at the end of it but had enough quality wins to receive a playoff bid. The rest is history.
There’s built-in margin for error in the new system. That’s why the Buckeyes can repeat.
They have a redshirt freshman quarterback in Julian Sayin to replace fifth-year senior Will Howard, who had an erratic first season with the Buckeyes after transferring from Kansas State but played brilliantly in the postseason when they rolled over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame for the school’s first title since 2014.
Sayin is a five-star recruit who said goodbye to Alabama as soon as Nick Saban retired, and he is about to make his first career start. There will be bumps along the way, but he has cushion knowing that all-world Jeremiah Smith and the rest of the receiving corps is there to bail him out.
The defense is led by safety Caleb Downs, who might be the second-best player in the country behind Smith, but the remainder of the secondary has questions and the entire defensive front must be replaced.
In other words, hang on.
Why won’t Ohio State repeat? Well, there is Michigan at the Big House on Nov. 29, and if the Buckeyes aren’t careful they could enter The Game not only trying to break a four-game losing streak to the Wolverines but needing a victory just to earn a playoff berth.
Of course, Texas will be the first test. A trip to improving Washington in the first Big Ten game (still sounds weird) on Sept. 27 could be sneaky tough, same with going to Illinois on Oct. 11 for an Illini team that, on paper, might be in CFP consideration.
Then, of course, is the biggie vs. No. 2 Penn State in the ‘Shoe on Nov. 1 as the Buckeyes look to extend their winning streak in the series to eight games.
Successfully navigate all those games and Buckeye fans might, just might, forgive Ryan Day if another Michigan setback doesn’t prevent a chance to defend the national title.
Anything less and guess who’s on the hot seat again?
