Wolverine Digest

Ohio State facing painful truth after winning national championship

While winning a national championship is great, there's no question that Ohio State fans are struggling with a critical piece that is missing from an otherwise great season.
Chris Breiler|
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Ohio State fans are no doubt still celebrating Monday night's national championship victory over Notre Dame, as they should be. The No. 8 Buckeyes went on an incredible run in the playoff, knocking off No. 9 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 Texas, and No. 7 Notre Dame. And while the playoff run was impressive, Ohio State still couldn't shake that brutal loss to Michigan back on Nov. 30. In fact, the Michigan Wolverines were one of the hottest topics of the entire College Football Playoff, and they weren't even in it.

When Ohio State defeated Tennessee back on Dec. 21, that loss to Michigan was present. When Ohio State defeated Oregon on Jan. 1, that loss to Michigan was present. When Ohio State defeated Texas on Jan. 10, that loss to Michigan was present. And when Ohio State defeated Notre Dame on Monday night, that loss to Michigan was present.

No matter how much the Buckeyes achieved during their playoff run, it was never enough to escape that loss to Michigan.

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After all of the scarlet and gray confetti had fallen at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Monday night, two ESPN anchors sat on the field and discussed... you guessed it... that loss to Michigan. It had become such a big part of Ohio State's story in 2024, that even Rece Davis was actually suggesting the Buckeyes should remove the countdown clock in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center in Columbus.

"It's fun for it to seem like it means everything until it's not fun anymore," Davis said. "And when you have this thing that he was 67-10 before this playoff or whatever, and you've got to fire him because of Michigan, it's nonsense. And it got in their heads too. But, you know, even I wonder... and sometime I want to talk to Ryan [Day] at some point in the off-season, they've got all that stuff in the Woody Hayes building. Countdown, THE rivalry, you know... all that stuff. Maybe you don't need to do that."

In the days that have followed that national championship win on Monday, the loss to Michigan has continued to be a massive part of the discussion. And that's the harsh reality that Buckeye fans are now trying to cope with. Winning a national championship is great, but it's certainly not as enjoyable when you don't beat your rival along the way.

For Ohio State, the painful truth is this: that loss to Michigan will always be a part of your 2024 championship story.

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Chris Breiler
CHRIS BREILER

Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.

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