Breaking Down the College Football Playoff Championship X-Factors for Ohio State

The Buckeyes and Alabama Crimson Tide are ready to put it all on the line one more time this year. How can the Buckeyes prevail?

Author:
Brendan Gulick
Jan 11, 2021 10:10 AM EST

Ohio State and Alabama have two of the most storied programs in the history of college football. Each is hoping to close another chapter in the most impressive way - winning a national title in a season that nearly never happened.

Nick Saban is certainly in consideration as the greatest college football coach of all time, and yet if the Crimson Tide win tonight, it will only be his second national championship with an undefeated team.

Ryan Day is 23-1 to start his head coaching career, with only a loss to Clemson in last year's CFP semifinals - a loss that his team avenged in order to get to the title game today.

Earlier this week, we shared with you what we think Ohio State's game plan should be, including some of the most important things they need to do if they want to win on Monday night.

In the video above, now just 10 hours before kickoff, we break that down a little further. Protecting Justin Fields is the highest priority, but what else could be critical to Ohio State's success tonight?

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