Ohio State Buckeyes Land Jarring National Championship Prediction

Can the Ohio State Buckeyes repeat as national champions?

Head coach Ryan Day fires up the crowd during the Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Playoff National Championship celebration at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Jan. 26, 2025. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Ohio State Buckeyes won their first national championship in a decade this past season, but many of their top players from the team have made the jump to the NFL.

This has created some very concerning holes for Ohio State heading into 2025, and on both sides of the ball. As a result, most are not anticipating that the Buckeyes will repeat.

However, Phil Steele of On 3 is not ruling out Ryan Day's squad.

“Despite dropping from No. 47 to No. 105 in my ‘Experience Chart,' OSU could be favored in all 12 regular-season games,” Steele wrote. “They get Penn State and Texas at home and are a threat to repeat as national champs.”

That assessment is sure to make Ohio State fans happy, but there is no question that the road to a national title is going to be much more difficult this year.

Yes, superstars like Jeremiah Smith and Caleb Downs are returning, but the Buckeyes still don't know who their starting quarterback will be, they are fielding an entirely new backfield and their defense lost a massive chunk of starters to the draft.

Ohio State has some very obvious issues going into the new season, so it simply does not have the same talent advantage over everyone like it did in 2024.

All of that being said, the Buckeyes remain one of the best teams in the country on paper and should represent a threat to make a run in the College Football Playoff. The Big Ten will certainly be a tough conference, though.

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