Ohio State Buckeyes to Face Tennessee in College Football Playoff

The Ohio State Buckeyes will play host to the Tennessee Volunteers in the first round of the College Football Playoff.

Nov 23, 2024; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day takes the field before the game against the Indiana Hoosiers at Ohio Stadium. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes now know their future in the College Football Playoff. They have earned a home game in the first game of the playoff and they will play host to the Tennessee Volunteeers.

After losing to the Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State has to feel good about having another game at Ohio Stadium. They will have home-field advantage in what should be a great matchup.

Whoever ends up winning this first round matchup will hit the road for a matchup against the No. 1 ranked Oregon Ducks.

Obviously, the Buckeyes would love nothing more than to have a shot to avenge their loss to Oregon earlier this season. With a win over Tennessee, they will have that opportunity.

Looking closer at the Volunteers, they ended up going 10-2 throughout the course of the 2024 season. They lost to Arkansas and Georgia, while defeating teams like NC State, Oklahoma, Alabama, and Florida.

Beating Tennessee is going to be no easy task for Ohio State.

As for the Buckeyes, they finished the regular season with a 10-2 record. Their losses were against Oregon and Michigan. They did come through with big wins over both Penn State and Indiana.

Ahead of this matchup, Ohio State has to find a way to pull back together. There has been a lot of negativity surrounding the team since losing to Michigan. Day has a tough job ahead of him to get the national championship swagger back for his team.

From a pure talent perspective, the Buckeyes should have a legitimate shot to win a championship. They barely lost to the best team in the nation earlier this season. That loss alone showed their ability to compete with anyone in the country.

Heading into their matchup with the Volunteers, Ohio State will likely be favored. They are the better team on paper. Hopefully, they take care of business and play up to their potential.

All of the negative media coverage can disappear for the Buckeyes if they knock off Tennessee. It will be interesting to see if they can get the job done.