Ohio State secures first CFB championship under new format
The 2024 college football national championship marked an important milestone in sports history, in that it was the first-ever year featuring a 12-team playoff system.
In past years, the league went from basic bowl games with droves of winners (the traditional method) to a four-team system to now. Despite a few complaints regarding the selection committee, as in which teams make the cut and which don’t, fans have reacted well to the seismic change.
This year’s championship game shone a spotlight on the expanded playoff, featuring the fifth-seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish against the eight-seed Ohio State Buckeyes. Considering both teams would’ve fallen short of the title game in past formats, the point of expanding to 12 teams was proven objectively valid.
These two teams beat out all the rest, seeded higher and lower than they, for the right to win it all. And, to further the successful outlook of the new playoff scheme, the lower seed Buckeyes ultimately came out on top.
Ryan Day, the head coach of Ohio State, entered the matchup with much to prove. Many of the Buckeye faithful have called for his job in recent years on the basis of claims that he “can’t win big games.” After a home loss to the unranked, visiting rival Michigan Wolverines earlier this season, those lobbying were louder than ever.
Yet on the biggest stage in the country, Coach Day led the red and silver to the top spot in a 34-23 victory.
While Ohio State led most of the game and by multiple scores, Notre Dame found themselves with a chance as time expired. Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard faced a third down and 11; if he didn’t convert they’d be forced to give the ball back to the Irish, who could tie the game with a score and two-point conversion.
Howard then connected on a deep pass that would seal each team’s respective fate, finishing the game with a scorching 17-21 completion rate, for 231 yards and two touchdowns.
The Buckeyes’ other standout performer came in the form of Quinshon Judkins, their star running back, who tallied 11 carries for 100 yards and two touchdowns as well. It was star power vs. star power in Mercedes Benz Stadium, and despite the best efforts of Notre Dame QB Riley Leonard and WR Jaden Greathouse, who shared two touchdowns as a duo, Notre Dame would have to settle for silver.
Regardless of who you pull for or what jersey you wear, the new CFB playoff format has already proven to be good for the sport. We saw more upsets, got more surprises and ended up with what was truly the best possible outcome for the season’s final game.
Going forward, fans of all creeds will have a lot to look forward to on the college football level. And to think that this was only year one… the fun has only begun.
