To Urban Meyer, three things matter every season at Ohio State — beat Michigan, win the Big Ten Championship and then go on to win the national championship. Since the Buckeyes only accomplished the latter in 2024,

As someone who covered Michigan’s national championship and its aftermath, I thought I’d give Ohio State a few pointers about what’s next.

In the history of the college football, no team has faced a tougher path to the championship. OSU fell to No. 8 in the CFP bracket after losing to Michigan but outscored its four postseason opponents – No. 9 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Notre Dame – by a combined score of 145-75.