It’s been a rough week for Buckeye fans, but optimism is officially allowed to return today as the College Football Playoff Committee will reveal the official CFP bracket beginning at 12 noon ET on ESPN. It is then that Ryan Day and his squad will know what their path looks like toward a national championship. Will that include a first-round home game against Tennessee and a return engagement with No. 1 Oregon? Only time will tell.
Earlier this week we asked Buckeye Nation two questions about Day and Ohio State’s playoff chances in our weekly fan survey, and we now have the results.
We wanted to know where people sat in terms of Day’s job security and what he needs to do this postseason to solidify it. Then we asked a question about where fans believe the Buckeyes will conclude their season.
Check out the results below and if you have any comments or want to make any additions, feel free to respond at the bottom of the page.
While I am not surprised that there is a sizable contingent of Buckeye fans not ready to fire Ryan Day just yet (we are nothing if not a forgiving group), but I am surprised that such a strong majority settled on just making the semifinals — which is important considering the results of the second question below.
If I had to put a specific benchmark that Day would have to achieve for me to be on board with him remaining at the helm in 2025, honestly, it would be to win a national championship. I know that is an incredibly difficult task to accomplish, especially since as of this article’s publication we don’t yet know what the playoff bracket will look like.
But, to be honest, I am not especially concerned about a specific number of wins for Day to keep his job. As I wrote following the latest loss to Michigan, I think that it is time for Ohio State to move in a different direction. Despite what I think are Day’s immense coaching abilities, he just constantly seems to get in his own way. So proving that he has worked through that is what would be most encouraging for me about his future tenure in Columbus.
If Day comes out and doesn’t get unnecessarily conservative in the game plan, utilizes the incredible collection of talent on his roster, and puts his position to win multiple games (just doing it once won’t be enough), then I can probably get on board to welcoming him back. However, during his entire tenure at Ohio State, he has shirked from those opportunities more often than not, so I don’t know that I think he can completely change his stripes in one postseason. However, if he can, then I would be semi-comfortable with him being back next season.
It is very interesting to me that 72% of respondents to the survey said that Day needs to win two games to get in their good graces. That would mean that the Buckeyes would need to win their first-round game and then their quarterfinal matchup as well… which would lead to a spot in the semifinals.
Perhaps coincidentally, many of those same respondents predicted that OSU would make, but lose in, the semifinals. Another 33% think that the Buckeyes won’t even make it to the semifinals, while 8% believe Day’s team will win the semis and play for the national title.
I am not going to go out on a limb and predict how far Ohio State will go until I see the seedings, but if the coaching staff can get out of their own way, I don’t see any reason why the Buckeyes can’t win the national title.