It's easy to overreact to what you have just seen. Ohio State went on an impressive run during the College Football Playoff to capture the national championship, but the idea that the Buckeyes are one of the greatest teams ever is laughable. So is the idea that the 2024 Ohio State team would beat 2023 Michigan football.
That's a pipe dream if there ever was one.
No comparison, Michigan football was better
For starters, the national titles won over the past two seasons aren't comparable. Michigan football won "The Game", won the Big Ten, and went undefeated. The Buckeyes didn't do any of those things. They deserve credit, but this is the weakest national champion of the playoff era.
Even though Ohio State lost twice, including once to a 6-5 Michigan football team, at home, some have questioned whether the 2024 Buckeyes could beat the 2023 Wolverines.
You tell us👀 pic.twitter.com/lGRcYRVe2j
— Rivals (@Rivals) January 23, 2025
Surely, Ohio State fans will yell until they are blue in the face that 2024 OSU would beat 2023 Michigan football. There's only one problem with that: The Buckeyes couldn't beat the 2024 Michigan football team.
Even though Michigan might have had the worst pass offense of any Power-4 team, the Wolverines still bested the Buckeyes thanks to great defense, and a superior running game.
I don't know who needs to hear this, but the 2023 Michigan football was much better than the 2024 edition. Not only did it have the best QB in U-M history (J.J. McCarthy), but there were also players like Mike Sainrsitil, Roman Wilson (OSU fans will remember him) Kris Jenkins, Rod Moore, Cornelius Johnson (another Buckeye killer), Colston Loveland (didn't play in 2024), Will Johnson (didn't play in 2024), Michael Barrett, plus most of the dudes responsible for beating Ohio State for the fourth time in a row.
Will Howard would look just as bad against the 2023 Michigan football defense as he did against Mason Graham and crew in 2024. A healthy Will Johnson could man up Jeremiah Smith -- just like he did Marvin Harrison Jr.
And, if Michigan football was able to rush for 191 yards without any semblance of a passing attack, just imagine what Kalel Mullings, Blake Corum, and Donovan Edwards would have done with a better offensive line than the 2024 version? Ohio State would have struggled to stop it.
But it would have been much worse.
Ohio State fans can act like a two-loss national championship -- the only such thing of the playoff era -- is better than a 15-0 season with a Big Ten title and a win in the "The Game", let them.
However, delusion doesn't even accurately describe the idea that Ohio State's 2024 team would have beaten 2023 Michigan football.
Ohio State couldn't even beat 2024 Michigan.