Ohio State won the national championship last night after beating Notre Dame 34-23. This means the last two national champions of college football are the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
This is the first time the Big Ten has won back-to-back championships since 1942. This championship for the Buckeyes has a bit of a strange feeling to it since they weren't able to beat Michigan football for the fourth time in a row.
OSU fans will tell you that it doesn't bother them since they ended up winning it all, but it has to hurt a little. It especially has to hurt the coaching staff knowing they had such a good team but still couldn't figure out how to beat Michigan football.
You don't get to be a coach at an elite program like Ohio State without being an insanely competitive person, so it will be eating away at Ryan Day and company all off-season until they travel to Ann Arbor in November.
The future is bright for Michigan football and Ohio State
It feels as if we are on the precipice of another 10-year war stretch between these two programs. Michigan football signed the No. 1 overall recruit in the 2025 class in Bryce Underwood and Ohio State signed the No. 3 quarterback in the 2025 class in Tavien St. Clair.
These two elite quarterbacks will be paired with top-10 recruiting classes and a hunger for more success in the rivalry and on the national stage. The landscape of college football is ever-changing and both schools have top-tier NIL programs that will allow them to compete with anybody for recruits because of on-field success and financial benefits.
Ryan Day and Sherrone Moore are going to be compared to each other for the rest of their careers. Ryan Day has had tons of success during his tenure as the Buckeyes head coach but he has a Michigan problem sitting at 1-4 vs the Wolverines.
Sherrone Moore had an up-and-down first season as the Michigan football head coach but remains undefeated against Ohio State sitting at 2-0. It will be fascinating to watch the rivalry play out under these two as the head coaches. The Big Ten is back on top as the best conference in college football with Michigan and Ohio State leading the way.