2025 was not a bad year for Buckeye Nation. Ryan Day’s squad was littered with stars like Arvell Reese, Jeremiah Smith, Sonny Styles, and so many more names. All of them charged through the season in hopes of defending their national title. OSU was also successful where it mattered the most: defeating That Team Up North. Still, the Buckeye stars who are now leaving for the NFL remain unfulfilled.

“We didn’t do enough,” Arvell Reese said on Buckeye Talk. “It wasn’t enough. We didn’t win it. So, it doesn’t even matter. The season doesn’t even matter because we didn’t win. We didn’t accomplish anything. We all feel that way.”

“We won a national championship the year before that, so to me it was a bust,” Davison Igbinosun added. “It was back-to-back or bust. So, it wasn’t a good season if you ask me.”

Winning Michigan is a big deal for Ohio State, without a doubt. Former Buckeye WR and now-Seahawks sensation, Jaxson Smith-Njigba, could never beat the Wolverines during his time at Columbus. After the 2025 win, he said it was a “big weight off [his] shoulders.” But Ohio State is a program that never settles for less. When they’ve already won the National Championship under Ryan Day, there should have been another one, given the heaps of advantages they had.

Every CFB fan knows how elite the Buckeyes’ defense was in 2025. They were allowing the fewest points per game (9.3) in the country. Julian Sayin, on the other side of the ball, came close to being one of the most accurate passers (77.0% completion rate) in the FBS last year. And, Ryan Day simply had to navigate a very easy schedule to take OSU to the playoffs. He did it with a 10-win streak that OSU could boast about, despite the loss to Indiana. Given the level of talent that Day had in the team this year, winning Michigan only increased the hunger for them to win the National Championship.

If Smith-Njigba was able to defeat Michigan but lost the title game, he would have echoed exactly what Reese and Igbinosun said. It’s not the kind of end these stars deserved, especially since they are touted to be Round 1-2 picks in the 2026 draft. Returning players like Julian Sayin and Jeremiah Smith are already being projected as potential Heisman winners. Who knew Mario Cristobal, of all the opponents Ohio State faced, would force them to step into their new chapters without being back-to-back National Championship winners?

Like clockwork, Ryan Day and Ohio State will attempt for that coveted trophy this year as well. He has even more experienced players in Jeremiah Smith and Sayin, and double the NFL talent in his staff with Arthur Smith coming in as the new offensive coordinator. However, there might be a reason that the stars of 2026 would also have to leave OSU without bringing the Natty back to Columbus.

Ohio State’s fight to win the 2026 National Championship will not be easy

The biggest challenge for Day to tackle is the 2026 schedule. Ohio State’s calendar is one of the most difficult in the FBS, with games against Texas, Indiana, Oregon, USC, and Michigan. Day’s biggest challenge will be facing Texas and Indiana on the road, who can emerge as the top 2 teams in the country. Ryan Day laid out his thoughts on facing the heat from such a lineup.

“When you look at our schedule this year, you take a step back and you say, ‘Well, it’s probably the most difficult schedule in the history of the school,'” Day said on the Always College Football podcast. “We certainly don’t want to take any losses [this] year, but we are going to have games that go down in the fourth quarter for sure, with some of the teams on our schedule… We take all those things into consideration, being smart. But at the end of the day, what matters is being ready when it comes down in time to the playoffs.”

Ohio State enters the 2026 season as a top favorite to win the National Championship. Part of this hype comes from the weapons that will line up on the field this year. But the opponents they will face will give them a run for their money. Can OSU brave the odds and reclaim its National Championship status in 2026?