The Ohio State football program fell to Miami in the Cotton Bowl this season. It was a disappointing finish to a season that started off so well, as the Buckeyes started 12-0. Ohio State was the second overall seed in the College Football Playoff, getting a bye week.
It seemed that the bye week did more harm than good, as the Ohio State Buckeyes came out looking rusty. Their bid to win back-to-back national titles fell short. They are still expected to be one of the best teams in college football next season, even though they lose a lot of talent.
Despite all of the talent that Ohio State has coming back next season, one college football pundit believes that the Buckeyes won't compete for a first-round bye. In fact, he has them as the eight-seed, which is what they were when they won the national championship in 2024.
College football pundit has Ohio State football team eighth in CFP bracket
The Buckeyes are eighth in Brad Crawford's CFP bracket of CBS Sports. He has them playing against LSU as the nine-seed. That would be a home playoff game for the Buckeyes. Crawford has the winner of that game playing against Miami, which means he has them as the number-one seed.
That seems to indicate that Crawford believes that Miami will go undefeated, which means beating Notre Dame in South Bend. That is certainly a tall order. Putting Ohio State eighth in his CFP means that he believes they will lose two games next year, which could be to a number of teams.
Ohio State certainly has a tougher schedule next year than it did in 2025. That will make it harder for them to win all of their games. Still, the Buckeyes should be able to finish at least 11-1. They do have games at Texas and Indiana, which are their two toughest games.
If others want to see the Buckeyes as underdogs, they will be just fine with that. They don't get to play that card very often, so they are fine with that.