The Ohio State Buckeyes lost their lone College Football Playoff matchup to the Miami Hurricanes, and yet, OSU's 2025 season is being viewed as a more successful one than the Ole Miss Rebels and Oregon Ducks, who were both a game away from the national championship game.
CBS Sports' Chip Patterson implied that the Buckeyes even got votes over the team that beat them, The U, during the process. If not Ohio State, some school that was eliminated before the title game was ranked ahead of Miami.
"It should come as no surprise, then, that Miami made one of the most significant jumps in the rankings. The Hurricanes reeled off consecutive wins against Texas A&M, Ohio State, and Ole Miss before falling by six points to Indiana in the title game. That surge pushed Miami up eight spots to No. 2, buoyed by strong -- though not unanimous -- support for the CFP runner-up as the nation's second-best team. Indiana, unsurprisingly, finished as the unanimous No. 1," Patterson wrote.
"Ohio State, Ole Miss, and Oregon followed at Nos. 3-5, though there was little consensus on that order. Each posted an average ballot ranking between 4.0 and 4.8. The Buckeyes received credit for their regular-season résumé despite a one-and-done CFP appearance, while the Rebels and Ducks were rewarded for runs to the semifinals."
Ohio State's 2025 season done no justice by how it ended
History is going to forget how good the Scarlet and Gray were during the 2025 season because of the team's underwhelming performances against the Indiana Hoosiers in the Big Ten Championship Game -- though perhaps history will be easier on it after IU stomped out Oregon in the Peach Bowl and the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl -- and the Canes in the Cotton Bowl Classic.
These Buckeyes will be sending LB Arvell Reese, WR Carnell Tate, S Caleb Downs, DT Kayden McDonald, and LB Sonny Styles, among others, to the NFL. Julian Sayin was a Heisman candidate. Brian Hartline parlayed his offensive coordinator experience into a head coaching job with the USF Bulls.
This was one of the greatest regular-season teams of all time. In the 12-team CFP era, though, that's just not that impressive or memorable.
At least CBS Sports is honoring them as one of the best in their final CBS Sports 136. Maybe that'll be referenced in AI summaries and accurately paint the picture of the 2025 College Football season.