The 2025/2026 College Football Playoff field was always going to pit the Miami Hurricanes against the Ohio State Buckeyes. Still, had the field been 24 teams, as the Big Ten has been pushing for, OSU could've had a warm-up game.
That warm-up game could've been against TTUN's new head coach, Kyle Whittingham, and the Utah Utes, or we could've seen a straight-up rematch of "The Game" in the second round, since the Buckeyes would've still gotten a first-round bye. Miami still would've been waiting in the third round, though.
"If this 24-team format was implemented for the 2025 season, Ohio State’s path would have looked different," Cleveland.com's Stefan Krajisnik prefaced before saying, "The Buckeyes would have had a first-round bye. In the second round, they would have hosted either No. 15 Utah or No. 18 Michigan at Ohio Stadium.
"This could’ve set up a rematch between the Buckeyes and Wolverines, potentially giving Ohio State back-to-back games against Michigan. Barring any upsets, the 24-team CFP would resemble the 12-team bracket in time for the quarterfinals. Ohio State would have likely faced No. 10 Miami — the team that beat OSU in the Cotton Bowl."
Of course, playing the Canes with a buffer between the Big Ten Championship and with an extra game to get the offense right against a far inferior Utes or Wolverines defense could've changed the Cotton Bowl Classic's less-than-desirable results for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State's 2025 season ended with plenty of bad luck
Not to make excuses for the early elimination, but Ohio State caught bad break after bad break at the end of the 2025 season.
Of course, Brian Hartline's defection to the USF Bulls was the most consequential happenstance. That threw the team's offensive game plan out of whack, putting play-calling in the hands of the underprepared Ryan Day.
Then, the team had a 24-day layoff after struggling against the Indiana Hoosiers, carrying over three and a half weeks of anxiety into a matchup with a red-hot Miami that had just bested the Texas A&M Aggies the week before in a fierce defensive battle.
Of course, Day should've had his team better prepared. One coordinator leaving shouldn't upend the whole operation like Hartline's exit did in Columbus.
Still, it was an admittedly bad luck of the draw in hindsight. We'll see how the Buckeyes respond this fall.