ATLANTA -- Ohio State's high-powered offense proved to be too much for Notre Dame in the Buckeyes' 34-23 victory in Monday's national title game. The Buckeyes captured their first national title in 10 years and first under coach Ryan Day. It was the school's seventh national championship overall.
Even with Ohio State having a boatload of players who are expected to move on and be chosen in April's NFL draft, the Buckeyes are No. 1 in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2025. The Buckeyes will still have star players like receiver Jeremiah Smith and safety Caleb Downs, and they'll plug holes with another top recruiting class and group of transfers.
Ohio State will be looking for a new quarterback as well, but it won't be alone among the potential CFP contenders. Notre Dame, Texas, Georgia, Oregon and others will be breaking in new signal-callers, too. Here's the 2025 ESPN Way-Too-Early Top 25: 1.
Ohio State Buckeyes 2024 record: 14-2, 7-2 Big Ten Key returning players: WR Jeremiah Smith , WR Carnell Tate , S Caleb Downs Key losses: RB TreVeyon Henderson , WR Emeka Egbuka , QB Will Howard , G Donovan Jackson , LB Cody Simon , S Lathan Ransom , DE Jack Sawyer , DE JT Tuimoloau , CB Denzel Burke 2025 outlook: After winning the program's third national championship since 2002, the Buckeyes are going to undergo a bit of a makeover -- but so are most of the other Big Ten contenders. The core group of seniors who came back in 2024 -- led by Sawyer, Henderson, Egbuka and others -- will be.
