THE SITUATIONAL 2025 SEASON PREVIEW: Most Fun We Ever Had

Just consider what this program overcame after November. If not for that mystical four-game heater which concluded the 2024 season, we'd be closing out a second consecutive offseason of weaponized melancholy.

If the confetti that's still on your smelly head is clouding your memory, this alternate universe began with Kyle McCord bouncing after the 2023 Michigan game. Then, we all watched whatever that was against Missouri in the Who Gives a Shit Bowl while said rival advanced to securing a national title*.

A heavily-publicized Natty or Bust campaign followed, and the Bust felt inevitable right up until that heater began. The photo above? Relevant. That was captured mere minutes before this imaginary hell froze up.

You know how this story ends: America's favorite underdog, that scrappy upstart from Columbus, Ohio USA notorious for cobbling together complex solutions to remedy extremely simple problems did it again. WORLD! FAMOUS! That's right. Your team did it.

And so these 2025 season previews are gilded with championship merchandise and good feelings instead of infinite sadness and self-loathing. Let's appreciate the imitable football epitaph the program had never etched previously - and none of our dead ancestors or any of us still skirting death could have possibly conceived:

The 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes: Natty and Bust.

Impossible. Those two things cannot coexist. Reader, they did. You were there.

And now your attacking national champions get to defend a title like no other with the exact type of team and conditions it previously used to win national titles behind: A new quarterback, deep saltiness and just enough - but not too many - superstar veterans.

Welcome back to our shameless addiction. Season 14 of getting Situational begins now.

OPENER | THE GOOD PART

Caleb Downs leaves the field with a rose in his mouth following the 42-17 win over the Tennessee Volunteers in the College Football Playoff first round game at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Dec. 21, 2024. © Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Buckeyes could have conceivably owned two of the past three national titles if the merciful omniscient power of your choosing had chosen to correct the trajectory of a single field goal which missed splitting the uprights by, let's call it less than a mile.

Alas. Ohio State's Second Chance Dynasty is reduced to just one title. Thus far.

Like 2021, 2022 and 2023, the 2024 regular season ending was every bit of the same nightmarish catastrophe, and the reward was another canceled trip to Indianapolis. But this time, the Buckeyes got an historical novelty - a home playoff date with Tennessee and a safe place in the championship bracket.

In any other era the aftermath of blowing a blowout opportunity against a 21-point underdog succubus playing at partial strength would have not been as kind. Thanks to ten games Ohio State had pre-won on National Signing Day, the Buckeyes still had a path to immortality which would begin in the chilly trappings of home.

Ryan Day's Ohio State Buckeyes are a Situational Juggernaut.

But Columbus would be turning orange with little resistance, coming off a catatonic three-week stench. That four-game heater largely contained the odor to just three weeks. Your car still smells like Arby's longer than that. Three weeks was a small price for us to pay.

But now, a new season. We're faced with reconciling what the true aberration is at Ohio State.

The Buckeyes are a situational juggernaut. They clench in big games whenever they actively choose to play down to their competition. When they choose to be Ohio State on Purpose, they complete a playoff sweep where the most competitive contest is a two-touchdown victory.

Its mystifying reluctance to allow its talent mismatches to dictate the Michigan game was again the primary issue. In what has become some sort of bizarre annual ritual, the losing team settled for multiple 31-yard punts and missed field goals while leaning on a special teams unit which has only gotten failing grades since the pandemic.

The reward was an SEC opponent with unconstrained gumption securing half of Ohio Stadium's tickets.

RELATED When Winter Came for the Volunteers

That resurgent Tennessee team had only allowed two opponents to score more than 20. Ohio State had just hung 10 on a Michigan team without its starting safety and corner - ten of the Wolverines' previous opponents scored more on them than the Buckeyes did.

On paper, the Volunteers were salivating. But on paper Ohio State hangs 42 on Michigan.

The home team had two advantages heading into the evening of Dec 21. First, it was 25° at kickoff, which wasn't nearly as cold as Ohio had felt over the previous three odious weeks. Second, it could finally command a game like it had nothing to lose.

The team everyone waited all year to see was finally permitted to participate in a live football game. Not even five minutes into Neyland North's christening, Ohio Stadium finally felt warm again:

Ohio State has now equaled the number of targets to Jeremiah Smith in the Michigan game.

There are 10 minutes left in the first quarter.

— Andy Staples (@Andy_Staples) December 22, 2024

The triumphant return of ERD. That's some situational juggernaut shit right there.

And now we're here. We've seen what the current program is capable of doing to itself (derogatory) and what it's able to do when it makes winning the priority over some other bullshit objective (complimentary). The latter produced an opportunity to repeat as national champions.

I choose to believe Day is done learning unnecessary, repetitive and agonizing lessons. Evil is a full-time endeavor now that it's produced something more than a missed field goal at midnight on New Year's Eve.

Which means the Second Chance Era served him well. But he shouldn't need it anymore.

NO INTERMISSION THIS WEEK - LET'S GET TO THE ISSUES

For maximum effect -

• Read the headers below in the Dana Carvey's John McLaughlin voice
• Disagree with these takes in your head using the same voice - WRONG!
• Assume John Goodman's posture while reading for maximum relaxation

ISSUE NO.1 | DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB IS OFFICIALLY ON NOTICE

Oct 1, 2016; Joe Burrow looks for an open receiver during the 3rd quarter against Rutgers at Ohio Stadium. Ohio State won the game 58-0. Mandatory Credit: Greg Bartram-Imagn Images

Julian Sayin has been named Ohio State's starting quarterback. He wears no.10. The guy pictured above is not him, he's just the most recent Buckeye QB to wear that number.

You may not realize this, but literally every single Ohio State quarterback who has ever worn no.10 eventually earned all-conference honors. But wait, there's more - they all also earned All-America honors too. Here's the formula, which isn't closely guarded:

1. Wear 10
2. Throw passes
3. Win honors and distinctions

Sayin is only Ohio State's sixth quarterback ever to wear that number. I'm told this is a deliberate, secret directive from the NCAA to ensure parity across college football and prevent Buckeye QBs from winning every award every year. It's about fairness. But we're getting a no.10 quarterback this year in Columbus and probably next year as well.

The guys under center who wear no.10 at Ohio State will earn Heisman consideration at minimum and the trophy itself half of the time. Art Schlichter's sixth-place finish in 1980 serves as the low bar for what Sayin is scheduled to clear this season.

The one exception is Carl Cramer, who was born too soon to win an award that didn't exist yet.

Now, I know what you're looking at in that chart. You're right, calm down. I'll address the elephant in the room wearing an XXXXXXXXXL no.10 jersey, your mom and I will explain.

Yes, Bobby Hoying's younger brother Tom also wore no.10 at Ohio State and was a quarterback for a minute. He finished his career with more solo tackles than completions, since his path to playing time with the Buckeyes involved tight end and special teams. He's not on the table because the other guys were and all are capital-Q quarterbacks.

That number is a key which unlocks guaranteed glory. Congratulations in advance to Julian.

ISSUE NO.2 | HOME COULD BE A VIPER'S NEST

Texas dont want this
pic.twitter.com/U5PtkE89LY

— OBBY (@BuckeyesB715) May 22, 2025

That Tennessee playoff game put a spotlight on the type of environment Ohio Stadium is capable of producing when its partisans are given a full day to lubricate and turbocharge their enthusiasm, and pyrotechnics are executed in darkness.

Agree to disagree, noon kick lovers. Hey, it's fine - you prefer fireworks during daylight. Milk in your orange juice. You insert apostrophes into plural words and use your/you're interchangeably because it doesn't matter, only nerds care. And you prefer day games to night bangers because the world revolves around you. You are the main character.

Tennessee was Ohio Stadium's second night game of 2024, with the first coming against 38.5-point underdog Western Michigan (Buckeyes covered, 56-0). In 2023, they hosted 3-6 and 21-point underdog Michigan State under the lights (another cover, 38-3).

A year earlier, both Notre Dame and Wisconsin were 7pm kickoffs - games which drew healthy and priority visitors from around the country. Juiced crowd. All wins. Yeah, they win most of their games, but the ones at night as of late have been demonstrative and consequential.

RELATED MERCHANDISE Ban Noon Kickoffs Tee from 11W Dry Goods

But even if you refuse to tie dark skies to winning games, evening kicks allow prep stars who have to board a plane in order to make it to Columbus enough time to get into town following their high school games, which are typically played on Friday nights.

Then they can take a look around campus, see what money season looks like at OSU and attend Ohio Stadium in its most effervescent form. Noon games? Recruits who live off I-71 don't mind them. They grew up here. Noon kicks without context are perfectly fine!

After seeing that atmosphere when OSU finally got a home game at night, all future defenses of Big Noon Kickoff games being "just as loud" or "just as exciting" will be filed immediately under "unserious Fox/B1G administration propaganda"

Noon kickoffs are robbing the fans.

— College Football Nerds (@CFBNerds) December 22, 2024

The Buckeyes ended 2024 with six straight noon games in large part due to Fox choosing Ohio State's audience to juice its ad revenue. This also converted what might have been a formal White Out in State College to another far less imposing day game, but the cooling effect under the sun is real. It 100% affects national recruiting and stadium hostility.

We already know the Grambling State exhibition will be a 3:30pm kick on BTN while the Ohio University game will start under the lights - while meeting the contractual obligation to check the Peacock box, a parting gift Kevin Warren left as he skipped out.

That leaves Texas (noon, Fox), Minnesota (homecoming, usually 3:30, probably CBS) Penn State (AD Ross Bjork already said that will be at noon) with UCLA and Rutgers both likely getting noon treatments as well.

And the Buckeyes shouldn't need ambiance to beat the Bruins or Scarlet Nights. What they do need are defensive edge rushers and difference makers who are from somewhere else - and only know Ohio State football from what they have seen on television.

As long as that TV contract is the current one, you should expect Buckeye football to wrap up before 4pm. Which is good, because no one wants to experience another night like the Volunteers did. Ugh, that was so loud. Your an idiot, OP.

LET'S PAUSE FOR A BEVERAGE

The Bourbon

There is a bourbon for every situation. Sometimes the spirits and the events overlap, which means that where bourbon is concerned there can be more than one worthy choice.

Spent some time trying to characterize a title defense campaign through the lens of how this column was conceived back in 2012 - a celebration of brown liquor - and concluded there was only one way to responsibly do this within the proper context of the past four seasons.

Limited Release no.2. Available here, sometimes.

The 2025 schedule begins in Ohio. It ends, if all goes according to plan - which, this hasn't been the case for a minute - in Indiana. The CFP journey could begin in a number of sites, but it definitely ends in Miami. There are distilleries there, sure. The recommendation for all Caribbean-adjacent situations is still rum.

Which means the course is set for an Ohio-Indiana journey we can map in August. For that, we head back to OKI, which begins with America's State and ends with its weird neighbor to the west. The limited release sampled for today includes blends from Columbus favorite Middle West (95% dark rye/5% malted), large format purveyor Bardstown (48/20/12 corn/rye/malted) and warehouse behemoth MGP in Lawrenceburg (95/5 again, a parallel bookend).

Friends, this juice is *delightful*. If you made a s'mores with homemade toffee bark instead of milk chocolate, this would be a glass of that. Nose-to-finish, it's the same warm comfort and sweetness for the balance of the experience. Unfortunately, the limited in Limited Release is not marketing, it's literal.

Grab if you can find, but knowing what Jake Warm and team have done with OKI since taking it over after the pandemic - the sequels will be worth the squeeze as well. Under $100 on the street; expect ~$70-80 retail.

ISSUE NO.3 | CHASE ODDITY

Sonny Styles celebrates a hit on Texas Longhorns tight end Gunnar Helm during the 1st half of the Cotton Bowl Classic College Football Playoff semifinal on Jan. 10, 2025. © Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Are you ready for five games against Penn State and Texas this season?

It's not a warning. More of a watch. Like with tornadoes - just look at the variables; the conditions are ripe. The chances of this fiver happening during a 16-game CFP journey are *tapping calculator keys* nonzero. OSU Playing PSU and UT just twice would probably signal something went awry for one, two or all three title contenders.

Same-season sequels will be customary in the expanded playoff era. Ohio State just rematched with Oregon in the Rose Bowl after squandering an Indy re-meet, but with both of programs safely in the CFP in an alternate Gold Pants universe, a trilogy might have materialized in 2024.

As long as conference championship games are still a thing, trilogy watch will float between the top two teams in the top two conferences. Last season, Georgia played Texas twice - and it took Notre Dame and Ohio State's intervention to prevent a Bulldog-Longhorn threepeat in Atlanta.

Next weekend, Ohio State hosts Texas. Per ESPN, the visitors are 83.9% likely to make the CFP while your favorite team is 70.6%. It's quite possible they'll bump into each other again if everything goes their way afterwards.

Texas' most recent game was against the team it plays next. A repeat would make Ohio State three of its past 17-or-fewer games. Prior to next weekend, they've only met four times ever. This rare pairing is a ratings monster and a football nerd's blueblood fetish. No one is against this happening.

Speaking of frequent meetings, Penn State and Ohio State are the B1G's top two entering this season and they meet up Halloween weekend. The postseason infrastructure allows for an Indianapolis rendezvous and then another over the holidays. It's what Georgia and Texas almost had last year.

And that wouldn't even require James Franklin to beat the Buckeyes! Just everyone else.

ISSUE NO.4 | A YEAR WITHOUT GARBAGE

Tyleik Williams wearing a cape that appears to look exactly like Texas OL Cameron Williams while he and linebacker Cody Simon tackle Longhorns running back Quintrevion Wisner during the 1st quarter of the 2024 CFP semifinal in the Cotton Bowl at AT&T Stadium. Williams was not flagged for a uniform violation on the play. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

There's one moment you likely memory-holed from early in the 2nd quarter of the national championship game while the Buckeyes were on their 31-0 heater against the Fighting Irish.

Notre Dame offensive tackle Charles Jagusah broke through and pulled off a feat no player from a dozen previous Ohio State opponents was able to do while facing the Buckeyes.

He got called for offensive holding. It ended a 52-quarter streak without a holding flag.

Ohio State went 12 full games without an opponent being penalized for the most chronic and subjective penalty in college football. After Marshall's Logan Osburn picked one up during the 1st quarter in early September, four months went by before Buckeye defense finally got to accept a holding penalty again.

Texas' fatal mistake in the Cotton Bowl was trying to legally block Jack Sawyer. © Kyle Robertson, Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Are you really complaining about officiating in a national championship season I'm merely pointing out Ohio State's entire 2024 defensive line was drafted into the NFL after a dozen games against college kids who were graded on a curve for some bizarre reason. That's all.

Michigan ran the ball 42 times against that front without a flag, and not because the Wolverines weren't holding - they just didn't get caught, which was quite normal against the Buckeyes. No, we're not letting a 21-point favorite off the hook by blaming the refs - they shouldn't need any flags to beat a team playing football without a quarterback.

The Buckeyes won the national title without the benefit of equitable officiating. Every team they played got an officiating handicap, sometimes in space without any 350-lb bodies obstructing the view.

Any opponent that doesn't hold and dare the officials to call it in 2025 is stealing from itself.

But those weren't necessarily anti-Ohio State officials. In 2024 the Buckeyes' opponents were by far the least penalized in the FBS despite facing a team with 14 imminent NFL draft picks, mostly on defense. This wasn't explicitly an Ohio State thing.

See if you can find a pattern among the teams whose opponents got away with the most last year:

That's right, professor - they're all in same conference. B1G officiating crews have dinner reservations they don't want to be late for (when they're working in Columbus: early dinner reservations).

Whistles, swallowed - this is a fascinating contrast to B1G basketball, whose games are officiated in very much the opposite way. That officiating results in Purdue's annual 7'7" center with too many vowels in his name wrecking the conference from the free throw line before hitting the NCAA Tournament only to find out what actual basketball feels like. And then the Boilermakers' dream season ends prematurely. Sad trombone.

Basketball refs actually impair B1G basketball programs in March. Wait a second...does that mean B1G football officiating...might help B1G programs who make the playoff?

Well, the Buckeyes played their entire conference schedule without an offensive holding penalty and demonstrably won a national title tournament with no B1G crews involved. Perhaps they were better prepared. Plot twist! Is bad officiating actually good?

CLOSER | THE RELUCTANT DRAGON

Ryan Day and Jeremiah Smith leave the field following the 34-23 win over Notre Dame to win the College Football Playoff National Championship at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Jan. 21, 2025. © Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Ezekiel Elliott finished off the 2014 CFP run by *Chris Fowler voice* dotting the i of this national championship win with a garbage time touchdown at Oregon's expense with 30 seconds left to play. An incredible moment which felt like the beginning of a new dynasty.

Which is why it's still shocking that Elliott's TD was the final time an Urban Meyer team would score any points in a playoff game. That roster was wired to play in and dominate games of consequence, and the sequel in 2015 was every bit of the same monster.

What tripped it up was everything in between. PJ Fleck's Western Michigan (8-5) might have been the best team the 2015 Buckeyes played over the 12 weeks that followed what we now call Week Zero - no ranked opponents and Penn State didn't spend a single week of that season in any poll.

The Buckeyes have 16 top five finishes since 2002. But top five coming off of a national title might feel like a consolation prize.

Their belief in their talent as defending champions facing a junior varsity schedule until the third Saturday of that season diluted a killer instinct which produced the urgency that led to winning 13 straight after losing to Virginia Tech in the home opener.

The best was yet to come after Zeke punctuated the 2014 season in Arlington. It turned out that the best had just happened and the Buckeyes wouldn't score CFP points again until the then-QB coach at Boston College was in charge of the program.

Day's Ohio State teams, albeit with one terrible exception, have kept their gloves up at all times. Energy and apathy management have been elite since early in the 2021 season, when the final transition conflicts were working themselves out of the program.

Harnessing the energy of a national title run and reproving the concept is something Ohio State has never been able to do, and it's very easy to characterize those title defense seasons as failures - except that it's a top five program. Finishing in the top five is The Usual.

SITUATIONAL ARCHIVE The Situational Whiskey Cellar

The Buckeyes have done it 16 times since the 2022 natty. It's 20 times if you lower the bar to the top 10 finishes - a bar that raises to Repeat once an OSU team finishes a season atop the sport. Ohio State's best roster ever, arguably, was that 2015 one which finished no.7 in the final CFP poll.

Except that team had already accomplished everything. National title. B1G title. Gold Pants. This is the rarest repeat dynamic in the history of a program with eight unimpeachable national titles. There's absolutely no reason to take anything for granted.

Thanks for getting Situational today. Go Bucks. Beat Everyone.