LAS VEGAS — There are reminders of Ohio State’s run to the national championship everywhere Ryan Day and his players turn — even when they’re 2,000 miles from campus.
Stationed just a few hundred feet to Day’s right as he spoke Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days inside the Mandalay Bay Convention Center was the College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy. Most of his afternoon in Las Vegas was spent answering questions about last year’s team and whether the Buckeyes can achieve the rare feat of winning back-to-back titles.
For Day and the players, the championship they won after the 2024 season will always be cherished, but they cannot allow that golden, pen-shaped trophy to overshadow their future. That’s why visible reminders of the win over Notre Dame in January are scarce around the Ohio State locker room. Championship banners and trophies are present — but not overwhelming.
“Everybody in the building has made it a point to tuck that stuff away,” linebacker Sonny Styles said. “The foundation we had last year isn’t going to work this year. It’s a completely new team, new foundation, so we’ve got to build that up.”
It’s easy to label last year’s Ohio State team as the one that name, image and likeness money built. This time last year, the Buckeyes made headlines when athletic director Ross Bjork revealed they spent $20 million on NIL deals. No matter what happened during the season, that label stuck — particularly after the Buckeyes lost to Michigan for the fourth straight year and critics leaned into their punchlines.
But Ohio State wasn’t the only team spending $20 million to build a championship roster. Ieck, it wasn’t even the only one in the Big Ten. Today, several football programs are funded by more than $40 million…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/new-look-ohio-state-roster-wants-to-make-its-own-mark-emerge-from-shadow-of-last-years-championship-success/
Author : Brandon Marcello
Publish date : 2025-07-23 02:47:00
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