The Buckeyes beat the Fighting Irish 34-23 to win the inaugural 12-team College Football Playoff, their first national championship since the 2014 season

"First, Ohio State (No. 1 on [Mark] Schlabach's list) is obviously in despite a challenging 2025 schedule (No. 2 Texas and No. 3 Penn State at home, No. 13 Illinois and No. 21 Michigan on the road) and the requisite loss to the Wolverines," Connelly noted. "The Buckeyes will go 2-1 against the other headliners and advance at 10-2."

For the second season in a row, a Big Ten team has ended the season on top of the college football world. Ohio State started the 12-team College Football Playoff era the way it did the four-team playoff era by winning the national championship on Monday night in Atlanta.