It's never too early to look ahead to next season's College Football Playoff despite the Ohio State Buckeyes capturing the National Championship just weeks ago. This week, ESPN revealed the early College Football Playoff projection with the LSU Tigers cracking the list.

"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."

Ohio State’s season is now over, which means its coaches can hit the recruiting trail. After a few weeks of playing in the playoffs and winning the national championship game, Ohio State coaches are able to get back out and focus on future Buckeye rosters.

The Ohio State Buckeyes won the national championship on the backs of a senior-laden roster, but the future of the history-making class was put in a tough spot because of their deep playoff run. The 2025 Senior Bowl originally had several senior Buckeyes announced with accepted invites to compete.