Ohio State needed four ferocious victories to vanquish a soul-crushing loss to Michigan and win the College Football Playoff championship.

In the history of the college football, no team has faced a tougher path to the championship. OSU fell to No. 8 in the CFP bracket after losing to Michigan but outscored its four postseason opponents – No. 9 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Notre Dame – by a combined score of 145-75.

Michigan running backs coach Tony Alford had to watch his former team win a national championship last night. Then he saw one of his top 2026 running back prospects, Savion Hiter, take to "X" and congratulate those Buckeyes on their victory.