Inside Ohio State’s Unlikely Journey to the College Football Playoff

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Since arriving at Ohio State in late 2011, Urban Meyer has built a reputation based on his brutal honesty. If a Buckeyes player or position group has been slacking in practice, their head coach hasn’t been shy to call them out. When media members ask ill-prepared questions, they soon know about it.

Meyer’s bluntness apparently extends to himself as well.

Which is why when he looked at his roster on the eve of the 2014 season, Meyer was realistic with his expectations. Ohio State was ranked fifth in the preseason AP Top 25, but seemed like a long shot to land in the College Football Playoff after star quarterback Braxton Miller went down with a season-ending injury two weeks prior to the start of the 2014 campaign.

“I wasn’t sure this year,” Meyer said, looking back on his preseason prognostications. “I thought it might be next year.”

Meyer wasn’t alone. And with an ugly early-season defeat and eventual loss of another Heisman Trophy-caliber quarterback, questions followed the Buckeyes all the way up until Sunday’s announcement of college football’s first-ever playoff field.

But when it was Ohio State that was revealed as the selection committee’s fourth and final team, it marked the culmination of one of the most unlikely journeys to the chance to play for a national championship—one that’s been more than a year in the making.

‘I Want to Help This Team Win a Big Ten Championship’

Preseason polls aren’t released until a few…

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