On Monday, Jan. 20, the Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 to win the College Football Playoff National Championship. This result capped off a dominant run for the Buckeyes, in which they rattled off wins over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and finally Notre Dame by a combined score of 145-75. However, under the old playoff format used until this season, Ohio State would not have been given a chance to compete for the national championship.

Ever since the late 1930s, the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Championship has been contested via March Madness, a famous tournament that has now expanded to give roughly the best 64 teams in the nation a shot at the National Title. Because of the single-elimination format, there have been numerous upsets and underdog runs, but when the dust settles, a champion is crowned. College Football, on the other hand, has not provided such a conclusion to fans.

The NCAA has never officially recognized any team as the Division I champion, instead leaving external polls or ranking to declare a champion at the end of the season. This has been problematic over time. From the late 1800s to 1992, a title game played between top teams at the end of the season was never guaranteed, with the best teams being randomly invited to play in various bowl games following the conclusion of the regular season. This led to numerous split championships between polls and overall dissatisfaction, leaving fans wondering why there was no thrilling end-of-season tournament to crown a champion like in basketball.

The invention of the Bowl Coalition, followed by the Bowl Alliance and eventually the Bowl Championship Series, ensured that the top two teams met for a designated National Title Game at the end of a season. However, some thought that these formats were not without flaws. Over the years, there were numerous snubs, according to infuriated fanbases left to wonder “what if.” Occasionally, 3-4 teams would reach the end of the season undefeated, and someone had to be left out. The BCS lasted from 1998 until 2013, when the fans decided it was time for a change. Enter the College Football Playoff. This new tournament format would now offer four teams a chance to compete for the championship in a traditional bracket style.

Yet, as before, the tournament still left out several good teams and had a few unwritten rules for selection. If you were a team from a non-Power 5 Conference, you had almost no chance. If you lost two games in a single regular season, you were out. This was frustrating to many fans, and after a decade, led to the format of 12 teams competing at the end of the regular season in a knockout tournament for a title. Fans now have what they have desired for over a century: a tournament that sees the best team in college football definitively hoist the trophy.

The new bracket was proven a worthy change in the first season of the format, with the 8^th-seeded Ohio State Buckeyes winning the championship. Because of a 13-10 upset loss to their rival Michigan Wolverines in the last game of the regular season, Ohio State finished the regular season with two losses, ranked sixth in the final College Football Playoff Rankings. Yet, due to the expanded playoff format, Ohio State was given a second chance.

“The new format has allowed our team to grow and build throughout the season, and as much as losses hurt, they really allow us as coaches and players to take a hard look at the issues and get them addressed,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said in an ESPN interview.

In the past, if a team slipped up even twice over 13-14 games of intense competition, they would have almost no chance to compete for a title. Now, teams have the opportunity to learn and grow from their mistakes, and fans can witness their teams reach their peak. According to Day, the Buckeyes were only able to realize their true potential after their toughest defeat.

“Going into the Tennessee game, they were like, ‘We’re not going to let this affect us.’ And they decided to put it behind them and use it more as energy to hype them up and be like, ‘You know what? We’re better than this, and we could learn from our mistakes and go into the new game to really rough out those edges,’” Junior John Brown University student and lifelong Ohio State fan Ethan Tolley said.

This format has not been without its fair share of criticisms, mostly due to the seeding arrangement involving the four highest-ranked conference champions receiving a bye, regardless of their actual ranking at the end of the season. However, few fans are complaining about more high-intensity football games and 12 teams having a shot at the title. The days of being left wondering “what-if” about certain teams being left out are officially, finally over.

Buckeye’s title run only happened because the players within the team never stopped believing, even when the media and their fanbase turned against them. For the first time in 156 seasons of College Football, there is finally a chance for such a champion to be crowned.

“It feels great, and it probably feels better because it was hard,” Coach Ryan Day said.

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