Ohio State entered the Big Ten Championship Game on the outside looking in at the first College Football Playoff. The next three games wrote a story Buckeyes fans will tell for a long time. First, they had a chance to celebrate the program's eighth national title with the team on Saturday.
The Buckeyes crushed Wisconsin 59-0 to win the conference title. That was enough to convince the CFP committee to give them a spot in the final four. They proceeded to defeat both Alabama and Oregon while playing the role of underdog to win the championship.
There was no shortage of players who helped make that outcome possible throughout the season. From J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones, who both stepped up at quarterback after Braxton Miller went down, to Ezekiel Elliott, Joey Bosa and countless others, plenty of helmet stickers were handed out.
Let's check out some of the highlights from the championship celebration in Columbus.
Ohio State showed an overhead view of the fans filling up The Horseshoe:
ESPN College Football highlighted all of the trophies they were there to honor:
Athletic director Gene Smith started the festivities by thanking the fans, as Tim May of The Columbus Dispatch pointed out:
Marla Ridenour of the Akron Beacon Journal noted Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman developed a new street sign to commemorate the title:
The Big Ten Network's Ohio State feed provided a shot of the sign:
Next up came the trophy parade. The Buckeyes passed along video of Urban Meyer raising the crystal football to the sky like a scene out of The Lion King:
Jeff Svoboda of the Buckeye Sports Bulletin provided some remarks from Meyer:
Amid questions about what Ohio State will do at quarterback next season, Miller didn't sound like he was going anywhere, as quoted by Ari Wasserman of The Plain Dealer:
Doug Lesmerises of Cleveland.com noted Meyer's new moniker for his quarterback group:
Bleacher Report's Ben Axelrod passed along some fan praise from Jeff Heuerman, which probably holds up:
97.1 The Fan highlighted one player already looking forward to another run:
The jubilation wrapped up with everybody singing Carmen Ohio, as the program spotlighted:
Now, with the championship celebration complete, the college football world keeps spinning. National signing day is right around the corner, and spring ball is only a couple of months away. There are no shortage of teams hoping to knock Ohio State from the mountaintop.
Although there are some questions the Buckeyes need to answer—starting at quarterback—and some holes to fill, they will return as major contenders next fall. Just like during the playoffs, the Meyer-led coaching staff will surely ensure they are prepared to defend the title.
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