The Ohio State Buckeyes will host the Tennessee Volunteers on Saturday night in the first ever 8-9 matchup in College Football Playoff history. The Buckeyes come into the game with a 10-2 record and are 66-10 under Ryan Day over the last seven seasons. Most college football programs would be quite happy with that, but at Ohio State you need to beat Michigan or at least win a national championship.
Unfortunately, the Buckeyes lost to the Wolverines this year which means there's immense pressure to not only beat Tennessee, but win it all according to ESPN's Harry Douglas. On Get Up this morning Douglas said that Day's job is on the line this postseason.
"I feel like Ryan Day has to win a national championship to save his job." 😯
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 19, 2024
—@HDouglas83 on Ohio State's head coach ahead of their CFP game vs. Tennessee pic.twitter.com/KFDJkzMLr7
"So, 100%, I feel like Ryan Day has to win a national championship to save his job," Douglas said to a shocked studio.
"When you lose to Michigan four years in a row, but you also lose to Sherrone Moore in a year that your roster is way better than the University of Michgan? You have to win a national championship. That's one of the dark clouds that's over his head right now. He hasn't been able to do that."
College football is a rough business. Despite Day's continued success at OSU, he has never brought the school a title and he's stopped beating their rival. So even if Ohio State beats the 7th-ranked Volunteers and Oregon, the undefeated, undisputed number one team in the nation, next week, his job isn't safe. He'd also have to beat another ranked team in Texas, Arizona State or Clemson and then another top ten or 15 team in the nation that emerges from the other side of the bracket.
Basically, Douglas—and many others—are saying that Ohio State has to go 14-2 and beat four ranked teams in a month to save Ryan Day.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN’s Harry Douglas Makes Bold Prediction About Ryan Day’s Job Security.
