Ryan Day on how 12-team College Football Playoff affects Ohio State: ‘You have to build it the right way’

Ryan Day knows the 12-team College Football Playoff certainly changes things for the sport and Ohio State going into the fall.

The Buckeyes missed out last season by losing just to Michigan in the final regular season game. For the third year in a row, Ohio State was shut out of the Big Ten championship and it was the second time in three seasons they missed the CFP.

But with more opportunities comes chances for Day and Ohio State to make a run in myriad ways.

“Well, I think you have to build it the right way,” Day said on Get Up . “And, you know, year in year out when you’re in a place like Ohio State, I think the first thing that comes up is the end of the season (and) the playoffs, you know, what does that look like? But the truth is, you know, you got to rebuild every single season.

“You got to build now in the summer, you got to build as the season goes on, you got to build depth as the season goes on, you got to build an identity. And then by the end of the season, you know, the goal is to be playing your best football.”

Ryan Day wants to ‘build’ Ohio State for 12-team playoff

If Ohio State plays its best football at the end of the season, it’ll surely be in the playoff. Whether Day and crew are a top four seed or an at-large team remains to be seen.

“I think when you look at the teams in the NFL, that’s really what’s happened here,” Day said of the playoff. “They find their identity in September and October, and then they’re looking to play their best football in November and December. I don’t think that’s going to be any different now. I guess the only difference is that you’re going to see more teams in the playoffs, make the playoffs. And so now it’s more and more important to be playing your best football at the end of the season.”

But in the event of, let’s say, Day and Ohio State play Michigan at the end of the year but have a rematch the next week in the Big Ten title game, there could be resting involved, as Clemson’s Dabo Swinney alluded to.

Since Day knows it’s a possibility, the team has to be prepared for all situations and putting Ohio State in the best possible position when it comes to the bracket.

“I think with the games that you see at the end of our season, I think when you look at the opportunity to get into a bye situation, I think we look at the Big Ten championship game,” Day said. “I mean, you can’t take any of those games off. And I think having a first round bye is very, very important. So I don’t know if we’re going to be in a situation where that would come up based on the way that our schedule plays out. But I do think that we’re going to be experiencing some new things in college football season.”

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