Ohio State captured its first national championship since 2014 with a win over Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff National Championship, but the Buckeyes' path to a preseason No. 1 ranking in 2025 won't be easy.

The Buckeyes are No. 1 after their national championship win, but which team is between them and runner-up Notre Dame?

By almost any measure, Indiana football had the best season in its 126-year history in 2024. Can IU run it back in 2025?

The second is, technically, an opinion -- one shared by everyone on ESPN's committee selecting the top 100 players of the 2024-25 season -- but it'd be tough to come up with a compelling argument for someone else.

But these days, it takes the GDP of a small country to keep a roster intact in college football. Ohio State spent the money to do it in 2024. Penn State is trying to do it in 2025. The Nittany Lions,

We know, we know. College football’s national title game ended only a few hours ago. The celebration in Columbus, Ohio, is just now cranking up. Heck, Kirk Herbstreit’s pooch is still prancing somewhere in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

Even with Ohio State having a boatload of players who are expected to move on and be chosen in April's NFL draft, the Buckeyes are No. 1 in ESPN's Way-Too-Early Top 25 for 2025. The Buckeyes will still have star players,

The SEC and Big Ten accounted for 7 of the 12 places in the College Football Playoff this year, and it’s expected that both conferences will be heavily represented again in 2025