The Rose Bowl was projected to be close this year, but Ohio State football had other ideas. The No. 6 Buckeyes dismantled Oregon 41-21 in Pasadena, California, executing a textbook revenge win.

Ohio State's social media team was petty after the decisive victory on X, formerly known as “Twitter.”

“The Ducks came for the 🌹 but left with thorns,” the account said.

The No. 1 Ducks were 13-0 heading into the contest, including wins over Ohio State, Penn State, and Illinois. Oregon, who beat the Buckeyes 32-31 on October 12th, was one of just two teams to defeat the Big Ten powerhouse this season. The other was Michigan, who upset it 13-10 in Columbus, Ohio on November 30th.

In past years, those two losses would have knocked Ohio State out of National Championship contention. The Buckeyes ended the regular season ranked eighth by the Associated Press (AP), which would normally qualify them for nothing more than a top-tier Bowl game before the advent of the College Football Playoff (CFP) in 2014.

The CFP committee made its own rankings separate from the AP, but only its top four programs qualified to compete for the “Natty” until 2023. Luckily for Ohio State, though, the field expanded to 12 teams in '24, so it's No. 6 CFP ranking was more than enough to qualify.

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The Buckeyes' blowout of the Ducks somewhat validates the CFP's expansion, as it shows that there are enough good teams in the nation to challenge the top four. However, no underdogs have won a game yet, via Action Network HQ's Brett McMurphy.

“Favorites now 7-0 straight up & 6-1 vs. spread in this year's 12-team @CFBPlayoff.

Notre Dame -7 Indiana (27-17)
Penn St – 9 SMU (38-10)
Texas -13½ Clemson (38-24)
Ohio St -7 Tennessee (42-17)
Penn St -11 Boise St (31-14)
Texas -13½ Arizona St (39-31)
Ohio St -2½ Oregon (41-21),” McMurphy said.

The fact that Ohio State was slightly favored over Oregon despite being lower-ranked also shows a disparity between what Vegas and the CFP committee think of the teams. Regardless, the Buckeyes have as good of a chance as anyone to win it all this season.

Up next for Ohio State is a clash with No. 3 Texas in the CFP Semifinal/Cotton Bowl on January 10th.