The Ohio State Buckeyes have been rolling throughout the 2025 regular season. As the Buckeyes prepare for their upcoming game against the Purdue Boilermakers, they are the No. 1 team in the College Football Playoff rankings. Ohio State won the national title a year ago and they have been at the top of the rankings since beating Texas in the opening game of the season.

Head coach Ryan Day made an appearance on Pat McAfee's ESPN talk show Thursday, and the host tried to goad the Ohio State leader into making a headline-grabbing statement. The boisterous McAfee welcomed Day on his program in a somewhat sarcastic manner.

“Congratulations, Ryan on your great start. You've won absolutely nothing yet this season,” McAfee said with a definitive tone.

Day did not argue with McAfee at that point. The Buckeyes have rolled to 8 straight victories and they are heavily favored against Purdue. They will continue in that role the following two weeks against UCLA and Rutgers.

However, they face Michigan in the regular-season finale and the Buckeyes have lost their last four meetings with the Wolverines. After that game, they will likely face second-ranked Indiana in the Big Ten title game.

If the Buckeyes lose one of those games, they will clearly still have a spot in the College Football Playoff, but they could lose one of the opening round byes. They could possibly make the playoffs even if they lose both games.

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Day dismisses the idea that the Buckeyes are the best team

As McAfee continued with his interview and showed the Buckeyes in the top spot of the CFP rankings, Day would have none of it. “I saw they crowned you guys,” McAfee said. “This guy’s got the number one team in the country.”

Day knows that Ohio State will have to win the key games in the College Football Playoff and ultimately win the title game before they can claim the honor of being the best team in the nation.