Ryan Day and Ohio State endured a lot of dirt in 2024 and threw it back right in the faces of the critics as they walked out of the Mercedes-Benz stadium with a Natty in their hand. As fanatical as it sounds. The trophy came off as a momentary relief to Day after dragging a lot of hatred (even to the extreme of getting death threats) after his fourth straight Michigan loss. It is wise to call it momentary only, as it is narrowly followed up by a mass exodus of players and coaches of the program, leaving a lot of ifs and buts for the coming year. Finally, the Buckeyes again rose to the headlines and, for a good season.

There has been significant talk about the SEC and Big 10 dominating the financial scale of the CFB platform, especially after Power Two championed a new proposed idea for the CFP expansion. So, it’s not a surprise that Ohio State will emerge as a market-dominating force in terms of net worth. However, having been named officially the highest value program out of all the conferences, money power seems like an extra feather to the franchise’s cap. Ohio State currently flaunts a valuation of $1.9 billion to leave all other prominent competitors like Texas and Michigan behind in a compelling superiority race.

Some breathing room for Ryan Day, who had enough hard luck losing both of his offensive and defensive coordinators, Chip Kelly and Jim Knowles, to the fellow powerhouses weeks back and had to go for a strong coaching reshuffling on the championship-winning team. Amidst all the frowns and doubts that surround the crucial post-championship year under Day, the sweet solace is they have money, at least.

What can money help with in 2025? Well, to start with, other programs can’t look at their top players, especially Jeremiah Smith- whose NIL deal is, to say the least, considerable. That doesn’t mean some sort of poaching hasn’t happened yet. This is the era of NIL, and while in the past, tampering used to happen behind the scenes. Now, it’s out in the open. As per Vance Bedford, former Texas DC, NIL is legalized cheating. “If you have more money, you can buy players right now.” How did it impact Jeremiah’s situation at the Buckeyes? Well, he got offered $4.5 million to transfer out of Ohio State. Did it happen? Hell no! Because the Bucs also have a couple of bucks.

But did big money anyway dim the shine of their first ever national championship in a decade? Well, the answer demands a deeper analysis.

Did the money win a Natty for Ohio State? 

Ohio State vested $274.9 million on athletics in 2022–23, according to data in Sportico’s college finance database, by far the most among all public schools. Texas stood second in the chart, with a whopping $232.3 million, followed by Michigan at $225.6 million.

Now, coming to the most crucial question: how much does its financial soundness help the Buckeyes to win a Natty? People have been debating this million-dollar question over social media for over a few months. But on a realistic note, before the season kicked off, Athletic Director Bjork told Yahoo Sports that each player of the program was supposed to drag “around $20 million” via NIL deals from the Buckeyes’ donor-led collective and its affiliates. Now, it’s obvious that the money lure played a role in the Buckeyes’ high-flying roster building and helped grant them the best facilities and coaching, leading to a seamless execution of their goal.

After all, they hold the highest figure in the country. As we have seen throughout the season, the number provoked a mixed-bag reaction from all the sections of the community. Former Alabama coach Nick Saban made a hilarious joke on an ESPN broadcast in August; Washington coach Jedd Fisch addressed it with an air of jealousy during a press conference in October. So, it’s evident the money is rolling high at Columbus, no matter for the good or bad.