Greg McElroy: No One in College Football Playoff Can Match Ohio State's Best

The Buckeyes face Oregon at the Rose Bowl in a rematch of a classic.

Ohio State Buckeyes defensive end Eddrick Houston (96) celebrates the win as he carries a rose after the game against the Tennessee Volunteers at Ohio Stadium. / Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

Penn State punched its ticket to the College Football Playoff semifinals on New Year's Eve. Three teams will join them by the end of Wednesday. Get Up got right to work in 2025 talking ball and ESPN analyst Greg McElroy went on record with his pick for the remaining team with the highest ceiling.

The Ohio State Buckeyes.

"Ryan Day's team has the highest ceiling," McElroy said. "Which means they're the best. If they play their A-game, no one is beating them. They're going to have to play down to the level of the competition for someone to overtake them and the good news is, we've already seen Oregon do that."

"If [Ohio State] play their A-game, no one is beating them."@GregMcElroy says Ohio State is the team to beat at this point in the CFP 👀 🏆 pic.twitter.com/f4bJpZFtsp

— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) January 1, 2025

The Buckeyes and Ducks will put it all on the line at the Rose Bowl in a rematch of a classic the two teams played back on Oct. 12. Oregon emerged with a 32-31 in that one in rout to an undefeated season.

There is no doubt that Day has so many weapons and a great team on his hands. Their best is as good as anyone else's. The problem, though, is that they have not played their best twice already this year—and the inexplicable stumble at home against Michigan is fresh in everyone's minds. Having the best A-game isn't all that helpful if occasionally a team puts forth a C- effort. Perhaps the more meaningful metric is how consistently a club can put together a B+ display for a full 60 minutes. And by that metric, Oregon could realistically be the "team to beat."

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