Urban Meyer Names Ohio State Amongst CFP Favorites For 2025

Urban Meyer believes in Ohio State as a threat to repeat as he looks ahead to the top College Football Playoff contenders for the 2025 college football season.

Jan 1, 2025; Pasadena, CA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes former head coach Urban Meyer looks on in the second half between the Oregon Ducks and the Ohio State Buckeyes in the 2025 Rose Bowl college football quarterfinal game at Rose Bowl Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer is a Buckeye through and through. He hasn't coached in Columbus since 2018, and his brief stint as head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2021 was disastrous. However, he has been part of the media for several years now and continues to support the Buckeyes.

Few have been more supportive of current head coach Ryan Day, and even fewer understand the championship-or-bust pressure Day faces each season. That pressure will return in 2025, even though the Buckeyes just won the College Football Playoff National Championship over Notre Dame just a month ago. The expectation at Ohio State is that Day and the Buckeyes will do it again.

Recently speaking on "The Triple Option" Podcast, Meyer relayed that he believes that's a distinct possibility. OSU is one of the programs he can see winning it all in 2025.

There are a few early favorites, according to Meyer.

One is Penn State, which will be returning quarterback Drew Allar, who could be a Heisman Trophy candidate. Another is Texas, which is now diving head first into the Arch Manning era. He could be a Heisman candidate as well.

And then there's Ohio State. The Buckeyes will be looking to replace Will Howard at quarterback, but Meyer specifically mentioned former 5-star recruit and current redshirt freshman Julian Sayin as someone who could lead the Buckeyes back up the mountain.

“Ohio State, obviously they’re loaded and they recruit their tails off. Julian Sayin, I keep hearing great things. I stood next to him, he’s very slight. But he’s got a great arm, great release, ball gets out fast. Keep hearing great things about him," Meyer said on the podcast, according to Thomas Goldkamp of On3.

Making it back to the CFP is one thing, but winning it all again? That's going to be tough with a new quarterback. Sure, Howard was new to Columbus last season, but he had years of experience at Kansas State under his belt to work with.

Perhaps that's why Meyer thinks the Buckeyes are one of the favorites, but he currently ranks Texas ahead of them.

"If you’re saying I have to, I’m going to say Texas, Ohio State, Oregon, in that order," Meyer said.

That would presumably leave Penn State at No. 4 in Meyer's way-too-early rankings, but of course, we've got a long way to go before we see how this really shakes out.

The point is, Meyer can absolutely see the dice rolling OSU's way again in 2025.