The Ohio State football team didn’t have a good finish to the 2023 season. They lost to Michigan for the third straight time and only scored three points against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl. Since then, they have made a lot of positive changes on both the roster and the coaching staff.

TreVeyon Henderson, Emeka Egbuka, J.T. Tuimoloau, Denzel Burke, and Lathan Ransom are all coming back next season. All of those guys have been key players for the Buckeyes in the past couple of seasons. All of them except maybe Ransom have a shot to be a first-round draft pick.

With all of the talent coming back to Columbus, Ryan Day has no excuses not to win big in 2024. The talent coming back is one thing, but you have to look at the rest of the conference too. TTUN loses a ton of guys next year. Washington does too and just lost their coach. Oregon is probably the toughest threat to the Big Ten title.

The bare minimum for Day next year is for him to beat Michigan and win the Big Ten. If he doesn’t do either of those things next year, I think he’ll be looking for a new job. The only scenario in which he stays if he fails to do that is if Ohio State makes the CFP and wins a national title.

Ohio State football fans should have high expectations for this team heading into next season. A quarterback coming in from the transfer portal who has played a lot of games should help lead the offense to be more explosive. A defense that was elite in 2023 should only be better in 2024.