How much money did Ryan Day's Ohio State make after winning CFP national championship? Close look at playoff bonus payout

Ryan Day's Ohio State Buckeyes won the national championship against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish to hoist their first title since 2014. The much-maligned Buckeyes romped through the College Football Playoff, beating four top-10 AP-ranked teams to emerge victorious in the national championship game.

How much did the Buckeyes earn for winning the CFP final on Monday after a rollercoaster college football season?

How much will Ohio State earn for CFP win?

The Ohio State Buckeyes made $4 million for qualifying for the College Football Playoff, $4 million for reaching the quarterfinals against the Oregon Ducks in the Rose Bowl, $6 million for reaching the semifinals against the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl Classic and $6 million for reaching the national championship game against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Their total pot was $20 million.

There's no additional payout for the winner of the national championship, but in a twist, the Fighting Irish will make $20 million for their exploits in the College Football Playoff. They will keep the whole pot for being independent while the Buckeyes will make $2.56 million, according to a Sportico report, due to the pot being shared by members of the Big Ten.

Ohio State NIL expenditure vindicated

The expectations surrounding the Ohio State Buckeyes had been sky-high since athletic director Ross Bjork revealed in a July interview with Yahoo Sports that the team had spent $20 million to acquire and retain talent.

After Ryan Day's team won the national championship, CBS Sports analyst Josh Pate broke down during Tuesday's segment of the "Josh Pate College Football Show" how the Buckeyes utilized NIL to build their all-conquering team.

"A lot of these guys were enticed to come back. Partly, because they believe in Ohio State, the other part was they invested in them," Pate said. "One of the most foolish and misguided talking points that still exists, even tonight after they've won this title, was, 'Well, that's $20 million, that's what it will buy you.'

"As if they went and just supermarket sweep style just knocked a bunch of players in the checkout line and 'Look, we got the winning team in our basket here.'

"The fact of the matter is that they went and got a few big players like Caleb Downs and Quinshon Judkins but spent a vast majority of that $20 million to keep guys they recruited for one more go-around. Look at these teams trying that, Penn State is trying that, Alabama is trying. A lot of programs understand that that's the way to go."

The Ohio State Buckeyes might have unlocked the new philosophy for achieving success in the current college football climate, which involves utilizing the NIL advantage that the elite programs have access to.