"Had a great send-off party": Ryan Day appreciates Ohio State fanbase ahead of National Championship game 

Coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes are getting ready for the National Championship Game. They will compete against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in Atlanta. The team arrived in the city on Friday, and shortly after that, Day spoke with WBNS 10 TV.

In the interview, Ryan Day spoke about his appreciation for the Ohio State fanbase.

"Great to be here in Atlanta. Had a great send-off party there in Columbus on the way out," said Day. "So, it was great to see the fans send us off like that. It gave our team lots of energy on the bus. You know we talked a lot about how we need everybody, so to see the fans send us off like that was great.

"Had a good week of prep, looking forward to a great week of practice here in Atlanta. Guys are energized. Good to get back here and get to work."

Ryan Day then was asked about the importance of the fanbase. He spoke about how the team needs energy from fans back in Ohio and at the stadium in Atlanta.

"No, we need everybody," said Day. "It doesn't matter if it was a four or five-year-old at the buses today or an 80-year-old woman that had a sign that she had a message for someone on the team, or someone who's going to be at the stadium being loud. We need a great crowd."

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes enter the National Championship Game as betting favorites

Ryan Day and his Ohio State squad enter the National Championship Game as betting favorites. According to DraftKings, they are -355 favorites to win the game. Conversely, the Fighting Irish are +280 underdogs in the matchup.

However, while the Buckeyes are favorites now, they were not expected to get this far after the end of the regular season. They ended the regular season with a 13-10 loss to unranked Michigan. At that time, many fans expected the Buckeyes to bow out early in the playoffs.

However, Day managed to get his team to rally back, and they have been the most dominant team in the playoffs. They defeated Tennessee 42-17 in the first round, Oregon 41-21 in the quarterfinals and Texas 28-14 in the semifinals. Now they have an opportunity to win a National Championship with a win over Notre Dame.