"Part of me feels like we failed": When Urban Meyer revealed his true feelings after Ohio State got kicked out of playoffs

Urban Meyer was among the most highly regarded coaches during his time in college football. Meyer won three national championships, two of them with the Florida Gators and one with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

However, one can not always win, and Urban Meyer has learned this the hard way. During an interview with Fox Sports in 2019, Meyer revealed how he felt after his team won the 2018 Big Ten Conference Championship game but missed out on the CFP.

"A part of me feels like we failed. I try not to have that feeling around them (the team)." (0:35)

The Buckeyes were ranked number six going into selection Sunday and missed out on the CFP despite a near perfect record. With the Buckeyes out of the picture, this allowed for Clemson, Oklahoma, Georgia and Alabama to make the playoff, with the latter two playing in the national championship game.

So, why did Ohio State miss out despite having only one loss and being a conference champion?

The reason for this was the Buckeyes' surprise defeat to the unranked Purdue Boilermakers. The Buckeyes were the No. 2-ranked side coming into the game, and the defeat meant they fell to the No. 10 rank. They would never be considered for the playoffs after this moment.

This season could easily be described as a lost season for the Buckeyes, as if they had not lost to Purdue, things would have been very different. In the end, they failed to make the playoff, and Meyer announced his plan to retire at the end of the season.

Meyer's departure led to the hiring of Ryan Day, who has just led the Buckeyes to a National Championship, and has generally been very successful during his time as coach.

Urban Meyer on the legitimacy of the Buckeyes' 2025 championship win

On the topic of Ohio State's recent national championship win, Urban Meyer was asked on his podcast, "The Triple Option," whether this title should be marked with an asterisk by the fans.

“No, it will be discussed with some of the die-hards, but no, it’ll go down."

The asterisk has become an adopted symbol in sports to denote that a xhampionship or title has been tainted or that the team does not deserve the title in some way.

An infamous example of this is the 2017 Houston Astros World Series win, which has been widely associated with their sign-stealing scandal, or the 2023 Michigan Wolverines, for their sign-stealing scandal. Ohio State were not involved in any scandals in their way to a national championship.

However, they did not win a conference championship on their way to the natty. This is why some think that a proverbial asterisk should be applied.

Meyer does not think that, nor does he think that this conversation is going to go any further than the die-hard Buckeyes fans.