Ryan Day hails Ohio State players' attitude after Michigan loss ahead of Buckeyes' clash against Tennessee

Ryan Day and the No. 6-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes looked like a lock to compete in the Big Ten championship game before their final matchup of the regular season. All they needed to do was defeat the Michigan Wolverines, who despite winning the national championship last season, struggled this year.

However, the Buckeyes were unable to get anything going on offense, losing 13-10 and failing to qualify for the Big Ten championship game. They still qualified for the College Football Playoff and will face No. 7-ranked Tennessee in the first round on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET.

In the leadup to the game, Ryan Day appeared on "College GameDay" and spoke with Pat McAfee. Day talked about his team and its passion.

"There's a lot of passion with these guys and you know that passion that fire," Day said. "We have our senior tackle that's been going on for over 100 years. I don't know if you remember senior tackle here at Ohio State. It's an excellent opportunity for our seniors to get up and speak in front of the group and just to hear the love they have for Ohio State, their program for their teammates, and the passion and fire.

"That runs deep within this team and so that's what coming off that loss, you have a week to identify what the issues are, come together, and two weeks of unbelievable practice. Now they opportunity to go into the stadium and finish the right way and they're going to do that."

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes prepare for a matchup with the Tennessee Volunteers

Ryan Day has been widely criticized throughout his tenure with the Ohio State Buckeyes for how his team has performed against top-ranked opponents. Against top five teams, Day is only 4-6.

His record against top 10 opponents is better at 12-8, but worse than his predecessor Urban Meyer, who was 13-4.

Fortunately for Day, although the Volunteers are a top 10 team, they are not in the top five and the Buckeyes should have a better chance of coming out on top. Heading into the matchup, Ohio State is a -290 favorite according to DraftKings, and Tennessee is a +235 underdog.