"You lose this game, your whole season's ruined": Ryan Day recalls tiring part of old CFP structure

Coach Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes won the National Championship on January 20th, defeating the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 to cap off a dominant playoff run. From 2024, the College Football Playoff adopted a 12-team format.

On Wednesday, Day appeared on "The Triple Option" to talk about the new 12-team format. Mark Ingram II spoke about how he likes the new format because it keeps more teams in the mix at the end of the year, and as a result, the games feel more competitive.

Day agreed and went on to speak about how exhausting the old college football playoff format was.

"I think the other thing that I felt was that this format allows your team to grow and coach you remember, every game, you lose this game, your whole season's ruined," Day said (starts at 32:10). "It's just a hard way to live. Now, try losing a game in Columbus, Ohio, I mean the world's coming to an end.

"I get it but like, you still allow your team to grow as the season goes on, looking to peak towards the end of the season. I think overall, it's just a healthier approach even though there's a lot more games."

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes would not have won the National Championship in the old CFP format

Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes won the National Championship this year. As a result, most pundits view them as the best team of the season. It is interesting to view things this way because if this season had taken place a year earlier, the Buckeyes would not have been National Champions.

In the old format, only four teams qualified for the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes were the No. 4-ranked team in the Big Ten entering the playoffs. So, there is no chance they would have been selected for the playoffs in that format.

So, Day is right that this new format gives more wiggle room to teams. It allows them to make mistakes, grow from them and become better teams by the end of the year.