Urban Meyer takes a bold stance on "asterisk" around Ryan Day's National Championship win

Ryan Day and Ohio State carried the College Football Playoff national title trophy back to Columbus following Monday night's win. However, something that occurred on this path to victory—the Buckeyes' upset home loss to Michigan on Nov. 30—will linger in the back of everyone's mind.

This topic was brought up Wednesday on "The Triple Option" as Rob Stone asked former Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer if the blemish would stick as an "asterisk" next to the accomplishment for the program.

"No," Meyer answered. "It'll be discussed with some of the die-hards, but no. It will go down. I would always tell our staff, 'How do you evaluate recruiting?' No. 1 is wins. No. 2 is NFL draft picks. I mean, that's the business we're in. ... The NFL evaluates your players for you."

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Meyer was impressed with the bounty of talent Ryan Day and the Buckeyes boasted, whether that is freshman receiver Jeremiah Smith, running back tandem TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, or standout safety Caleb Downs.

"This will go down, in my mind, as one of the great teams in the last 20 years of college football," Meyer said.

Can Ryan Day say this is the best Ohio State team ever?

Mark Ingram, former Alabama running back and another co-host on the show, respectfully pushed back, pointing out to Meyer that the rivalry loss will prevent Ryan Day and this Ohio State team from claiming that they are the best of any to win a national championship for the program.

Meyer led the Buckeyes to a College Football Playoff title with a win over Oregon in 2015. That underdog team included quarterback Cardale Jones, tailback Ezekiel Elliott, and wide receiver Devin Smith. According to Ingram, that edition and others have bragging rights in any debate.

"They won't be able to be up for debate because they didn't win Michigan, they didn't win the Big 10 title," Ingram said to Meyer. "Because what did you do? You beat Michigan, you won the Big 10 title, you won a national championship. So when you have that kind of, like, pettiness amongst the competitive nature of the faithful — of the championship teams — that's what's gonna hold them back in those conversations."

Regardless, the collection that Ryan Day put together and steadied to go on the historic surge will be remembered for a long time. The run Ohio State went on was the first of its kind; the Buckeyes won four straight do-or-die matchups against stiff competition.

It's arguable that the loss to the Wolverines spurred the success. Without it, it's possible Ohio State wouldn't have won it all.