Empire State Building lights up in Ohio State colors after national championship win

Evidently, the busiest city in the world had time to celebrate Ohio State‘s win in the National Championship on Monday night. After Ohio State defeated Notre Dame 34-23 to secure the national title, the Empire State Building lit up with scarlet lights to honor the Buckeyes.

In fairness, there was plenty to celebrate. Ohio State was phenomenal in the victory, racking up 445 total yards of offense while holding Notre Dame to just 308.

Ohio State was far from a one-trick pony in the win. The Buckeyes recorded 231 passing yards and 214 rushing yards to run away with the victory.

Although Ohio State’s defense wasn’t able to squeeze a turnover out of the Fighting Irish, it only allowed Notre Dame to convert on 5-of-its-12 third-down attempts. In the end, the Buckeyes walked away with their first national championship trophy since 2014, and just their third in 53 years.

Shining the rest of the night in honor of @ohiostatefb's @CFBPlayoff National Championship pic.twitter.com/OO5tdOymbd

— Empire State Building (@EmpireStateBldg) January 21, 2025

“Our team can serve as a story for others,” Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Tuesday morning. “What makes Ohio State great is its fan base, and for all those fans that are out there that are going through difficult times in their lives, to hang in there and fight the way that our players did this season, I hope it serves as an inspiration because that’s exactly what happened here, and there was a point in the season where a lot of people counted us out, but we kept fighting and overcame those odds because that’s what life is about.

“There were life lessons learned here, and I hope maybe there’s just a couple people out there that are going through a difficult time that keep fighting and keep swinging and they’ll get the thing turned.”

Ohio State’s redemption story is more than worthy of lighting up the New York skyline. After suffering a loss to unranked Michigan in the regular-season finale, Ohio State looked all but out of the race for the National Championship.

Alas, the Buckeyes never lost faith and simply put their noses to the grindstone in their short break before the College Football Playoff began. Their hard work paid off. Ohio State looked like a different team in the postseason, rattling off four straight victories, including a win over No. 1 overall seed Oregon.

No team finished within 10 points of Ohio State during its CFP run. Now, Ryan Day and Co. can rest easy and enjoy the view.