Paul Finebaum credits Ryan Day for winning January

With all the head coaching movement going on in college football currently and transfer portal movement, there is one program and head coach who comes out on top of everything, according to SEC expert Paul Finebaum.

Some fans familiar with Finebaum’s work may think he’s talking about a current SEC team or one of the two slated to join the conference in 2024. Nope. According to the Mouth of the South, it is none other than Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes, who he believes are the winners in the month of January.

“It’s hard to imagine anyone having a worse November or December than Ryan Day, but he’s winning January. I mean, it’s truly remarkable,” said Finebaum. “I’ve always liked Ryan Day, but the losses to Michigan have gotten him in trouble, and I think that’s fair to say. I don’t really want to hear his record anymore; it’s gaudy. He’s finally got to double digits in losses. But, man, when you talk, you talk about [QuinShon] Judkins, who was the best running back in the SEC a year ago, and then you get the Caleb Downs and [Julian] Sayin. I mean, those are all world players, and that’s in addition to everything else he’s already done. I think he had the number two or three recruiting class from the last cycle.”

Day and the Buckeyes also added former NFL head coach and Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien. With all that has arguably gone Ohio State’s way, from Michigan and incoming Big Ten program Washington losing their head coaches, to the haul of talent acquired through the transfer portal and on the high school recruiting trail, it’s hard not to see how Day and the Buckeyes are winning the month of January.

Pete Thamel on Day’s ‘Eye-popping collection of talent’ at Ohio State

On his Thursday show, Finebaum brought in ESPN college football insider Pete Thamel to read the tea leaves and lay out what it all means for the Buckeyes in 2024.

“I think there’s been an interesting confluence in Columbus,” said Thamel. “There’s some modernization with Gene Smith out the door; there’s some desperation with three straight losses to Michigan. As much as the portal guys have been impressive, Caleb Downs, Will Howard, Julian Sayin, [and] QuinShon Judkins, there’s plenty of those. What’s really the most important thing for Ohio State pushing forward is the amount of really high-end guys who returned, who, if you had asked me in mid-October, I probably would have said the NFL expects them to go.

“The NFL expected guard Donovan Jackson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, tailback Trayvon Henderson, both defensive ends [Jack] Sawyer and [J.T.] Tuimolosu, as was Denzel Burke; those were draft-eligible guys the NFL was writing up as prospects. And all those guys are coming back. So they really have a significant and experienced talent war chest there.”

Ohio State might have the perfect blend of returning talent, high school recruits, and transfer portal acquisitions, with both the returning players and transfer players expected to play the biggest role in their success in 2024.