Urban Meyer predicts Ole Miss to make College Football Playoff, Ohio State as national champion

On Big Noon Kickoff Saturday morning, each college football analyst was asked to pick a team to make the College Football Playoff for the first time in 2024, as well as a national championship winner. Urban Meyer didn’t exactly make a surprising pick with his national championship winner, going with Ohio State.

Meyer was the head coach of the Buckeyes for seven seasons, winning three Big Ten titles and a national championship. He has continued to stay close to the Ohio State program, and he feels that the Buckeyes have the best roster in the country entering the season.

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“My natty, [Ohio State],” Urban Meyer said. “By the way, the best rosters almost always win.”

As for his team to make the College Football Playoff for the first time this season, Meyer is going with Ole Miss, thanks in large part to head coach Lane Kiffin.

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“I’m going portal king. The self-described portal king — Lane Kiffin and Ole Miss are gonna bust in there,” Urban Meyer said. “He’s going to debut on the playoff. It’s amazing, the best conference in college football, I think they might be 11 of 12 games favored. There’s a chance at LSU, because it depends on how good LSU is. Ole Miss, think about that, favored in all their games.”

The Rebels have a favorable schedule this year as they face only three ranked teams.

Urban Meyer: Ohio State ‘might be the best roster in college football in the last decade’

It’s not surprise that Urban Meyer picked Ohio State to win the national title after the way he talked about the Buckeyes this offseason.

He recently had this to say about the Buckeyes.

“I talked to Jim Tressel about this,” Meyer told Mark Ingram on The Triple Option. “I’ve read about them, I’ve watched them. This might be the best roster in college football in the last decade – as far as NFL talent, as far as depth.”

Ohio State returns plenty of production from last year, led by running back TreVeyon Henderson, wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and pass rushers Jack Sawyer and J.T. Tuimoloau. But the Buckeyes added plenty of star power prior to the season with Caleb Downs, Quinshon Judkins and Will Howard coming aboard from the portal and Jeremiah Smith entering as a highly touted freshman receiver.

Those additions – specifically Howard, paired with new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly – are why Meyer is so high on Ohio State this year.

“The second string running back, whoever it is, is probably gonna be probably a first-round draft pick,” Meyer said. “I mean, they are loaded. They’ve got Will Howard, who’s gonna be a big question mark. But I think the combination of him and Chip Kelly, the new offensive coordinator, they’re married for each other.

“He’s an athletic quarterback, he’s surprisingly fast. I was told he ran 22 miles an hour in practice. You’re sub 4.5. That’s fast-fast. And he’s a big dude. He’s a big dude. I think he’s the perfect fit.”