Ohio State is hours away from meeting Notre Dame in the College Football Playoff championship game, capping a season that just in the past eight weeks has seesawed between the depths of another loss to Michigan and the potential high of claiming the program first championship since the debut of the four-team format a decade ago.

It all came spilling out in a players-only meeting on the Tuesday after Ohio State's devastating loss to Michigan in the final weekend of the regular season. The Buckeyes, a 21-point home favorite over the Wolverines, imploded in a loss that gave critics even more ammunition to aim at embattled head coach Ryan Day.

QB Will Howard said Ohio State's "truth-telling" loss to Michigan in November has continued to fuel the Buckeyes throughout the College Football Playoff.

The Ohio State Buckeyes are closing in on a national title, and only the Notre Dame Fighting Irish stand in the way. In the lead up to the National Championship

The comparisons between the two Ohio State Buckeyes and Notre Dame Fighting Irish this season is astonishing, considering both dealt with massive upsets, both lost the belief of their fans that they could be here,