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Jeremiah Smith says people are ‘crazy’ to dismiss rivalries in CFP era

Andrew Olson

By Andrew Olson

Published:

Jeremiah Smith thinks college football rivalries are as relevant as ever in the era of the College Football Playoff.

The 2024 season was the first year that the CFP expanded from 4 to 12 teams. Ohio State benefited from the expanded field, finishing the season at No. 6 despite dropping the regular-season finale to Michigan and missing the Big Ten Championship Game.

It may have felt different that losing The Game did not eliminate OSU from the Playoff picture. Smith, though, said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days that anyone who thinks rivalries aren’t important anymore is “crazy.”

Smith’s stance on The Game has been clear. The loss to Michigan was a blemish on Ohio State’s 2024 season that was later outweighed by the national championship win. Still, Smith never wants to be on the losing end of The Game again.

I’m not a sore loser, but I hate losing, and losing to that team up north was pretty crazy,” Smith recently told Manny Navarro of The Athletic. “In the end, I think it really helped us play the way we did in the playoffs. But I didn’t want to go to Ohio State and lose to that team up north. I just hate them. Just something about them. For the next two years, I promise you, I will not lose to them. I can’t lose to them in the next two years.

Beyond the outcome, Smith is likely unsatisfied with his individual performance. He was held to just 5 catches for 35 yards in Ohio State’s biggest rivalry game, and will look to change that this November.

Andrew Olson

A former Florida beat reporter, Andrew writes for the Saturday Tradition News Desk.