COLUMBUS, Ohio –– Arguments against Ohio State’s credibility as a top four team and College Football Playoff contender have not been hard to find as of late, and they mostly center around the Buckeyes’ lack of games and strength of schedule.

That logic might lead some to the conclusion that the Buckeyes have had it easy this season, but Ohio State head coach Ryan Day made the argument on Wednesday that his program has actually had to overcome more than any other team in college football.

“We’ve had an amazing amount of challenges. Way more than anybody else in the country in my opinion,” Day said. “Up here in the north, the minute we went back inside, November, December, the [COVID-19] numbers just jumped through the roof. We’re in a county that’s purple right now, has been for a long time, or at least it has been for a good portion of the last month.”