Ohio State and Notre Dame are two of the biggest brands in college football, but the television ratings weren’t exactly indicative of that. The game had 22.1 million viewers, and peaked with 26.1 million viewers in the 8:30-8:45 p.

Monday night in Atlanta, Ohio State won the first national championship of the 12-team College Football Playoff era. In the process, the Buckeyes showed provided the rest of the college football world with the blueprint for success going forward in this new landscape.