Is Ohio State essentially running next year’s team out against Missouri in the Cotton Bowl?

We are comparing the Cotton Bowl depth chart with what the team could look like in 2024.

The last month has been an interesting one for the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes. Following a third-straight loss to Michigan, the Scarlet and Gray saw a mass exodus of mostly backup players as they headed for the transfer portal. Conversely, Ryan Day and his staff did seemingly little to bolster the lineup via the first transfer window, while the Early Signing Period brought a rollercoaster of emotions that ultimately ended on a high note for OSU.

While fans were concerned and frustrated by the Buckeyes’ apparently passive approach to bringing in transfer players, it slowly started to make sense as we saw next to no NFL declarations as days turned into weeks and tonight’s Cotton Bowl approached.

At this point, we are nearly certain that Marvin Harrison Jr. has played his final game as a Buckeye, and we know that Miyan Williams (who had season-ending surgery in October) has declared for the NFL Draft. We also know that Tommy Eichenberg (who may or may not play against the Missouri Tigers tonight) is set to participate in the Senior Bowl, meaning his collegiate care

Otherwise, everyone else seems to at least be considering a return to Columbus, while some like Cody Simon have declared that they will be back and others — like Jack Sawyer — have strongly hinted as such. So, that makes tonight’s game far more interesting than I ever imagined it would be when the bowl pairings were initially released.

Instead of a skeleton crew hobbled by transfers and NFL departures, the Buckeyes instead, could essentially be running out the 2024 version of the team for an exhibition game against a top-10 SEC squad. While Devin Brown will be making his first career start, and that is always a bit perilous for a quarterback, especially against a quality opponent, having this much talent play in a non-playoff bowl game during this era of college football is practically unheard of (check out the rosters for Georgia and Florida State in the Orange Bowl).

So, in my new-found giddiness for next season, I decided to put what could be next year’s starting lineup on paper and compare it to who we believe will be lining up in the Cotton Bowl in order to see just what type of preview we will be getting for next year’s version of OSU.