ATHENS — A year from Monday, the final game of the 2024 season will be played.

If this offseason has been any indication, Georgia and Ohio State could very well find themselves playing each other in that game.

Neither team made the final iteration of the four-team College Football Playoff, as the Buckeyes went 11-2 and Georgia went 13-1. But with how each team has strengthened its roster, both programs are doing their best to make sure talent isn’t to blame in 2024.

Georgia went out and signed the No. 1 ranked recruiting class in the 2024 cycle. It has brought in six players via the transfer portal, most notably running back Trevor Etienne. The Bulldogs brought back a slew of big-name contributors, chiefly quarterback Carson Beck.

Ohio State is bringing the No. 3 ranked recruiting class. It brought back plenty of familiar faces on offense and defense. And it has plundered the portal, landing Ole Miss running back Quinshon Judkins and Alabama quarterback Julian Sayin.

Georgia and Ohio State also battled it out for star safety Caleb Downs. The Buckeyes came out on top, landing the top overall player in the portal in Downs.

Georgia beat Ohio State when the two teams last met, as the Bulldogs knocked off the Buckeyes 42-41 in the 2022 edition of the College Football Playoff. That game was played in Mercedes-Benz Stadium, the same location for next season’s national championship game.

Even with all the talent additions to both rosters, it’s not fait accompli that either side will walk to a national championship game appearance. Georgia and Ohio State have been two of the best recruiting programs of the past decade.

Both teams will face more difficult schedules in 2024, as the SEC adds Texas and Oklahoma, while the Big Ten welcomes USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington. Georgia has road trips to Texas, Alabama and Ole Miss, while Ohio State will visit Oregon and Penn State.

Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that both programs are stacking their rosters as we enter a new age in college football. The 12-team playoff should make it easier for teams like Georgia and Ohio State to gain entry into the College Football Playoff every year. Winning it could be a more tricky proposition, as teams could need to win three or four playoff games, as opposed to the normal two.

The timing of Georgia’s and Ohio State’s moves also happens to coincide with Nick Saban stepping away from the sport. If Alabama has been the king of the sport under Saban’s reign, Georgia and Ohio State have been the two princes competing for the rights of succession.

Both sides have also imported members of Saban’s recent staff onto their respective coaching staffs. Ryan Day hired Bill O’Brien to be Ohio State’s offensive coordinator, while Travaris Robinson is Georgia’s new co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach.

Both moves raised eyebrows but it’s clear Georgia and Ohio State are going all in for the 2024 season. Each side must, with Ryan Day losing three straight to Michigan and Smart sensing an opportunity to establish Georgia as the unquestioned top team in the sport.

A lot will have to go right for Georgia and Ohio State to meet in the national championship game on Jan. 20, 2025. Few had Michigan and Washington playing in this year’s national championship after all.

But that’s why Georgia and Ohio State have each gone to such lengths to improve their teams for the 2024 season. College football, even as parity in the sport increases, is still a sport largely built on having the widest margin of error possible. Adding Downs, Etienne, O’Brien and Robinson all should help give Ohio State and Georgia further advantages of the teams they’ll play in 2024.

Time will tell if these offseason additions help either side get to a national championship game next season. Of course, neither side will be satisfied by simply getting there.