The Ohio State Buckeyes football team took off for Atlanta Friday on a mission.
They're after their ninth national title, and their first since 2014.

"My hope is that both teams play as well as they can play," says former OSU and YSU head football coach Jim Tressel.

He knows how to bring out the best in a team.
Tressel led his Buckeyes to a national championship in 2003.
He pointed out that when the chips are down, disappointments and hiccups during the regular season simply don't matter.

"Notre Dame had an early loss where everyone said 'oh, you know, off with their heads', Ohio State had the late loss (to Michigan) and everyone was all mad about that," said Tressel. "To their credit they stuck together, kept improving they figured out where they needed to get better and now they get a chance to play for the national championship."

Vegas has the Buckeyes winning.
Tressel says they may have the edge on paper with more talent.
But while he's impressed with both teams, it'll be especially hard to be an impartial observer.

"The head coach at Notre Dame played for us at Ohio State, Marcus Freeman, and the offensive line coach coached for us at Ohio State, and I've got five of my former players coaching for coach (Ryan) Day at Ohio State."

Tressel says while it's easy to get lost in the moment, the key to victory remains remarkably simple.

"Both teams need to do the same thing. Whoever stays focused and is less distracted and sticks to the task at hand, that's the team that's gonna win."