Inside Ohio State's Championship Trip to the White House

WASHINGTON — Adept at time management as any president past the halfway point of his second term would be, Barack Obama managed to fit plenty into his ceremony with the Ohio State football team on Monday.

Hosting the reigning national champions at the White House three months after the Buckeyes captured the college football crown in Dallas, the 44th president of the United States imitated Joey Bosa's signature shrug, compared his arm strength to that of Cardale Jones and even teased Ezekiel Elliott about college football's ban on the crop top.

But before Urban Meyer and the Ohio State captains presented Obama with his own custom No. 44 scarlet and gray jersey, the leader of the free world had one last overarching message:

"You're welcome, America."

Obama said it somewhat in jest as laughter filled the room, referring to his open campaigning for college football to adopt a playoff system. But the president also made sure to note that if you check his track record of promises kept on PolitiFact.com, his cry for a playoff is met with a green check mark.

Ben Axelrod

"I don't want to stir up controversy. You guys are the national champions—I'm not backing off the fact we need a playoff system," Obama said when Meyer visited the White House with his 2008 national champion Florida team. "We'll see how that plays itself out.”

While a playoff system back then may have prevented Meyer from capturing his second national title, he wouldn't have won a third last season without one, as the Buckeyes entered the sport's first-ever, four-team playoff as the No. 4 seed. In previous years, Ohio State would have been on the outside looking in at the national title game, unable to play its way in and peak at the right time as the 2014 Buckeyes did.

"I'm glad he's a sports fan," Meyer said of Obama on Monday. "He made the point several times, but it's true—he jumped right in the middle of the conversation about the College Football Playoff, and we obviously benefited."

It remains unclear how much Obama actually had to do with making the playoff possible—he had previously promised to "throw his weight around" when it came to the issue—but without its inception, many of Monday's memorable moments wouldn't have been possible. Obama likely wouldn't have been able to trade shrugs with Bosa or tease him about his recent haircut, to which the All-American defensive end responded, "I had to look good for you."

Ben Axelrod

Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

Nor would Obama have been praising Elliott for his 1,878-yard, 18-touchdown season moments before thanking him for not wearing his signature crop top to the White House. When Elliott pleaded with Obama to convince the NCAA to reinstate his recently outlawed preferred style of jersey, the president said he was done campaigning on the Buckeyes' behalf.

"Look, I got you the Playoff, OK?" Obama said with a smile. "I got other things to do now."

And what would an Ohio State event be without a mention of the quarterbacks, as Obama praised Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett before turning his attention toward Jones. Obama not only compared his own arm strength to that of the cannon-armed signal-caller but made note of his unique nickname, which has gone viral since his insertion into the national spotlight.

"Anybody with a nickname like '12 Gauge' has to be taken seriously," Obama said. "Cardale Jones is not your average third-string quarterback."

Obama didn't offer a solution to Meyer's impending conundrum of whether to start Miller, Barrett or Jones for the 2015 season, although the Buckeyes head coach joked he might seek one. "I'm going to meet with him again and ask him some questions. That was my fault. I forgot to ask," Meyer said.

Jokes aside, Ohio State's presence in Washington was palpable before the Buckeyes even took center stage in the East Room just before 3 p.m. ET.

Buckeye greats Cris Carter and Archie Griffin were in attendance, as well as Ohio U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown and former Ohio State senior vice president for outreach and engagement and U.S. Representative Joyce Beatty. The group joined in as the room broke out in an "O-H, I-O!" chant before Obama's arrival alongside Meyer, Ohio State president Michael Drake and athletic director Gene Smith.

Perhaps most telling of the pro-Ohio State atmosphere in the White House on Monday was that Obama drew the most laughs and biggest applause of the day when he made reference to Barrett breaking his ankle against "a certain team up north," much to Meyer's approval of the president's reluctance to mention rival Michigan by name.

Ben Axelrod

"Obviously we were in the spotlight a lot towards the end of the year," tight end Jeff Heuerman said. "We know he keeps up on sports, so it wasn't that surprising."

The Buckeyes made the most of their visit to the nation's capital, arriving in the morning before sandwiching tours of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and Capitol Building around their trip to the White House. In addition to the since-departed seniors who are now training for the NFL draft, Ohio State was joined by another familiar face in former offensive coordinator Tom Herman, who is now the head coach of Houston.

With the Buckeyes having just ended their spring practice session, Monday's trip to Washington served as one last celebration of last year's special season. In 2009, Meyer was the first college football coach to visit Obama in the White House, and next year, he'll attempt to become the last.

Whether the playoff will be to his benefit or detriment this time around remains to be seen.

Ben Axelrod

"Coach Meyer and his coaching staff, they'll do a great job of keeping the guys motivated and keeping them ready to go for next year," said Heuerman, who is now preparing for the NFL draft. "It will be special things again, I'm sure."

On Monday, the Buckeyes and Obama set a pretty high bar for what "special" means.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten Lead Writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand.