Ohio State Buckeyes Football

Ohio State Buckeyes Football

The Ohio State Buckeyes football team is a collegiate football team that competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing The Ohio State University in the Leaders Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio since 1922.

The Buckeyes claim seven national championships along with 36 conference championships and ten undefeated seasons. Ohio State is second among all Big Ten programs in terms of conference championships (34) and has an overall record of 460-195-28 in conference play. With 825 wins in over 122 seasons of football, Ohio State ranks fifth among all programs in terms of total wins and is fifth all-time in win–loss records in the NCAA. In 2009, ESPN ranked Ohio State as the third most prestigious college football program in history behind only Southern California, (USC), and Oklahoma.

Football was introduced to the university by George Cole and Alexander S. Lilley in 1890. Lilley led the Buckeyes to a record of three wins and five losses over his two seasons as head coach. Ohio State was a football independent from 1890 to 1901 before joining the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) as a charter member in 1902. The Buckeyes won two conference championships while members of the OAC and in 1912 became members of the Big Ten Conference. The school saw its first real success in football and in the Big Ten under head coach John Wilce, who spent sixteen years at the university and won three conference championships, with a Rose Bowl appearance in 1928. Ohio State won two more Big Ten titles under head coach Francis Schmidt and would win their first national championship in 1942 under legendary head coach Paul Brown.

Following World War II, Ohio State saw sparse success on the football field with three separate coaches and in 1951 would hire Woody Hayes to coach the team. Under his guidance Ohio State won thirteen Big Ten championships and national championships in 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968 and 1970. During his tenure Ohio State appeared Rose Bowl eight times, with the Buckeyes winning four of them. Following Hayes' dismissal in 1978, Earle Bruce became the head coach, leading the Buckeyes to a conference championship and a Rose Bowl appearance in his first season. Bruce coached for the Buckeyes from 1979 to 1987 and was replaced in 1988 by John Cooper. Under Cooper and Bruce the Buckeyes won seven conference championships. Jim Tressel was hired as head coach in 2001 and quickly gave Ohio State its seventh national championship in 2002 with a win in the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State won seven Big Ten championships under Tressel and appeared in eight Bowl Championship Series games, winning five of them. Through the 2011 season, Ohio State has compiled an official overall record of 837 wins, 316 losses, 53 ties and has appeared in 43 bowl games, with the most recent coming in 2012 Gator Bowl.

In late 2010, it was found that five Buckeye players had improperly sold memorabilia to the owner of a tattoo parlor. The players were to be suspended for the first five games of the 2011-2012 season. Tressell decided against calls to suspend the players for the 2011 Sugar Bowl, which the Buckeyes went on to win 31-26 over Arkansas and their fifth BCS bowl victory since hiring Tressel. In March 2011, it was discovered that Tressel had prior knowledge of the violations committed by his players, and he was suspended for the first five games of the 2011 season. After facing months of intense criticism and damning reports, Tressel resigned (later changed to 'retired') as head coach on May 31, 2011. Luke Fickell, assistant coach and former Buckeye player, was hired as the interim coach for the 2011-2012 season. Tressel left Ohio State as its third-winningest coach and won or shared 7 Big Ten titles.

On November 28, 2011, two-time National Championship winning coach and native Ohioan Urban Meyer became head coach, and in his first year led the Buckeyes to a perfect 12-0 record, winning the 2012 Big Ten Leaders Division, though sanctions kept them from the 2012 Big Ten Football Championship Game and postseason bowl games.