The Ohio State University (OSU) Buckeyes football program has won a total of seven national championships during the 110-year history of the prestigious college football program. Since starting their first season in 1890, the Buckeyes have amassed an impressive all-time record of 819-308-53, which equates to winning more than 71% of their games during the 2009 season. Chief among those 819 wins are the seven victories that secured the title of national champion.
OSU’s seven national championships occurred in the following seasons:
- 1942
- 1954
- 1957
- 1961
- 1968
- 1970
- 2002
The first national championship was won by head coach Paul Brown in 1942. For the 1942 season, the Buckeyes went an impressive 6-1 in the Big Ten Conference and finished the season with an overall record of 9-1 for their first title. national.
Woody Hayes has a commanding lead for the most national titles by any Ohio State coach. The legendary Woody Hayes is credited with winning five separate national championships for the 1954, 1957, 1961, 1968 and 1970 seasons.
OSU claims a national championship for the 1970 season even though the team lost its final game of the year when it played the Stanford Cardinal in the Rose Bowl. Despite the fact that the widely accepted Associated Press declared the University of Nebraska the best team in the nation, Buckeye fans still count the 1970 season as a national championship because the National Football Foundation (NFF) declared Ohio State University as the best team in the country. at the end of the season. In the modern era, the NCAA has moved toward the more universally accepted Bowl Championship Series (BCS) to crown consensus national champions in a sport where the best team at the end of the season has historically been a matter of debate.
Ohio State’s most recent national championship came in 2002 when head coach Jim Tressel led his team to a thrilling victory over the University of Miami Hurricanes in the Fiesta Bowl. Miami was an 11.5-point favorite going into the game and OSU pulled off an upset in Tempe, Arizona by scoring a touchdown in second overtime to win by a final score of 31-24.
The Buckeyes competed in national championship games again after the 2006 and 2007 seasons. Both times, OSU fell short against Southeastern Conference (SEC) opponents at the University of Florida and LSU.
While the 2009 season did not produce an eighth national championship, it did conclude with a solid victory in the Rose Bowl. The 26–17 win over the University of Oregon Ducks on New Year’s Day 2010 snapped a three-game postseason losing streak for Ohio State.