Which Ohio State football team is the greatest ever?
Dispatch readers have spoken and the answer is the 1968 team, which went 10-0 en route to a national title.
The Super Sophs beat out the 2002 Luckeyes to top our bracket, which you can relive below.
Ohio State’s storied history
Ohio State is unique among college football powers.
It has never had an extended dip like every other program has. The last time the Buckeyes had consecutive losing seasons was from 1922-24, the first three seasons in which they played at Ohio Stadium.
Since then, the Buckeyes have always been good except for the rare losing season and are often great. That makes narrowing down its best teams to a 16-team bracket difficult.
Several worthy teams didn’t make the cut for our bracket. That includes the 1970 team that was undefeated until losing in the Rose Bowl, the 1998 team whose only loss came when it blew a big lead to Nick Saban’s Michigan State squad and the 1961 team that was undefeated (with one tie) but didn’t go to the Rose Bowl because the OSU faculty believed football had become too important.
Ohio State’s best teams ever
To reward consensus national champions, they were granted the top seeds in our bracket. Here’s our list:
1. 1968 (10-0) The Super Sophs led the Buckeyes to an undefeated season, which included an early 13-0 win over No. 1 Purdue, a 50-14 rout of No. 4 Michigan and a 27-16 victory over O.J. Simpson-led USC in the Rose Bowl. Rex Kern, Jim Otis, John Brockington and Jack Tatum were among 11 All-Americans on the team.
2. 2002 (14-0): Jim Tressel’s second OSU team was derided as the “Luckeyes” by some for escaping numerous close calls. Games against Cincinnati, Wisconsin, Penn State, Purdue, Illinois and Michigan were all won by less than a touchdown. But these Buckeyes clinched immortality by upsetting No. 1 Miami in an epic double-overtime title game. Maurice Clarett’s running and a stout defense gave the Buckeyes a formula for success.
3. 2014 (14-1): The Buckeyes overcame an early-season loss to Virginia Tech and the loss of quarterbacks Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett in their run to an improbable title. Cardale Jones became an overnight star, aided by Ezekiel Elliott’s running, as OSU upset Alabama and Oregon to give Urban Meyer his third national title.
4. 2024 (14-2): Written off after an inexplicable loss to Michigan, the Buckeyes regrouped to storm through a 12-team CFP field. Jack Sawyer’s already iconic scoop and score clinched the semifinal win over Texas, and freshman sensation Jeremiah Smith’s catch of Will Howard’s deep ball did the same in the title game against Notre Dame. OSU had the top defense in the country and defeated five top-5 teams.
5. 1954 (10-0): Woody Hayes entered the season on thin ice, but his fourth OSU team was the one that started him on the path to becoming a coaching legend. Howard “Hopalong” Cassady’s 88-yard interception return was the key play in an October win over No. 2 Wisconsin. The Buckeyes defeated Michigan and USC in the Rose Bowl to cap a national title and undefeated season.
6. 1957 (9-1): The Buckeyes overcame a season-opening 18-14 loss to TCU to go undefeated the rest of the way. OSU defeated No. 5 Iowa 17-13 before beating Michigan and Oregon in the Rose Bowl.
7. 1942 (9-1): The Buckeyes, coached by the legendary Paul Brown, won their first national championship. The only blemish was a 17-7 loss at No. 6 Wisconsin. OSU defeated No. 4 Michigan 21-7. Gene Fekete and Paul Sarringhaus each scored 10 touchdowns for the Buckeyes. Running back Les Horvath would win the Heisman in 1944.
8. 2019 (13-1): Ryan Day’s first team was probably as dominating as any OSU team until losing a heartbreaker to Clemson in the CFP semifinals in a game marked by several controversial calls that went against the Buckeyes. Justin Fields was brilliant at quarterback. Chase Young led a suffocating defense. OSU didn’t have a close game until rallying to beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship.
9. 1969 (8-1): Woody Hayes called this his best team, and it was until the final game. Ohio State dominated its first eight opponents before getting its comeuppance in Ann Arbor in a 24-12 loss to Bo Schembechler’s first Wolverines team. If they’d won that game, the Buckeyes would have been national champions because they weren’t eligible for the Rose Bowl after going to Pasadena the year before. This loss haunted a generation.
10. 1973 (10-0-1): The only blemish was a 10-10 tie to Michigan. Sophomore Archie Griffin led the offense with 1,428 rushing yards before winning consecutive Heisman Trophies. The defense allowed only 54 points and had four shutouts. OSU went to the Rose Bowl instead of Michigan in a controversial vote by the league’s athletic directors and then stomped USC in Pasadena 42-21.
11. 2006 (12-1): Led by Heisman Trophy winner Troy Smith, Ohio State rolled through the regular season, which was capped by a 42-39 classic over No. 2 Michigan. But the season ended with a thud. Florida, coached by Meyer, steamrolled OSU 41-14 in the national title game.
12. 2015 (12-1): The Buckeyes’ bid for back-to-back titles for the first time ended in late November in a dispiriting loss to visiting Michigan State. Ohio State then routed Michigan and defeated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. In terms of talent, few OSU teams compare to this one.
13. 1996 (11-1): Perhaps the best of John Cooper’s teams – 1998 comes close – the Buckeyes outscored opponents 435-111. The only loss was to Michigan, 13-9, in a game in which the only touchdown came when star cornerback Shawn Springs slipped on a pass to Tai Streets. OSU rallied to beat Arizona State 20-17 in the Rose Bowl to finish No. 2.
14. 1979 (11-1): Earle Bruce’s first team wasn’t expected to do much. But led by sophomore quarterback Art Schlichter, the Buckeyes were undefeated until losing a 17-16 heartbreaker to USC in the Rose Bowl.
15. 1916 (7-0): With Chic Harley as the star, this was OSU’s first great team. The Buckeyes had two close wins, 7-6 over Illinois and a 14-3 victory over Wisconsin, to capture their first conference title.
16. 2012 (12-0): This was Urban Meyer’s first OSU team and its least talented. But it was also his only undefeated one in Columbus. Led by quarterback Braxton Miller, the Buckeyes’ signature win was a 17-16 squeaker at Michigan State, and they had to rally behind backup QB Kenny Guiton to beat underdog Purdue in overtime. The ’12 team was ineligible for the postseason because of NCAA violations committed under Jim Tressel.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State’s greatest football team ever? Here’s who Dispatch readers picked
Reporting by Bill Rabinowitz, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
