Before the No. 3 Buckeyes take on No. 1 Alabama, here is a look at the first 17:
1899: Ohio State topped Kenyon 5-0 on Thanksgiving Day to finish 9-0-1, the first undefeated season for the Scarlet and Gray.
1916: Ohio State beat Northwestern 23-3 to finish 7-0 and win the school’s first Big Ten championship.
1917: Ohio State beat Camp Sherman to finish 8-0-1.
1919: Illinois upset Ohio State 9-7, dropping the Buckeyes to 6-1 and ending the career of all-time Ohio State great Chic Harley.
1920: Ohio State lost to California 28-0 in the Buckeyes’ first Rose Bowl appearance. Buckeyes had gone 7-0 in the regular season, including 5-0 in the Big Ten to win the conference.
1944: Third-ranked Ohio State beat No. 6 Michigan 18-14 to finish 9-0. Army was the consensus national champion, leaving the Buckeyes to claim “civilian national champion” status.
1954: No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 17 Southern California 20-7 in the Rose Bowl to finish 10-0 and be voted No. 1 by the AP.
1961: Troy native Bob Ferguson ran for 152 yards and four touchdowns as No. 2 Ohio State beat Michigan 50-20. Woody Hayes went for two on the Buckeyes’ last score to punctuate an 8-0-1 season that started with a 7-7 tie against TCU. The Ohio State Faculty Council voted to turn down a Rose Bowl invitation, ending the season, but the Football Writers Association of America voted the Buckeyes’ No. 1 in their poll.
1968: No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 2 USC 27-16 to finish 10-0. With a new hurry-up offense and an influx of young talent, the Buckeyes were the consensus national champion. A lineup made up mostly of sophomores included Doug Adams of Xenia and Leo Hayden of Dayton Roosevelt.
1969: No. 1 Ohio State lost to No. 12 Michigan 24-12 to finish 8-1. This would have been Ohio State’s last game regardless because of the Big Ten’s no-repeat rule for the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes’ 22-game winning streak was snapped in a game few gave the Wolverines a chance to win. Sports Illustrated wrote prior to the matchup the CFB matchup of the year might have been Ohio State’s offense led by Rex Kern against Ohio State’s defense led by Jack Tatum.
1970: No. 2 Ohio State lost to No. 12 Stanford 27-17 in the Rose Bowl. This was a chaotic year in which the AP voted Nebraska No. 1 while the UPI (the other major poll at the time) crowned Texas. The National Football Foundation chose Ohio State as its champion, and the school claims this title.
1973: No. 4 Ohio State beat No. 7 USC 42-21 to finish 10-0-1. Ohio State had entered the Michigan game ranked No. 1 but tied the fourth-ranked Wolverines 10-10 and dropped in the polls. Notre Dame jumped the Buckeyes after beating No. 1 Alabama in the Sugar Bowl.
1975: No. 1 Ohio State lost to No. 11 UCLA in the Rose Bowl 23-10 to finish 11-1. The Buckeyes had beaten the Bruins 41-20 earlier in the season and been ranked No. 1 since early October.
1979: No. 1 Ohio State lost to No. 3 USC 17-16 in the Rose Bowl, and Earle Bruce’s first Buckeye squad finished 11-1.
2002: No. 2 Ohio State upset No. 1 Miami (Fla.) 31-24 in double overtime in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 14-0 and win the BCS national championship. Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes were huge underdogs but prevailed on the backs of inspired play by quarterback Craig Krenzel, tailback Maurice Clarett and an opportunistic defense.
2006: No. 1 Ohio State was upset by No. 2 Florida 41-14 in the BCS National Championship Game in Arizona. Tressel’s Buckeyes were heavy favorites but Florida coach Urban Meyer used that to his advantage and led a motivated Gators group to a lopsided win.
2012: No. 4 Ohio State stopped No. 20 Michigan 26-21 to finish 12-0. The Buckeyes were finished at that point as a result of a postseason ban stemming from NCAA violations committed by Tressel and several players during the 2010 season. Alabama was the consensus national champ after thrashing Notre Dame in the BCS National Championship Game, and Ohio State was ranked No. 3 in the final AP poll.
From last year but still relevant:
— Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) January 8, 2021
In the poll era, @OhiStateFB claims eight national championships, but at least twice as many Buckeye squads have been within a win of joining that list and failed https://t.co/LdhDeSkzgt
Ohio State is 10-7 when trying to close out an undefeated season, but that does not include all of the times the Buckeyes made it to the last game with a chance to win it all.
In the poll era (since 1936), Ohio State is 7-6 in instances when winning its last game was at least likely to yield a national championship (since we can’t predict with 100 percent certainty how pollsters would vote prior to the BCS and the College Football Playoff).
Here is a look at those games*:
1942: No. 3 Ohio State beat Iowa Pre-Flight 41-12 to finish 9-1. Coach Paul Brown’s Buckeyes, who were No. 1 earlier in the year but lost 17-7 at Wisconsin in a game many players were said to have been sickened by bad water, moved back up to No. 1 on the last week of the season after No. 1 Boston College and No. 2 Georgia Tech lost.
1954: No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 17 Southern California 20-7 in the Rose Bowl to finish 10-0 and be voted No. 1 by the AP.
1957: No. 2 Ohio State beat Oregon 10-7 in the Rose Bowl to finish 9-1 and on a nine-game winning streak after losing the opener to TCU. While the AP voted undefeated Auburn No. 1, Ohio State topped the UPI coaches poll.
1961: Troy native Bob Ferguson ran for 152 yards and four touchdowns as No. 2 Ohio State beat Michigan 50-20. Woody Hayes went for two on the Buckeyes’ last score to punctuate an 8-0-1 season that started with a 7-7 tie against TCU. The Ohio State Faculty Council voted to turn down a Rose Bowl invitation, ending the season, but the Football Writers Association of America voted the Buckeyes’ No. 1 in their poll.
1968: No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 2 USC 27-16 to finish 10-0. The Buckeyes were the consensus national champion with a lineup made up mostly of sophomores, including Doug Adams of Xenia and Leo Hayden of Dayton Roosevelt.
1969: No. 1 Ohio State lost to No. 12 Michigan 24-12 to finish 8-1. This would have been Ohio State’s last game regardless because of the Big Ten’s no-repeat rule for the Rose Bowl. The Buckeyes’ 22-game winning streak was snapped in a game few gave the Wolverines a chance to win. Sports Illustrated wrote prior to the matchup the CFB matchup of the year might have been Ohio State’s offense led by Rex Kern against Ohio State’s defense led by Jack Tatum, but Bo Schembechler’s first Michigan team spoiled the Buckeyes’ coronation and kicked off the “10 Year War” with Hayes, his former boss.
1970: No. 2 Ohio State lost to No. 12 Stanford 27-17 in the Rose Bowl. This was a chaotic year in which the AP voted Nebraska No. 1 while the UPI (the other major poll at the time) crowned Texas. The National Football Foundation chose Ohio State as its champion, and the school claims this title.
1975: No. 1 Ohio State lost to No. 11 UCLA in the Rose Bowl 23-10 to finish 11-1. The Buckeyes had beaten the Bruins 41-20 earlier in the season and been ranked No. 1 since early October.
1979: No. 1 Ohio State lost to No. 3 USC 17-16 in the Rose Bowl, and Earle Bruce’s first Buckeye squad finished 11-1.
2002: No. 2 Ohio State upset No. 1 Miami (Fla.) 31-24 in double overtime in the Fiesta Bowl to finish 14-0 and win the BCS national championship. Jim Tressel’s Buckeyes were huge underdogs but prevailed on the backs of inspired play by quarterback Craig Krenzel, tailback Maurice Clarett and an opportunistic defense. Freshmen A.J. Hawk of Centerville and Nick Mangold of Alter were key contributors for the Buckeyes.
2006: No. 1 Ohio State was upset by No. 2 Florida 41-14 in the BCS Championship Game in Arizona. Tressel’s Buckeyes were heavy favorites but Florida coach Urban Meyer used that to his advantage and led a motivated Gators group to a lopsided win.
2007: No. 1 Ohio State lost 38-24 to No. 2 LSU in the BCS Championship Game. The Buckeyes, who had been upset late in the season by Illinois but rose back up in the polls after beating Michigan and seeing several other teams knocked off on the final weekend of the regular season, finished 11-2.
2014: No. 4 Ohio State dominated No. 2 Oregon 42-20 to finish 14-1. Centerville grad Michael Bennett led a spirited effort from the defensive line while Ezekiel Elliott and Cardale Jones were breakout stars for the offense.
(*The 1944 and 2012 seasons were omitted since the Buckeyes were undefeated but still did not win the national title and last season since they would have still had to win another game if they had beaten Clemson.).
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