Ohio State football is appearing in its sixth College Football Playoff as the No. 8 seed of the inaugural 12-team field. The Buckeyes take on the Texas Longhorns in the Cotton Bowl on Friday, Jan. 10.
After impressive wins over Tennessee (42–17) and Oregon (41–21), the Buckeyes are just one game away from appearing in the national championship for the first time since the 2020–21 season. The winner of the Cotton Bowl will take on the winner of Thursday’s Orange Bowl between Penn State and Notre Dame for the title on Jan. 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.
Ohio State won the first-ever College Football Playoff in 2014, after reaching the field as the No. 4 seed, jumping Baylor and TCU with a dominant Big Ten championship win over Wisconsin. The Buckeyes made the field again in ’16, ’19 and ’22, losing in the semifinals, and ’20, falling to a dominant Alabama team in the national championship.
Ohio State football began play in 1890, claiming the first of its eight national titles in 1942. Legendary football figure Paul Brown led the team to that title, years before becoming the coach of the Cleveland Browns in ’46.
Woody Hayes led the Buckeyes to five national championships, winning the titles in ’54, ’57, ’61, ’68 and ’70. Three of those seasons culminated in Rose Bowl victories. In ’61, the season ended with the team’s win over Michigan as the program turned down a Rose Bowl invite. The ’70 team lost to Stanford at that year’s Rose Bowl, but the program had already been recognized as co-national champion along with Texas by the National Football Foundation.
Jim Tressel led the Buckeyes back to the promised land in ’02, defeating a loaded Miami team in an all-time great Fiesta Bowl, 31–24 in double-overtime for the team’s first title and only title of the BCS era. Urban Meyer led the way for Ohio State in 2014, overcoming a preseason injury to presumptive starting quarterback Braxton Miller and a late season injury to his replacement, J.T. Barrett, to win the CFP title.
Ohio State has plenty of previous College Football Playoff experience, with its five trips to the tournament during the four-team era.
2014 CFP: Ohio State Beats Alabama, Oregon to Win National Championship
The ’14 Buckeyes suffered early setbacks that appeared to doom their national championship ambitions. Starting quarterback Braxton Miller suffered a shoulder injury during the summer that ultimately cost him the entire season. Redshirt freshman J.T. Barrett stepped in, leading Ohio State to a Week 1 win over Navy, but the team dropped a road game at Virginia Tech in Week 2, 35–21. The team plummeted out of the top 10 in the AP poll, but inched up to No. 16 in the inaugural College Football Playoff Top 25. They’d reach No. 5 in the penultimate committee rankings, and after drubbing Wisconsin 52–0 in the Big Ten championship (with preseason third-string quarterback Cardale Jones now in for an injured Barrett), the Buckeyes jumped TCU into the top four.
No. 4 Ohio State carried that momentum into the playoff. Ezekiel Elliott ran for 230 yards and two touchdowns against No. 1 Alabama in the semifinal at the Sugar Bowl, leading the team to a 42–35 win. They dominated No. 2 Oregon in the championship game at AT&T Stadium, 42–20, as Elliott continued his torrid run, putting up 246 yards and four touchdowns.
The loaded Buckeyes featured 31 eventual NFL draft picks, including standouts Joey Bosa, Marshon Lattimore, Taylor Decker, Michael Thomas and Terry McLaurin.
2016 CFP: Ohio State vs. Clemson
The Fiesta Bowl proved to be a low mark for Ohio State in their CFP history. The Buckeyes were shut out for the first and only time in the Urban Meyer era, 31–0. The Buckeyes totaled just 215 yards of offense, with Barrett limited to 127 yards on 33 attempts with two interceptions. Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson had two picks of his own, but threw for 259 yards and a touchdown and added two scores on the ground en route to Offensive MVP honors.
2019 CFP: Ohio State vs. Clemson
Three years later, the Buckeyes and Tigers met again at the Fiesta Bowl. Ohio State, now led by Ryan Day, fared better than Meyer’s team did three years prior, but the Buckeyes came up short, 29–23. This game was far more competitive, with Trevor Lawrence outdueling Justin Fields. The Buckeyes led early, 16–0, but Clemson cut the lead with two touchdowns before the end of the first half. The teams traded blows in the second half, but a Fields interception in the end zone in the game’s final minute sealed the loss.
2020 CFP: Ohio State Beats Clemson, Falls to Alabama in Title Game
The third time was the charm for Day’s team against the Tigers. Ohio State rolled Clemson at the 2021 Sugar Bowl, 49–28, with Fields getting the best of Lawrence. The future Chicago Bears draftee threw for 385 yards and six touchdowns, putting together a signature performance, while Trey Sermon exploding for 193 yards and a score on the ground.
The Buckeyes couldn’t seal the deal however, as Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide stood in the way at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla. Ohio State was limited to 341 yards of offense, while Mac Jones threw for 464 yards and five touchdowns and Heisman winner DeVonta Smith caught 12 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns despite leaving the game early with a hand injury. Alabama used a 28-point second-quarter explosion to cruise to a 52–24 win.
2022 CFP: Ohio State vs. Georgia
The Buckeyes’ final trip to the four-team playoff ended in a classic semifinal game at the Peach Bowl in Atlanta. Quarterback C.J. Stroud played a nearly perfect game, throwing for 348 yards and four touchdowns, but Georgia shut down Ohio State’s ground game, while Stetson Bennett threw for 398 yards, three touchdowns (with one interception) in a 42–41 win.
The stakes were extremely high for the Buckeyes entering the ’24 season, and the regular season proved to be a roller coaster. Ohio State opened the season with five easy victories, including Big Ten wins over Michigan State and Iowa, before falling 32–31 in one of the year’s best games at Oregon. The Buckeyes struggled two weeks later, edging Nebraska 21–17, before landing a quality road win over Penn State, another 2024 CFP semifinalist, 20–13. The team handled business through November, including a 38–15 win over previously undefeated Indiana, but hit a major road block against archrival Michigan. The Wolverines, which struggled on offense all season, dragged the Buckeyes into the mud, holding Day and Chip Kelly’s explosive offense to just 252 total yards in a 13–10 win in Columbus.
The loss—the team’s fourth straight to Michigan—cast serious doubts on Ryan Day’s future as Buckeyes coach and Ohio State’s ability to win the national championship. The Buckeyes will never write off a loss to the Wolverines, but the game may have also allowed the team to refocus itself as it entered the postseason, as the team enters the CFP semifinal as the favorite to win it all.
The No. 8 seed Buckeyes outgained Tennessee and Oregon by a total of 441 yards through their first two CFP games, the first played at Ohio Stadium and the second at the 2025 Rose Bowl.
Ohio State stocked up in the transfer portal during the offseason, adding some talented played to a slew of returning stars.
Will Howard, the former starting quarterback at Kansas State, headlines the group of newcomers. The veteran signal caller has 3,490 passing yards with 32 touchdowns to nine interceptions, along with 165 rushing yards and seven scores on the ground.
The Buckeyes also added Quinshod Judkins from Ole Miss through the portal. He has 924 yards and 10 touchdowns, joining TreVeyon Henderson (925 yards, 10 touchdowns) as a dynamic running back duo.
Ohio State has the nation’s top set of wide receivers, with superstar true freshman Jeremiah Smith (70 receptions, 1,224 yards, 14 touchdowns) leading the way. He’s flanked by Emeka Egbuka (70/896/10) and Carnell Tate (43/611/4).
Along the offensive line, guard Donovan Jackson and center Seth McLaughlin both earned Sports Illustrated All-American honors.
Defensive ends JT Tuimoloau and Jack Sawyer both opted against entering the 2024 NFL draft to return to Ohio State and combined for 18 sacks on the season (10 for Tuimoloau, eight for Sawyer), while linebacker Cody Simon was third on the team with seven sacks.
Safety Caleb Downs joined the Buckeyes from Alabama in the offseason, and is one of the nation’s top defensive players. He’s joined in the secondary by SI All-American honorable mention selection Lathan Ransom.
