The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision, representing The Ohio State University in the East Division of the Big Ten Conference. Ohio State has played their home games at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio since 1922. The Buckeyes are recognized by the university and NCAA as having won eight national championships (including six wire-service: AP or Coaches)[2] along with 41 conference championships (including 39 Big Ten titles), 9 division championships, 10 undefeated seasons, and six perfect seasons (no losses or ties). As of 2017, the football program is valued at $1.5 billion,[3] the highest valuation of any such program in the country.
The first Ohio State game was a 20–14 victory over Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, on May 3, 1890. The team was a football independent from 1890 to 1901 before joining the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) as a charter member in 1902.[2] The Buckeyes won two conference championships while members of the OAC and in 1912 became members of the Big Ten Conference.[4]
Ohio State won their first national championship in 1942 under head coach Paul Brown.[2] Following World War II, Ohio State saw sparse success on the football field with three separate coaches and in 1951 hired Woody Hayes to coach the team. Under Hayes, Ohio State won over 200 games, three consensus national championships (1954, 1957, and 1968),[5][6] two other non-consensus national titles (1961 and 1970), 13 Big Ten conference championships, and eight Rose Bowl appearances.[2] Following Hayes' dismissal in 1978, Earle Bruce and later John Cooper coached the team to a combined seven conference championships between them. Jim Tressel was hired as head coach in 2001 and led Ohio State to its seventh national championship in 2002.[7] Under Tressel, Ohio State won seven Big Ten championships and appeared in eight Bowl Championship Series (BCS) games, winning five of them. Urban Meyer became head coach in 2011.[8] Under Meyer, the team went 12–0 in his first season and set a school record with 24 consecutive victories, won three Big Ten championships (2014, 2017, and 2018), and won the first College Football Playoff National Championship in 2014