Did we just witness the best 7-year stretch in Ohio State history? Or are nattys the ultimate benchmark?
There was the remarkable 8-year stretch between 1954 and 1961 when the Buckeyes were national champs three times: two were shared/split poll titles and one was a title awarded by the Football Writers Association of America.
During this time, the Buckeyes were 6-2 against TTUN, 2-0 in Bowls (both the Rose Bowl), and won four Big Ten titles.
They also had one perfect season, one 3-loss season, and one losing season.
There was also the superb 8-year stretch between 1968 and 1975 when the Buckeyes were consensus national champs in 1968 and deemed national champs by the National Football Foundation in 1970 (which made the selection before the Buckeyes’ loss in the Rose Bowl).
During this time, the Buckeyes were 5-2-1 against TTUN, 2-4 in Bowls (all Rose Bowls), and won outright or shared seven Big Ten titles.
They also had one perfect season and one 4-loss season.
Buckeye squads the past seven years had easily the best overall W-L percentage for such a period of time with no more than two losses in a single season, one perfect season, an unblemished record against TTUN, 5-2 in Bowls, along with three outright Big Ten titles and one national championship in six years (since the 2012 team was ineligible for both the Big Ten and national titles).
It should also be noted that as remarkable a run as Nick Saban has had at Alabama, he won only one more national title than Urban Meyer in the six-year period starting with 2013 that Urban’s Buckeye teams were eligible to compete in the BCS or CFP.
I have a very clear recollection of the great 1968-75 run and, even with those two national titles, I have to say that the past seven years seemed or felt more successful (notwithstanding expectations and the painful losses to Michigan State in 2013 and 2015, and to Iowa and Purdue in the past two years).
I have only vague recollections of the ‘61 squad and none of the 1950s, so I can’t weigh in on what that felt like.
But, for my 50+ years as a fan, this seems like the golden era to me.
