Ohio State will vie for its 50th win in Glendale against the Fighting Irish. While a 50th win would be a feather in the cap of the outgoing seniors, they already set program history as the senior class with the highest winning percentage.
The record for winning percentage in a four-year span that this group of seniors broke is not new either. John Wilce' second senior class set this record when it won 25 games with just three losses from 1914 to 1917.
Fans with an appreciation of Ohio State's football history may remember that the 1914-1917 run is a conspicuous stretch of excellence in the program's nascent history. The Buckeyes started Big Ten competition in 1913, the year before this class. That senior class that arrived on campus the next year gave Ohio State its first two Big Ten championships in 1916 and 1917. The Buckeyes were undefeated in those two campaigns. The 1916 season is also the first unbeaten and untied season in program history.
| Years | Record | Win % | Coach | Accomplishments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012-15 | 49-4 | 92.45% | Urban Meyer | Undefeated in 2012; 2014 B1G/national champions |
| 1914-17 | 25-3-2 | 89.28% | John Wilce | Big Ten champions (1916, 1917); first unbeaten/untied season in program history (1916) |
| 1973-76 | 40-5-2 | 88.88% | Woody Hayes | 4x Big Ten champions; 1974 Rose Bowl champions; 1977 Orange Bowl champions |
| 1972-75 | 40-5-1 | 88.88% | Woody Hayes | 4x Big Ten champions; 1974 Rose Bowl champions |
| 1967-70 | 33-5 | 86.84% | Woody Hayes | "Super Sophomore class"; 3x Big Ten champions (1968-70); 2x national champions (1968, 1970) |
| 1932-35 | 25-4-3 | 86.20% | Sam Willaman, Francis Schmidt | 1935 Big Ten champions |
| 1995-98 | 43-7 | 86% | John Cooper | 2x Big Ten champions (1996, 1998); 1996 Rose Bowl champions; 1999 Sugar Bowl champions |
| 2006-09 | 44-8 | 84.61% | Jim Tressel | 4x Big Ten champions; 2010 Rose Bowl champions |
| 2005-08 | 43-8 | 84.31% | Jim Tressel | 4x Big Ten champions; 2006 Fiesta Bowl champions |
| 2002-05 | 43-8 | 84.31% | Jim Tressel | 2x Big Ten champions (2002, 2005); four-straight bowl wins (3x Fiesta, Alamo); 2002 national champions |
| 1954-57 | 32-6 | 84.21% | Woody Hayes | 3x Big Ten champions (1954, 1955, 1957); 2x Rose Bowl champions (1954, 1957); 2x national champions (1954, 1957) |
| 1993-96 | 41-8-1 | 83.67% | John Cooper | 2x Big Ten champions (1993, 1996) |
| 1974-77 | 39-8-1 | 82.97% | Woody Hayes | 4x Big Ten champions; 1977 Orange Bowl champions |
| 1899-02 | 28-6-5 | 82.35% | John Eckstrom, Perry Hale | First undefeated season in program history (9-0-1 in 1899) |
| 1994-97 | 41-10 | 80.39% | John Cooper | 1996 Big Ten champions; 1997 Rose Bowl champions |
With a winning percentage over 89%, that four-year run for players under John Wilce was an all-time program best that not even Woody Hayes' mid-1970s epoch could touch. Fans may lose sight of John Wilce's first several years in Columbus, but they remember the mid-1970s as an era of dominance for Ohio State.
The seniors in both 1975 (e.g. Brian Baschnagel, Cornelius Greene, Archie Griffin) and 1976 (e.g. Pete Johnson) were 40-5 in their four years. The 40 wins at the time were a milestone that surpassed the previous best 33 wins by Woody Hayes' 1970 seniors (i.e. the "Super Sophomore" class that included Rex Kern and Jack Tatum). Meyer's 2015 seniors could make 50 wins the new benchmark for excellence for future senior classes. Already, this 2015 class' winning percentage is almost four percentage points better than the best run that senior players had in the mid-1970s.
Already, Ohio State's 2015 seniors have more wins than any other senior class in program history. That accomplishment of 44 wins in four years was set by Jim Tressel's 2009 seniors when the Buckeyes beat Oregon in the 2010 Rose Bowl. This senior class surpassed Jim Tressel's winningest group of players when it beat Rutgers at the end of October.
The 50-wins achievement should be enough inducement for this senior class to put forward its best effort in the Fiesta Bowl. However, it has already cemented its status in Ohio State's program history. This senior class bested Jim Tressel's 2009 seniors in overall wins. No matter what happens in Glendale, it will be the first senior class to win over 90% of its games.
It also solidified its status as the group of seniors with the best winning percentage in program history when it beat Michigan in Ann Arbor.
The 50-wins mark would be just another accolade for a senior class that has already won more as a unit than any other group of players in Ohio State football history before it.
