Ohio State hasn't dropped a road game since Urban Meyer arrived.
That's four years of upbeat bus rides and plane flights back to campus from hostile environments. The Buckeyes' four losses in that span have all been self-inflicted point shaving tragedies at neutral sites or in the Horseshoe, but we're not here dwell on the negative today. We're just going to marvel at this streak while it's still intact and place it in the proper context.
Ohio State owns a 18-game road winning streak now entering its fifth season. Dismissing it under the auspices of hurrrr because Big Ten is obviously terrible is peak laziness. Here is what history looks like:
| RANK | TEAM | STREAK | SPAN | BROKEN BY | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | oklahoma | 25 | 1953-58 | NORTHWESTERN | 6-3 |
| 2 | ALABAMA | 21 | 1970-75 | OLE MISS | 5-6 |
| 3 | MIAMI | 20 | 1984-88 | NOTRE DAME | 12-0 |
| 4 | Oregon | 19 | 2009-13 | STANFORD | 11-3 |
| T-6 | Ohio State | 18 | 2012- | ACTIVE | |
| T-6 | Texas | 18 | 2003-06 | KANSAS STATE | 7-6 |
| T-6 | SOUTHERN CAL | 18 | 2003-06 | OREGON STATE | 10-4 |
| T-9 | BOISE STATE | 17 | 2008-10 | NEVADA | 13-1 |
| T-9 | NORTHERN ILLINOIS | 17 | 2011-14 | ARKANSAS | 7-6 |
| OTHER | MIAMI | 15 | 2000-02 | OHIO STATE | 14-0 |
Eighteen road wins in a row. Eighteen straight times Ohio State came to town - objectively one of the biggest games and expensive tickets of the season wherever it travels - and 18 times where the majority of the stadium went home disappointed (except for that trip to Purdue. And the one to Cal. Also Northwestern and Indiana - whatever, you get the idea).
That streak is historic and it hasn't been all lay-ups either; those 18 wins include four top-20 opponents, two white-outs, two Gold Pants affairs, 10 bowl teams and five bowl victors - for those of you who care less about where a team is ranked at the time they played and more about how it finished.
OHIO STATE HAS WON 19 STRAIGHT ROAD GAMES SINCE 2012. FOR CONTEXT, INDIANA HAS WON 19 ROAD GAMES SINCE 1998.
Yes, two nailbiters in Bloomington have taken place since the streak began. Winning on the road is difficult no matter the opponent; sweeping the entire road slate in a given season is unique and doing it for four consecutive seasons - after a coaching change, with a postseason ban and scholarship restrictions - is extraordinary. Every team gives you its moonshot effort and game plan, regardless of talent. That's exhausting.
Eeking out those two games against Indiana was bad? Look at some of the teams that ended the historic road winning streaks listed above.
| YEAR | TEAM | SEASON? | STREAK BREAKER | SEASON? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | oklahoma | WON CONFERENCE | NORTHWESTERN | 5TH IN BIG TEN |
| 1976 | ALABAMA | 9-3 | 2ND IN SEC | OLE MISS | 5-6 | 6TH IN SEC |
| 1988 | MIAMI | 11-1 | 2ND IN NATION | NOTRE DAME | 12-0 | NATIONAL CHAMPS |
| 2013 | OREGON | 11-2 | 2ND IN PAC-W | STANFORD | 11-3 | LOST ROSE BOWL |
| 2006 | Texas | 10-3 | 2ND IN BIG XII | KANSAS STATE | 6-6 | RON PRINCE |
| 2006 | SOUTHERN CAL | 11-2 | WON ROSE BOWL | OREGON STATE | 10-4 | 6-3 IN PAC 10 |
| 2010 | BOISE STATE | 12-1 | CO-CHAMPS | NEVADA | 13-1 | CO-CHAMPS |
| 2014 | NORTHERN ILLINOIS | 11-3 | WON MAC | ARKANSAS | 7-6 | LAST IN SEC-W |
Ron Prince and Bret Bielema made history, friends. It can happen on any given Saturday.
The weakest road opponent the Buckeyes will face in 2016 could be categorized as merely decent, with Maryland threatening to go .500. Penn State, as is its custom, is making Ohio State's visit its White Out game. Wisconsin will probably win the B1G West.
That leaves Michigan State and Oklahoma, which were half of last year's College Football Playoff. Four of those road opponents should be ranked, and the Buckeyes will be breaking in a new coordinator as well as a whole bunch of new starters.
Should they run the table on the road again, Ohio State could tie Oklahoma's unbreakable record in September 2017 in, of all places, Bloomington. But more importantly, if the Buckeyes can extend their road sweep streak to a fifth year, Meyer should have a legitimate shot of bringing another, equally-historic streak to an end.
And that would be Ohio State's 36-year Big Ten Coach of the Year drought.
