The Ohio State Buckeyes football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS), representing the Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference. Since the establishment of the football program in 1890, the Buckeyes have played in 59 bowl games. Included in these games are 34 appearances in the "big four" bowl games (the Rose, Sugar, Orange, and Fiesta), including one national championship victory in the 2003 Fiesta Bowl, two appearances in the BCS National Championship Game, and three appearances in the College Football Playoff National Championship, including two national championship victories in the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship and the 2025 College Football Playoff National Championship.
Ohio State's first bowl game came during the 1920 season when, under the leadership of eighth year head coach John Wilce, the team went on to the Rose Bowl where they would be defeated by California 28–0. Following their first Rose Bowl appearance, the school would not make another bowl appearance until 1949, when head coach Wes Fesler led the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl again, this time defeating the California Golden Bears 17–14. Following Fesler, Woody Hayes took over the position of head coach at Ohio State and during his career would lead the Buckeyes to eleven bowl games and compiling a 5–6 record. The Buckeyes appeared in the Rose Bowl eight times during Hayes' tenure and would go 4–4 in those games. Hayes would also lead the Buckeyes to one Orange Bowl, one Sugar Bowl, and one Gator Bowl appearance during his time as head coach.
Earle Bruce became the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes following Woody Hayes in 1979. Bruce would lead the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl in his first season, coming one point away from a national championship, losing to the USC Trojans 17–16. Over Bruce's career, the Buckeyes would make eight bowl appearances going 5–3 in those games. Ohio State also made two Rose Bowl appearances under Bruce, in which the team went 0–2. Following Bruce, John Cooper became the head coach of the Buckeyes and would lead the school to ten bowl appearances, including one Rose Bowl victory in 1997, the school's first Rose Bowl victory since 1974. Cooper would lead the Buckeyes to a 3–8 bowl record during his tenure. Cooper would also lead the Buckeyes to the Sugar Bowl in 1999, the first Bowl Championship Series appearance for Ohio State.
Jim Tressel was hired as the head coach of the Buckeyes in 2001 and would remain head coach at the university until 2010. Under Tressel, Ohio State made a bowl appearance in all his ten seasons as head coach and made eight BCS bowl appearances for a total of nine appearances for the university, the most of any other school. Tressel would also lead the Buckeyes to the national championship game in 2002, where the Buckeyes defeated the Miami Hurricanes 31–24 in double overtime for their first national championship since 1970. Tressel compiled an overall bowl record of 5–4 with one vacated victory, including three appearances in the BCS National Championship Game, four appearances in the Fiesta Bowl, one in the Rose Bowl, one in the Sugar Bowl, one in the Outback Bowl, and one in the Alamo Bowl. Ohio State would also reach the Gator Bowl in 2011 under head coach Luke Fickell, which they would lose 24–17 to the Florida Gators.
In November 2011, Urban Meyer was hired as the head coach and has led the Buckeyes to bowl games in five seasons during his time at Ohio State. Meyer led the Buckeyes to their tenth BCS bowl against Clemson in the Orange Bowl. In 2014, Meyer led the Buckeyes to the inaugural College Football Playoff, where the Buckeyes defeated Alabama in the Sugar Bowl and Oregon in the College Football Playoff National Championship, to win the program's eighth national championship. In their 2015–16 bowl appearance, Ohio State defeated Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. The win in that game brought Ohio State's overall bowl record to 22 wins and 24 losses. Meyer also led the Buckeyes to the 4th seed in the college football playoffs in the 2016–17 season. The Buckeyes fell to Clemson in that game 31–0. During the 2017–18 season, the Buckeyes played in the 2017 Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated the USC Trojans 24–7. Ohio State would play the following year in the 2019 Rose Bowl. It would be Ohio State's 15th Rose Bowl appearance and final bowl game for coach Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes would go on to defeat Pac-12 champion Washington 28–23. Starting in 2024, the College Football Playoff expanded to 12 teams, with first round games behind played at campus stadiums.
As of December 2024, Ohio State has said they will not count CFP First Round games as bowl game appearances. Following the 2024 season, Ohio State won three consecutive CFP bowl games en route to winning the national championship over Notre Dame.
Key +General Bowl game record attendance Former bowl game record attendance § Denotes College Football Playoff game * Denotes national championship game
+ Results W Win L Loss T Tie
Bowl games +List of bowl games showing bowl played in, score, date, season, opponent, stadium, location, attendance and head coach#BowlScore DateSeasonOpponentStadiumLocationAttendanceHead coach1Rose Bowl1920California Golden BearsRose BowlPasadena42,0002Rose Bowl1949California Golden BearsRose BowlPasadena100,9633Rose Bowl1954USC TrojansRose BowlPasadena89,1914Rose Bowl1957Oregon DucksRose BowlPasadena98,2015Rose Bowl1968USC TrojansRose BowlPasadena102,0636Rose Bowl1970Stanford IndiansRose BowlPasadena103,8397Rose Bowl1972USC TrojansRose BowlPasadena106,8698Rose Bowl1973USC TrojansRose BowlPasadena105,2679Rose Bowl1974USC TrojansRose BowlPasadena106,72110Rose Bowl1975UCLA BruinsRose BowlPasadena105,46411Orange Bowl1976Colorado BuffaloesOrange BowlMiami65,53712Sugar Bowl1977Alabama Crimson TideLouisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans76,81113Gator Bowl1978Clemson TigersGator BowlJacksonville72,01114Rose Bowl1979USC TrojansRose BowlPasadena105,52615Fiesta Bowl1980Penn State Nittany LionsSun Devil StadiumTempe66,73816Liberty Bowl1981Navy MidshipmenLiberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis43,21617Holiday Bowl1982BYU CougarsJack Murphy StadiumSan Diego52,53318Fiesta Bowl1983Pittsburgh PanthersSun Devil StadiumTempe66,48419Rose Bowl1984USC TrojansRose BowlPasadena102,59420Florida Citrus Bowl1985BYU CougarsCitrus BowlOrlando50,92021Cotton Bowl Classic1986Texas A&M AggiesCottonDallas74,18822Hall of Fame Bowl1989Auburn TigersTampa StadiumTampa52,53523Liberty Bowl1990Air Force FalconsLiberty Bowl Memorial StadiumMemphis13,14424Hall of Fame Bowl1991Syracuse OrangemenTampa StadiumTampa57,78925Florida Citrus Bowl1992Georgia BulldogsCitrus BowlOrlando65,81626Holiday Bowl1993BYU CougarsJack Murphy StadiumSan Diego52,10827Florida Citrus Bowl1994Alabama Crimson TideCitrus BowlOrlando71,19528Florida Citrus Bowl1995Tennessee VolunteersCitrus BowlOrlando70,79729Rose Bowl1996Arizona State Sun DevilsRose BowlPasadena100,63530Sugar Bowl1997Florida State SeminolesLouisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans67,28931Sugar Bowl1998Texas A&M AggiesLouisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans76,50332Outback Bowl2000South Carolina GamecocksRaymond James StadiumTampa65,29933Outback Bowl2001South Carolina GamecocksRaymond James StadiumTampa66,24934 Fiesta Bowl*2OT2002Miami HurricanesSun Devil StadiumTempe77,50235Fiesta Bowl2003Kansas State WildcatsSun Devil StadiumTempe73,42536Alamo Bowl2004Oklahoma State CowboysAlamodomeSan Antonio65,26537Fiesta Bowl2005Notre Dame Fighting IrishSun Devil StadiumTempe76,19638 BCS National Championship Game*2006Florida GatorsUniversity of Phoenix StadiumGlendale74,62839 BCS National Championship Game*2007LSU TigersLouisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans79,65140Fiesta Bowl2008Texas LonghornsUniversity of Phoenix StadiumGlendale72,04741Rose Bowl2009Oregon DucksRose BowlPasadena93,96342Sugar Bowl2010Arkansas RazorbacksLouisiana SuperdomeNew Orleans73,87943Gator Bowl2011Florida GatorsEverBank FieldJacksonville61,312(interim)44Orange Bowl2013Clemson TigersSun Life StadiumMiami72,08045Sugar Bowl§2014Alabama Crimson TideMercedes-Benz SuperdomeNew Orleans74,68246CFP National Championship*Oregon DucksAT&T StadiumArlington85,68947Fiesta Bowl2015Notre Dame Fighting IrishUniversity of Phoenix StadiumGlendale71,12348Fiesta Bowl§2016Clemson TigersUniversity of Phoenix StadiumGlendale70,236Urban Meyer49 Cotton Bowl Classic2017USC TrojansAT&T StadiumArlington67,510Urban Meyer50 Rose Bowl2018Washington HuskiesRose BowlPasadena91,853Urban Meyer51Fiesta Bowl§2019Clemson TigersState Farm StadiumGlendale71,330Ryan Day52Sugar Bowl§2020Clemson TigersMercedes-Benz SuperdomeNew Orleans 3,000Ryan Day53CFP National Championship*Alabama Crimson TideHard Rock StadiumMiami Gardens 14,926Ryan Day54 Rose Bowl 2021 Utah Utes Rose Bowl Stadium Pasadena 87,842 Ryan Day55Peach Bowl§December 31, 20222022Georgia BulldogsMercedes-Benz StadiumAtlanta79,330Ryan Day56 Cotton Bowl ClassicDecember 29, 20232023Missouri TigersAT&T StadiumArlington70,114Ryan Day57Rose Bowl§ January 1, 20252024Oregon Ducks Rose Bowl Stadium Pasadena 90,732Ryan Day58Cotton Bowl Classic§W 28–14January 10, 2025Texas LonghornsAT&T StadiumArlington74,527Ryan Day59CFP National Championship*W 34–23January 20, 2025Notre Dame Fighting IrishMercedes-Benz StadiumAtlanta77,660Ryan Day60 Cotton Bowl ClassicDecember 31, 20252025Miami HurricanesAT&T StadiumArlington71,323Ryan Day
Notes
Record by bowl BowlApp.WinsLossesWin Pct.Most Recent ResultRose Bowl17107.588W 41–21 vs. Oregon (2024)Fiesta Bowl954.556L 23–29 vs. Clemson (2019)Sugar Bowl63 *2.667W 49–28 vs. Clemson (2021)Citrus Bowl413.250L 14–20 vs. Tennessee (1995)ReliaQuest Bowlb404.000L 28–31 vs. South Carolina (2002)Cotton Bowl532.600L 28-14 vs. Miami (Fla) (2025)CFP National Championship Game321.667W 34–23 vs. Notre Dame (2024)BCS National Championship Game312.333L 24–38 vs. LSU (2008)Holiday Bowl2201.000W 28–21 vs. BYU (1993)Orange Bowl211.500L 35–40 vs. Clemson (2014)Liberty Bowl211.500L 11–23 vs. Air Force (1990)Gator Bowla202.000L 17–24 vs. Florida (2012)Alamo Bowl1101.000W 33–7 vs. Oklahoma State (2004)Peach Bowl101.000L 41-42 vs Georgia (2022) *One Sugar Bowl Win vacated.
a The Gator Bowl was formerly called the TaxSlayer Bowl b The ReliaQuest Bowl was formerly called the Outback Bowl and Hall of Fame Bowl Bowl SelectorApp.WinsLossesWin Pct.Most Recent ResultCollege Football Playoff1174.636W 34-23 vs. Notre Dame (2025 CFP National Championship Game)New Years Six1073.700W 48-45 vs. Utah (2022 Rose Bowl)Bowl Championship Series105 *4.556L 35–40 vs. Clemson (2014 Orange Bowl)Bowl Alliance101.000L 14–31 vs. Florida State (1998 Sugar Bowl)
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