1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
The 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented Ohio State University in the Big Ten Conference during the 1970 NCAA University Division football season. The Buckeyes won all nine games in the regular season and were ranked second in both major polls. Ohio State won the Big Ten title and a berth in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on New Year's Day against the Stanford Indians, ranked No. 12 and champions of the Pac-8. The Buckeyes were upset, 27–17, and finished with a 9–1 record.
| 1970 Ohio State Buckeyes football | |
|---|---|
NFF co-national champion Big Ten champion | |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Ranking | |
| Coaches | No. 2 |
| AP | No. 5 |
| Record | 9–1 (7–0 Big Ten) |
| Head coach |
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| Offensive scheme | Heavy run |
| Base defense | 5–2 |
| MVP | Jim Stillwagon |
| Captains |
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| Home stadium | Ohio Stadium |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 5 Ohio State $ | 7 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 Michigan | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 1 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 6 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 6 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 3 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wisconsin | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 3 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 2 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 3 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 2 | – | 5 | – | 0 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Illinois | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 7 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 1 | – | 6 | – | 0 | 1 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This was the last year Ohio State played a nine-game regular-season schedule (the Big Ten first allowed a 10th regular season game in 1965). Many major colleges added an eleventh game in 1970, although no Big Ten school did so until the following season.
The Buckeyes were recognized as co-national champions, along with Texas, by the National Football Foundation at the end of the regular season. The teams were jointly awarded the MacArthur Bowl.
This was the fifth and last national title that head coach Woody Hayes won for the Buckeyes; they did not win another national championship until 2002.
Both Ohio State and Texas would go on to lose their bowl games; the 11–0–1 Nebraska Cornhuskers won the AP national championship when they finished No. 1 in final post-bowl AP Poll.