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1961 Ohio State

8–⁠0–⁠1 (6–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes, finished No. 2 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1961, game by game: tied vs. TCU 7–7; won vs. UCLA 13–3; won vs. Illinois 44–0; won at Northwestern 10–0; won at Wisconsin 30–21; won vs. Iowa 29–13; won at Indiana 16–7; won vs. Oregon 22–12; won at Michigan 50–20+44Tied 7–7 vs. TCU0TCUWon 13–3 vs. UCLA+10UCLAWon 44–0 vs. Illinois+44IllinoisWon 10–0 at Northwestern+10NorthwesternWon 30–21 at Wisconsin+9WisconsinWon 29–13 vs. Iowa+16IowaWon 16–7 at Indiana+9IndianaWon 22–12 vs. Oregon+10OregonWon 50–20 at Michigan+30Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 30vsTCUT 7–⁠763%
Oct 7vsUCLAW 13–⁠363%
Oct 14vsIllinoisW 44–⁠075%
Oct 21atNorthwesternW 10–⁠049%
Oct 28atWisconsinW 30–⁠2165%
Nov 4vsIowaW 29–⁠1360%
Nov 11atIndianaW 16–⁠780%
Nov 18vsOregonW 22–⁠1278%
Nov 25atMichiganW 50–⁠2056%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan 50–⁠20; No. 2 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 31st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 2
  2. Wk 2: 3
  3. Wk 3: 8
  4. Wk 4: 7
  5. Wk 5: 7
  6. Wk 6: 6
  7. Wk 7: 5
  8. Wk 8: 3
  9. Wk 9: 3
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Final: 2

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1961.

National championsa title the school claims

Big Ten champions6–⁠0 in the conference

Heisman voteBob Ferguson, second

Maxwell AwardBob Ferguson, FB

Consensus All-AmericanBob Ferguson, FB

Record
8–⁠0–⁠1
Conference
6–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 2 peak No. 2
Points
221–⁠83
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1743 +141 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
22.2 No. 6 of 111 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Mike Ingram and Tom Perdue

Drafted in 1962

The 1962 draft
Rd 1Bob Ferguson BPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 3Chuck Bryant ESt. Louis Cardinals
Rd 6Sam Tidmore ECleveland Browns
Rd 7John Havlicek WRCleveland Browns
Rd 1Bob Ferguson FBSan Diego Chargers (AFL)

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 1961 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1961 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State6–⁠08–⁠0–⁠12
Minnesota6–⁠18–⁠26
Michigan State5–⁠27–⁠28
Purdue4–⁠26–⁠312
Wisconsin4–⁠36–⁠3
Michigan3–⁠36–⁠3
Iowa2–⁠45–⁠4
Northwestern2–⁠44–⁠5
Indiana0–⁠62–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠70–⁠9

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.