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1968 Ohio State

10–⁠0 (7–⁠0 Big Ten), coached by Woody Hayes, finished No. 1 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 1968, game by game: won vs. SMU 35–14; won vs. Oregon 21–6; won vs. No. 1 Purdue 13–0; won vs. Northwestern 45–21; won at Illinois 31–24; won vs. No. 16 Michigan State 25–20; won at Wisconsin 43–8; won at Iowa 33–27; won vs. No. 4 Michigan 50–14; won vs. No. 2 USC 27–16+36Won 35–14 vs. SMU+21SMUWon 21–6 vs. Oregon+15OregonWon 13–0 vs. No. 1 Purdue+13No. 1 PurdueWon 45–21 vs. Northwestern+24NorthwesternWon 31–24 at Illinois+7IllinoisWon 25–20 vs. No. 16 Michigan State+5No. 16 Michigan StateWon 43–8 at Wisconsin+35WisconsinWon 33–27 at Iowa+6IowaWon 50–14 vs. No. 4 Michigan+36No. 4 MichiganWon 27–16 vs. No. 2 USC+11No. 2 USC
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 28vsSMUW 35–⁠1464%
Oct 5vsOregonW 21–⁠679%
Oct 12vs1PurdueW 13–⁠041%
Oct 19vsNorthwesternW 45–⁠2183%
Oct 26atIllinoisW 31–⁠2476%
Nov 2vs16Michigan StateW 25–⁠2066%
Nov 9atWisconsinW 43–⁠885%
Nov 16atIowaW 33–⁠2772%
Nov 23vs4MichiganW 50–⁠1462%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs2USCRose BowlW 27–⁠1638%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat USC 27–⁠16 in the Rose Bowl; No. 1 in the final AP poll; Big Ten champions.

In program history: The 40th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 11
  2. Wk 2: 9
  3. Wk 3: 11
  4. Wk 4: 6
  5. Wk 5: 4
  6. Wk 6: 2
  7. Wk 7: 2
  8. Wk 8: 2
  9. Wk 9: 2
  10. Wk 10: 2
  11. Wk 11: 2
  12. Wk 12: 1
  13. Wk 13: 1
  14. Final: 1

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 1968.

National championsNo. 1 in the final AP poll, and a title the school claims

Big Ten champions7–⁠0 in the conference

Consensus All-AmericanDave Foley, OT

Eddie Robinson Coach of the YearWoody Hayes, coach; also the Walter Camp Coach

Record
10–⁠0
Conference
7–⁠0 first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 1 peak No. 1
Points
323–⁠150
Coach
Woody Hayes
Elo
1716 +173 this season
SP+ rating
—
SRS
23.8 No. 4 of 119 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Most valuable player
Mark Stier
Offense
I formation

Drafted in 1969

The 1969 draft
Rd 1Rufus Mayes OTChicago Bears
Rd 1Dave Foley OTNew York Jets

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 9 second team

First team

Second team

  • Rex KernRBAP-2
  • Jim OtisRBAP-2
  • Bruce JankowskiEAP-2
  • Ron SaulOGAP-2
  • Dave WhitfieldDEAP-2; UPI-2
  • Paul SchmidlinDTAP-2; UPI-2
  • Jim StillwagonMGUPI-2
  • Mark StierLBAP-2; UPI-2
  • Mike SensibaughDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1968 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1968 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠010–⁠01
Michigan6–⁠18–⁠212
Purdue5–⁠28–⁠210
Minnesota5–⁠26–⁠4
Indiana4–⁠36–⁠4
Iowa4–⁠35–⁠5
Michigan State2–⁠55–⁠5
Northwestern1–⁠61–⁠9
Illinois1–⁠61–⁠9
Wisconsin0–⁠70–⁠10

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