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2000 Ohio State

8–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by John Cooper.

Schedule and results

Ohio State in 2000, game by game: won vs. Fresno State 43–10; won at Arizona 27–17; won vs. Miami (OH) 27–16; won vs. Penn State 45–6; won at No. 24 Wisconsin 23–7; lost vs. Minnesota 17–29; won at Iowa 38–10; lost at No. 16 Purdue 27–31; won vs. Michigan State 27–13; won at Illinois 24–21; lost vs. No. 19 Michigan 26–38; lost vs. South Carolina 7–24+39−17Won 43–10 vs. Fresno State+33Fresno StateWon 27–17 at Arizona+10ArizonaWon 27–16 vs. Miami (OH)+11Miami (OH)Won 45–6 vs. Penn State+39Penn StateWon 23–7 at No. 24 Wisconsin+16No. 24 WisconsinLost 17–29 vs. Minnesota-12MinnesotaWon 38–10 at Iowa+28IowaLost 27–31 at No. 16 Purdue-4No. 16 PurdueWon 27–13 vs. Michigan State+14Michigan StateWon 24–21 at Illinois+3IllinoisLost 26–38 vs. No. 19 Michigan-12No. 19 MichiganLost 7–24 vs. South Carolina-17South Carolina
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsFresno StateW 43–⁠1061%
Sep 9atArizonaW 27–⁠1743%
Sep 16vsMiami (OH)W 27–⁠1663%
Sep 23vsPenn StateW 45–⁠665%
Oct 7at24WisconsinW 23–⁠741%
Oct 14vsMinnesotaL 17–⁠2970%
Oct 21atIowaW 38–⁠1080%
Oct 28at16PurdueL 27–⁠3141%
Nov 4vsMichigan StateW 27–⁠1369%
Nov 11atIllinoisW 24–⁠2158%
Nov 18vs19MichiganL 26–⁠3853%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsSouth CarolinaOutback BowlL 7–⁠2467%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to South Carolina 24–⁠7 in the Outback Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 82nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 128 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 16
  2. Wk 2: 16
  3. Wk 3: 18
  4. Wk 4: 17
  5. Wk 5: 14
  6. Wk 6: 12
  7. Wk 7: 8
  8. Wk 8: 6
  9. Wk 9: 14
  10. Wk 10: 12
  11. Wk 11: 16
  12. Wk 12: 13
  13. Wk 13: 12
  14. Wk 14: 21
  15. Wk 15: 20
  16. Wk 16: 19

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 2000.

Record
8–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 6
Points
331–⁠222
Coach
John Cooper
Elo
1600 +51 this season
SP+ rating
17.5 No. 12 of 116; offense No. 36, defense No. 6
SRS
13.8 No. 15 of 116 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 9
Offensive coordinator
Chuck Stobart
Defensive coordinator
Jon Tenuta
Captains
Rodney Bailey, Steve Bellisari, Joe Cooper and Ken-Yon Rambo
Most valuable player
Derek Combs
Offense
Singleback
Defense
4–⁠3

Top recruits in the 2000 class

Sam Maldonado RB★★★★★No. 9
Marco Cooper OLB★★★★★No. 16
Alphonso Townsend DT★★★★★No. 34
Will Smith WDE★★★★No. 82

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2000 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs15.00.996
Defensive line24.50.978
Linebackers15.00.992
Whole class44.80.986

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2001

The 2001 draft
Rd 1Nate Clements DBBuffalo Bills
Rd 1Ryan Pickett DTSt. Louis Rams
Rd 6Rodney Bailey DEPittsburgh Steelers
Rd 7Reggie Germany WRBuffalo Bills
Rd 7Derek Combs RBOakland Raiders
Rd 7Ken-Yon Rambo WROakland Raiders

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 3 second team

First team

  • Joe CooperLBCoaches-1; Media-2
  • Nate ClementsDBCoaches-1; Media-1
  • Mike DossDBCoaches-2; Media-1
  • Dan StultzKCoaches-1; Media-1

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2000 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2000 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan6–⁠29–⁠311
Purdue6–⁠28–⁠413
Northwestern6–⁠28–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠38–⁠4
Wisconsin4–⁠49–⁠423
Minnesota4–⁠46–⁠6
Penn State4–⁠45–⁠7
Iowa3–⁠53–⁠9
Illinois2–⁠65–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8

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