Ohio State Buckeyes

Ohio State Buckeyes
University The Ohio State University
Conference Big Ten
NCAA Division I / FBS
Athletic director Gene Smith
Location Columbus, Ohio
Varsity teams 19 men and 20 women varsity teams
Football stadium Ohio Stadium
Basketball arena Value City Arena
Baseball stadium Bill Davis Stadium
Other arenas OSU Ice Arena
St. John Arena
Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium
Mascot Brutus Buckeye
Nickname Buckeyes
Fight song Across the Field and Buckeye Battle Cry
Colors Scarlet and Gray[1]
         
Website www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com

The Ohio State Buckeyes are the athletic teams that represent Ohio State University, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Ohio and after the state tree, the Ohio Buckeye.[2][3] The Buckeyes participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's (NCAA) Division I in all sports and the Big Ten Conference in most sports. The Ohio State women's ice hockey team competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). The school colors are scarlet and gray. Ohio State's mascot is Brutus Buckeye.

Ohio State is one of only five universities to have won a NCAA national championship in baseball and men's basketball, and be recognized as a national champion in football. Ohio State has also won national championships in men's swimming & diving, men's outdoor track & field, men's volleyball, men's golf, men's gymnastics, men's fencing, co-ed fencing, synchronized swimming, and wrestling.[4] Since the inception of the Athletic Director's Cup, Ohio State has finished in the top 25 each year, including top 6 finishes in three of the last five years.[5] During the 2005-2006 school year Ohio State became the first Big Ten team to win conference championships in football, men's basketball and women's basketball in the same season. They repeated this feat in the 2006-2007 season, which also included a February 25, 2007 men's basketball game which saw the Buckeyes defeat the Wisconsin Badgers in the Big Ten's first one-versus-two basketball game.

A few of the many outstanding sports figures who were student athletes at Ohio State include Jesse Owens, “The Buckeye Bullet,” (track and field), John Havlicek, Jerry Lucas, and Katie Smith (basketball), Frank Howard (baseball), Jack Nicklaus (golf), Archie Griffin (football running back, the only two-time Heisman Trophy winner), and Chic Harley (three-time All-American football running back). Hall of Fame coaches at Ohio State have included Paul Brown and Woody Hayes (football), Fred Taylor (men's basketball). Notable sports figures in Ohio State history may be inducted into the Ohio State Varsity O Hall of Fame.

Football

Men's basketball

The Ohio State men's basketball team has played in 10 NCAA Final Fours, winning the championship in 1960, when they were led by Basketball Hall of Famers Jerry Lucas, John Havlicek, and Bob Knight off the bench. A Buckeye has been named first team All-American 23 times, including five two-time All-Americans and one three-time All-American. Between 1960 and 1964, Ohio State won five consecutive Big Ten championships, an achievement that has yet to be matched.

In 2004, Ohio State fired men's basketball coach Jim O'Brien for recruiting violations and self-imposed a one-year penalty, including a ban on post-season play and reduction of scholarships. In light of these University self-imposed penalties, the NCAA Division I Committee on infractions merely placed Ohio State on three years probation for the violations, and gave heavier penalties to Coach O'Brien and a former assistant coach.[6] The lightness of this judgment was seen as encouragement for schools to be proactive in responding to violations. Nevertheless, O'Brien successfully sued Ohio State for improper termination. Thad Matta, the current coach of the Buckeyes, took over O'Brien's spot in 2004. Ohio State recruited such talents as Greg Oden, and Mike Conley, Jr. to start the 2006-2007 year. The Buckeyes finished the season with a 27-3 record; won the Big Ten tournament, and earned a number 1 seed for the NCAA tournament. After a very close game with state rival Xavier, and a thrilling 20 point come from behind victory against the Tennessee Volunteers, the Buckeyes managed to hold off Georgetown Hoyas 67-60 to reach the Championship Game for the first time since 1962, which they lost to defending NCAA champions Florida Gators, 84-75. Following years saw continued success for the Buckeyes. They won the Big Ten Championship in both the 2009-2010 and 2010-2011 season, and reached the Final Four in 2011-2012 before losing to Kansas. The Buckeyes reached the Elite Eight in 2012-2013, losing to Wichita State. 2013-2014 and 2014-2015 both saw early exits from the NCAA Tournament.

Women's basketball

Currently coached by Kevin McGuff, the Ohio State women's basketball team plays its home games in the Jerome Schottenstein Center, which they moved into in 1998. Prior to 1998, they played at St. John Arena. They have won 10 Big Ten titles, which is the most in the conference[7] and have 14 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, the most recent being in 2007. In 1993 they lost to the Texas Tech Lady Raiders 84-82 for the National Title, while they captured the NIT title in 2001, beating the New Mexico Lobos 62-61.[8] Notable alumni include former All-Americans Katie Smith and Jessica Davenport.

Golf

Ohio State's two golf courses, the Scarlet and the Gray, were completed in 1938. The Scarlet was designed by architect Alister MacKenzie, who designed the Masters course at Augusta National. However, his original design was not implemented fully, and the greens were the only part of the course that truly resembled his designs. Golf magazines annually rate the Scarlet Course as one of the top collegiate courses in the nation. The Scarlet recently underwent a $4.2 million renovation under the supervision of Jack Nicklaus. Ohio State has won the NCAA Division I Men's Golf Championships in 1945 and 1979. Five times, Buckeye men have won the NCAA golf individual championship: John Lorms in 1945, Tom Nieporte in 1951, Robert Jones in 1956, Jack Nicklaus in 1961 and Clark Burroughs in 1985. They have won 23 Big Ten Conference championships.

Baseball

Ohio State has played baseball since 1881,[9] winning a national championship in 1966 along with 14 Big Ten regular-season titles and eight Big Ten tournament titles. The Buckeyes baseball team was the first Ohio State sports team. The team is currently coached by Greg Beals and play their home games at Bill Davis Stadium, which opened in 1997. Going into the 2008 season the Buckeyes all-time record is 2228-1427-38. Notable alumni include Frank Howard, Nick Swisher and two time All-American Steve Arlin.

Synchronized swimming

In the team event, Ohio State has won 29 collegiate championships between 1977, the first year of the collegiate national championships, and 2004. Head coach Mary Jo Ruggieri led the team to 17 wins between 1977 and 1995, and Linda Lichter-Witter added seven more since 1996. Ohio State also has taken 61 individual honors in that span, including 11 by Karen and Sarah Josephson. Head Coach Holly Vargo-Brown led the team to their 29th total championship in 2015.

Men's gymnastics

The Ohio State gymnastics team has won three national titles and nine Big Ten titles, and has produced 4 Nissen Award winners (The Heisman Trophy of Men's Gymnastics). The team is currently coached by Rustam Sharipov. The Buckeyes have all their competitions at St. John Arena in Columbus, Ohio.

Some of the more notable Buckeye alumni include Don Perry, the first OSU All-American in the sport (Trampoline - 1954 - 4th place), brothers Seth and Noah Riskin - Co-national Champions (Parallel Bars - 1985 - 1st place), and Mike Racanelli - Ohio State's first Nissen winner in 1990. Racanelli also went on to win Gymnastic's first Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year Award that same year, given out annually to the athlete who displays the best performance in his sport (regardless of grade).

Following later in Racanelli's footsteps were other Nissen winners Kip Simons (1994), Blaine Wilson (1997) and Jamie Natalie (2001). Blaine Wilson (1995, 1996, 1997) and Jamie Natalie (2000, 2001) also went on to win Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year. Raj Bhavsar was the only other Men's Gymnast to win Ohio State Athlete of the Year which he accomplished in 2002.

On the Olympic and World Championship stage, OSU Men's Gymnastics is well represented, by gymnasts and coaches. The Olympian list includes: Miles Avery (asst coach 1996, 2000, 2004, 2008), Peter Kormann (Athlete in 1976, Head Coach 1996, 2000), Raj Bhavsar (2004, 2008), Jamie Natalie (2000), Gil Pinto (1988), Kip Simons (1994) and Blaine Wilson (1996, 2000, 2004).

Two gymnasts who trained at the Ohio State facilities under coach Miles Avery, but were not NCAA Athletes due to eligibility rules, were Paul and Morgan Hamm - twin brothers from Wisconsin. Paul later went on to win the first ever Olympic Gold medal in the Men's Gymnastics All-Around competition for the United States.

In 2011, Senior co-captain, Brandon Wynn, won his second national championship on rings. Brandon Wynn, Ty Echard, Kris Done and Jeff Treleaven earned All-America honors. In all, the seven All-America honors tie the second-best single-season performance in program history and are the most laurels since the 2005 campaign.

Ice hockey

The Ohio State men's ice hockey team was established in 1961 and played at the OSU Ice Rink until 1999, when they moved into Value City Arena. The Buckeyes competed in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA) through the 2012-2013 season. After Penn State added men's ice hockey as a Division I sport in 2012, the Big Ten had enough teams to sponsor its own hockey conference and began play in the 2013-2014 season.

The Buckeyes won one conference championship in 1972, the first year of the CCHA, and won the conference tournament in 1974 and 2004. The Buckeyes have made it to the NCAA tournament in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2009, and went to the semi-finals in 1998. In 2006, they retired Paul Pooley's #22, the only number to be retired by the hockey program to date.[10]

The Ohio State women’s ice hockey team was started in 1999 and competes in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA). The Buckeyes have yet to make an NCAA post season appearance.[11] Notable Buckeye alumni include Olympians Emma Laaksonen, Tessa Bonhomme, and Lisa Chesson.

Tennis

The Men’s and Women’s Varsity Tennis teams have showed success both individually and as a team. Both the men's and women's teams share the outdoor tennis facility, the Stickney Tennis Center, dedicated in 1993. When the weather takes them indoors, both teams play at the Varsity Tennis Center, which was recently completed in November 2007. The outdoor facility has 12 courts and the indoor has six courts and are both located in Columbus, Ohio.

Men's Tennis - Big Ten Championships - 1915 (co-champions), 1943, 1991, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament Team Appearances (since 1977) - 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 The Men's tennis team has 23 NCAA Singles Appearances, 11 NCAA Doubles Appearances and eight All-Americans.[12]

Women's Tennis - Big Ten Championships - 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979 - Note: The Big Ten officially began sponsoring championships for women with the 1981-82 season. Since then, Ohio State has yet to win a Big Ten Championship. Ohio State recently won their first Big Ten Championship in school history in 2016, after defeating TTUN in the finals. NCAA Women's Tennis Tournament Team Appearances - 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2008, 2009. The Women have five NCAA Singles Appearances, four NCAA Doubles Appearances and two All-Americans.[12]

Lacrosse

Rifle

In June, 2013, Ohio State became a charter member of the Patriot Rifle Conference. It was also announced that the Buckeyes will host the inaugural PRC championship meet on February 8 & 9, 2014.

Softball

The Buckeye softball team has appeared in one Women's College World Series in 1982.[13]

Wrestling

Ohio State wrestling was established at the University in 1921. Once the coach of Hofstra University for 11 years, currently the Head Coach of the team is Tom Ryan. He has been coaching Ohio State since the 2006-2007 wrestling season. His coaching ability led the Buckeye Wrestling team to 5 NCAA Championship appearances and as the runners-up twice in the NCAA Championships in 2008 & 2009 in 8 years with the team.[14] The team has a practice facility named Steelwood Athletic Training Facility and competes on campus in the St. John Arena (capacity of over 13,000 people).[15] Two-time NCAA wrestling champion Jeffrey Jaggers, or commonly referred to as J Jaggers, made a seamless transition from student-athlete to coach in 2009-10 as the volunteer assistant coach and now is in his fourth year as a full-time assistant and fifth overall. Mark Coleman was a former Buckeye wrestler and a 1988 Big Ten Conference Champion & NCAA Champion Wrestler (190 lbs). Coleman went on to become a Silver Medalist in the 1991 FILA Wrestling World Championships, who then became a UFC Hall of Fame member.[16]

In 2015, Ohio State won its first national championship, after coming close in 2008 and 2009. It broke Penn State's streak of four consecutive team titles, but extended the Big Ten's national championship run to nine with the help of 4-time NCAA champion Logan Stieber.

2015 Ohio State wrestler Kyle Snyder (wrestler) becomes youngest World Champion in United States Wrestling History. On Friday September 11 Kyle won five matches including a dramatic ending in the gold medal round at 97 kg/213 lbs. Trailing 4-3 with less than a minute remaining, Snyder got a takedown against returning World champion Abdusalam Gadisov of Russia and ultimately prevailed by criteria with the score tied at 5-5. "It is amazing hearing the USA chants, especially on a day like today – September 11," said Snyder. "It's important to come out here and represent your country to the best of your ability."

Ohio State University Buckeye Wrestling Team Accomplishments include:

NCAA Championships: 2015

Olympians and track

Ohio State has produced over two hundred Olympic athletes, most notably Jesse Owens who won four Olympic gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics and is one of the greatest Olympians in history. In all, 48 Ohio State athletes have combined for a total of 77 Olympic medals which includes 33 gold, 28 silver and 16 bronze medals. Ohio State's track team is coached by Ed Beathea, and hosts home meets at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. The Buckeyes' track team is also famous for being the first Buckeye team in any sport to win a national title.

Mal Whitfield was the 1948 and 1952 Olympic Gold Medalist in the 800 Meters. His daughter is Fredericka Whitfield of CNN.

Club sports

Rugby

Founded in 1966, Ohio State's Rugby Football Club plays college rugby in Division 1-A in the Big Ten Universities conference against traditional Big 10 rivals such as Michigan. The Buckeyes are led by head coach Ron Bowers, who played rugby as a Buckeye, earning All-American honors in 1991.[17] The Buckeyes best performances were in the 1990 and 1991 seasons, when they finished third in the nation in both seasons.

More recently, Ohio State has appeared in the Collegiate Rugby Championship, a tournament broadcast live on NBC, finishing 7th in 2010 and 14th in 2011. The Buckeyes were led in those two tournaments by Nate Ebner, who was named to the competition's All Tournament Team in 2010 and 2011,[18][19] before entering the 2012 NFL draft and signing with the New England Patriots. The Buckeyes finished the 2010-11 season ranked 23rd in the country.[20] Ohio State finished third at the 2012 Big Ten 7s, missing out on qualification to the 2012 USA Rugby Sevens Collegiate National Championships.

Championships

NCAA team championships

Ohio State has won 29 NCAA team titles.[21]

Other national team championships

Below are 45 national team titles that were not bestowed by the NCAA (including sports it has never sponsored):[22]

Big Ten championships

Men's

Women's

Media

Further information: Ohio State IMG Sports Network

On April 2, 2009, Ohio State signed a 10-year media-rights agreement with IMG College and RadiOhio, worth nearly $128 million, the largest such agreement in college sports.[23]

The Ohio State University Marching Band

The Ohio State University Marching Band (nicknamed "The Best Damn Band In The Land"[24]) is currently under direction of Dr. Christopher Hoch. This all brass band has 225 members, and was first formed in 1878. The band has traditions including a field march that forms a "Script Ohio", during which, a senior sousaphone player gets to "dot the i" in the word Ohio.

School colors

Brutus Buckeye

The Ohio State school colors of scarlet and gray were chosen by a committee of three students (Curtis C. Howard, Harwood R. Pool, and Alice Townshend) prior to the school's first graduation ceremony in 1878. The committee's original recommendation was to be orange and black. The committee soon discovered that Princeton already used the colors, however, and changed their recommendation.[25] For this reason some references claim that Ohio State's original school colors were orange and black. This claim is not quite accurate, in that the committee never filed the original report with that recommendation.

Pageantry

Team colors: Scarlet and Gray
Outfitter: Nike J. America
Fight songs: Across the Field, Buckeye Battle Cry
Often played songs: Hang on Sloopy, Le Regiment
Alma mater: Carmen Ohio
Nicknames: Buckeyes (officially adopted in 1950[26]), The Bucks, The Silver Bullets
Mascot: Brutus Buckeye
Rivalries: Michigan Wolverines, Illinois Fighting Illini, Penn State Nittany Lions
Marching band: The Ohio State University Marching Band, known as TBDBITL, or The Best Damn Band In The Land. Famous for "Script Ohio" and the "Ramp Entrance". The dotting of the "i" in "Script Ohio" by a sousaphone (tuba) player who high-kicks out and does a giant bow to the crowd was voted the #1 greatest sports tradition ever, in Athlon Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated.
Radio network: Ohio State IMG Sports Network - Flagships WBNS AM 1460 (ESPN Columbus) and WBNS FM (97.1 The Fan)
Announcers: Paul Keels (Play By Play); Jim Lachey (Color (football))

References

  1. ↑ "Ohio State Brand Guidelines". The Ohio State University. Retrieved 2015-01-13.
  2. ↑ "What Is A Buckeye? – Ohio State Buckeyes Traditions". Ohio State Buckeyes. May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  3. ↑ "State Tree - Buckeye Tree". Ohio Secretary of State. May 28, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Schools with the Most NCAA National Championships". NCAA. Archived from the original on 2006-06-16. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
  5. ↑ "U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup Previous Scoring". Athletic Director's Cup. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
  6. ↑ "The Ohio State University and Former Men's Basketball Coaches Penalized for Infractions" (Press release). NCAA. 2006-03-10. Archived from the original on April 6, 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
  7. ↑ "Big Ten Championship Teams" (PDF). History and Tradition. Ohio State Athletic Department. p. 172. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  8. ↑ "2001 Postseason WNIT". www.womensnit.com. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
  9. ↑ "Records by Year" (PDF). History and Traditions. Ohio State Athletic Department. p. 94. Retrieved 2008-02-25.
  10. ↑ http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/110106aah.html
  11. ↑ "Ohio State Women's Hockey Team History". U.S. College Hockey Online. Retrieved June 25, 2011.
  12. 1 2 "Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletic Site - Ohio State". ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
  13. ↑ Plummer, William; Floyd, Larry C. (2013). A Series Of Their Own: History Of The Women's College World Series. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States: Turnkey Communications Inc. ISBN 978-0-9893007-0-4.
  14. ↑ "Buckeye Wrestling Archive" (PDF). Ohio State University Wrestling. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  15. ↑ "OSU Wrestling Quick Facts" (PDF). Ohio State University Athletics. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  16. ↑ "Mark Coleman Bio". UFC. Retrieved 2014-01-01.
  17. ↑ "Members Area". Osurugby.com. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  18. ↑ Ted Hardy. "College Rugby: Utah Upsets Cal To Win Sevens Title". Bleacher Report.
  19. ↑ Archived November 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ↑ Archived September 23, 2012, at the Wayback Machine.
  21. ↑ "Championships History (through July 2, 2014)" (PDF). Fs.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2015-05-15.
  22. ↑ "Ohio State Buckeyes Official Athletic Site - Traditions". ohiostatebuckeyes.com.
  23. ↑ Archived April 25, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  24. ↑ Former Director Jon Waters claims, "Supposedly at a pep rally one year, Woody Hayes stood up after the band played a song and said, 'That's the best damn band in the land!' That's all it took. When Woody says something, it's law."
    Miller, Rusty (2006-11-15). "From O-H-I-O to TBDBITL with the OSMB". Associated Press.
  25. ↑ J. H. Galbraith, "Choosing the University Colors," The Ohio State University Monthly, Dec. 1914-Jan. 1915, pp. 11-13
  26. ↑ Walsh, Christopher (2009). Ohio State Football Football Huddleup, Triumph Books (Random House, Inc.), ISBN 978-1-60078-186-5, p. 120.
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