Ohio State's first bowl game came during the
1920 season when, under the leadership of eighth year head coach
John Wilce, the team went on to the
Rose Bowl where they would be defeated by
California 28–0.[3] Following their first Rose Bowl appearance, the school would not make another bowl appearance until 1949, when head coach
Wes Fesler led the Buckeyes to the
Rose Bowl again, this time defeating the California Golden Bears 17–14.[4] Following Fesler,
Woody Hayes took over the position of head coach at Ohio State and during his career would lead the Buckeyes to eleven bowl games and compiling a 5–6 record. The Buckeyes appeared in the Rose Bowl eight times during Hayes' tenure and would go 4–4 in those games. Hayes would also lead the Buckeyes to one Orange Bowl, one Sugar Bowl, and one
Gator Bowl appearance during his time as head coach.[1]
Earle Bruce became the head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes following Woody Hayes in 1979. Bruce would lead the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl in his first season, coming one point away from a national championship, losing to the
USC Trojans 17–16.[5] Over Bruce's career, the Buckeyes would make eight bowl appearances going 5–3 in those games. Ohio State also made two Rose Bowl appearances under Bruce, in which the team went 0–2. Following Bruce,
John Cooper became the head coach of the Buckeyes and would lead the school to ten bowl appearances, including one Rose Bowl victory in
1997, the school's first Rose Bowl victory since
1974.[6][7] Cooper would lead the Buckeyes to a 3–8 bowl record during his tenure. Cooper would also lead the Buckeyes to the
Sugar Bowl in 1999, the first Bowl Championship Series appearance for Ohio State.
Jim Tressel was hired as the head coach of the Buckeyes in 2001 and would remain head coach at the university until 2010. Under Tressel, Ohio State made a bowl appearance in all his ten seasons as head coach and made eight BCS bowl appearances for a total of nine appearances for the university, the most of any other school.[1][8] Tressel would also lead the Buckeyes to the national championship game in
2002, where the Buckeyes defeated the
Miami Hurricanes 31–24 in double overtime for their first national championship since
1970.[9] Tressel compiled an overall bowl record of 5–4 with one vacated victory, including three appearances in the BCS National Championship Game, four appearances in the Fiesta Bowl, one in the Rose Bowl, one in the Sugar Bowl, one in the
Outback Bowl, and one in the
Alamo Bowl. Ohio State would also reach the
Gator Bowl in
2011 under head coach
Luke Fickell, which they would lose 24–17 to the
Florida Gators.
In November 2011,
Urban Meyer was hired as the head coach and has led the Buckeyes to bowl games in five seasons during his time at Ohio State. Meyer led the Buckeyes to their tenth BCS bowl against
Clemson in the
Orange Bowl. In 2014, Meyer led the Buckeyes to the inaugural
College Football Playoff, where the Buckeyes defeated
Alabama in the
Sugar Bowl and
Oregon in the
College Football Playoff National Championship, to win the program's eighth national championship. In their 2015–16 bowl appearance, Ohio State defeated
Notre Dame in the
Fiesta Bowl. The win in that game brought Ohio State's overall bowl record to 22 wins and 24 losses. Meyer also led the Buckeyes to the 4th seed in the college football playoffs in the 2016–17 season. The Buckeyes fell to Clemson in that game 31–0. During the 2017–18 season, the Buckeyes played in the
2017 Cotton Bowl Classic, where they defeated the
USC Trojans 24–7. Ohio State would play the following year in the
2019 Rose Bowl. It would be Ohio State's 15th Rose Bowl appearance and final bowl game for coach Urban Meyer. The Buckeyes would go on to defeat Pac-12 champion
Washington 28–23. Their most recent bowl game was on December 31, 2022 when they narrowly lost to the
Georgia Bulldogs 41–42 in the
2022 Peach Bowl. The Buckeye's bowl record stands at 27–29–0.[2]
^Results are sortable first by whether the result was an Ohio State win, loss or tie and then second by the
margin of victory.
^Links to the season article for the Ohio State team that competed in the bowl for that year.
^Links to the season article for the opponent that Ohio State competed against in the bowl for that year when available or to their general page when unavailable.
^Ohio State voluntarily vacated their Sugar Bowl victory following NCAA allegations.[10]
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
"Bowl/All-Star Game Records"(PDF). 2011 NCAA Division I Football Records. NCAA.org. Retrieved August 12, 2012.