6 losses that still haunt Ohio State fans

Note: This is part of a series that has been running periodically during the season. Fans of the Badgers, Nittany Lions, Hawkeyes, Cornhuskers, Wolverines and Hoosiers have already had the chance to read their sob stories.

First things first — Ohio State has a football tradition that about 98% of FBS teams would kill for. It includes a pair of national titles in the 2000s as well as 3 more appearances in the national championship game. But even for one of the sport’s big dogs, it’s not all gravy.

Saturday’s 42-27 loss to Michigan brings that point home for the latest time for Buckeyes fans.

The Buckeyes have known their share of heartbreaks and near-misses. Since the year 2000, here are 6 OSU losses that still annoy Buckeyes fans everywhere.

6) 2018 vs. Purdue

It’s not that it was a loss. A loss wouldn’t have sunk OSU’s playoff chances. It wasn’t that OSU was a 12.5-point favorite, although they were. Had Purdue knocked off the Buckeyes by, say, a 24-20 count, even that wouldn’t have left OSU outside the sport’s Final 4. But the fact that it was a 49-20 beatdown did influence voters. It landed OSU in the Rose Bowl instead of in the CFP semifinals. A 12-1 Oklahoma jumped over 12-1 Ohio State, largely because of the beatdown from Purdue.

5) 2008 vs. Texas (game was played in 2009, but it’s at the end of the 2008 season)

Many times over the years, teams valiantly struggle with the Buckeyes, only to be unable to make the big play to finish the upset. This time, the script was flipped on OSU. Ranked No. 10, OSU played No. 3 Texas in the Fiesta Bowl and rallied to take a 21-17 lead with 2:05 in the game. Just enough time for Colt McCoy to take Texas down the field and hit a 26-yard touchdown pass in the final seconds for the win. Unlike the other games on this list, no national title implications, but still a tough loss to swallow.

4) 2007 vs. LSU

Ohio State had a storybook 2007 season going. After a loss to unranked Illinois dropped the Buckeyes to No. 7, the teams ahead of them started falling like dominoes. When it ended, only 2-loss LSU stood between Ohio State and an unlikely national championship. State ripped out to a 10-0 lead and looked like a team of destiny. But LSU had the last word in a 38-24 win … and when coupled with the game at No. 3 on this list, a troubling plot line was becoming common.

3) 2006 vs. Florida

A 41-14 game wasn’t a heartbreaker in the conventional sense, but it’s one that still resonates with OSU faithful. Particularly after Ted Ginn returned the title game’s opening kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, State looked well on its way against Florida and Tim Tebow. Until they weren’t. The Gators not only beat the Buckeyes, they held them to 82 total yards and shut down Heisman-winning QB Troy Smith. And the “OSU can’t handle the SEC” narrative was officially born.

2) 2015 vs. Michigan State

OSU was the defending national champion and held a 23-game winning streak. Michigan State was a 9-1 top 10 team. But in the regular season’s next-to-last game, the Spartans held OSU to just 132 yards and won 17-14 on a last-second field goal. Goodbye to OSU’s winning streak and their shot at a repeat berth in the CFP (much less a national title). It was a quality MSU squad, but with just a little more offensive output, OSU could plausibly have won back-to-back national titles.

1) 2019 vs. Clemson

It was all there for OSU. After a perfect regular season — in fact one that only saw a single game played closer than a 24-point margin, OSU took down Wisconsin for the Big 10 title and faced Clemson in a CPF semifinal. Alabama was out of the picture — could LSU put up points on a defense that allowed just 260 yards and 13.7 points per game? Well, we never found out, because Clemson took the 29-23 decision to vault into the national title game. Sure, OSU was a slight underdog in the game, but Ryan Day’s debut season could have been one to remember even within the crowded OSU trophy case. Or not.