Ohio State’s Shocking Placement in The Athletic’s Top 25 College Football Programs Since 2000—Prepare to Be Surprised

There’s something electric about claiming the very top spot on any best-of list—it’s a badge of honor that few refuse to flaunt. Sure, getting a street or school named after you is cool, and having your own Wikipedia page is neat, but when you talk about college football programs over a quarter-century, being crowned the best? That’s a whole different level of bragging rights. Enter the Ohio State Buckeyes — a program that’s managed not just to survive, but to thrive in the cutthroat world of college football since the year 2000. According to the latest evaluation by The Athletic, which dissected everything from winning percentages to bowl game appearances, the Buckeyes aren’t just good—they’re numero uno. It’s a testament to consistency, resilience, and supremacy on the gridiron. If you’re wondering exactly how they edged out other titans like Alabama, it’s time to dive deep into what made this ranker tick and why OSU stands tall on top of the mountain. LEARN MORE

On that note, the Ohio State football program should be able to beat its chest a little thanks to the latest ranking from The Athletic, which took on ranking the top 25 college football programs over the last 25 years. If you’re counting, that’s from the year 2000 on. And … according to the piece, YOUR Ohio State Buckeyes are numero uno during that time period.Now, it’s important to note how The Athletic came about these rankings, so we’ll give you the cliff-notes version. Stewart Mandel took a look at win %, BCS/NY6 bowls, national titles, conference titles, top ten wins, top 25 wins, top ten rankings, top 25 rankings, and losing seasons. He ranked them all and came up with a final tally of how the teams stacked up.

Being at the top of list of best things is something everyone would be proud of. I mean, having a road or school named after you or a Wikipedia page is also noteworthy, but when it comes to ranking the best teams in a sport over a period of time, who doesn’t want to be on top?The staying power and recession-proof era for the Buckeyes is very, very impressive and you shouldn’t let anyone tell you the program is overrated because of the numbers and success on the field. Teams rounding out the top ten behind OSU and Alabama are Oklahoma (3), Georgia (4), LSU (5), Clemson (6), Oregon (7), USC (8), Texas (9), and Florida (10).

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When you look at all of that, Ohio State is really the only team that has stayed away from a downturn over the last 25 years. Because of that, it is No. 1 in winning percentage (.840), top ten wins (39), top ten rankings (75.4%), and top 25 rankings (92.7%). That was enough to rank ahead of No. 2 Alabama — largely because of the time period before Nick Saban’s arrival in 2008.