krambman
Obviously there will be a lot of discussion over the next several years about Tressel's legacy, so I thought that a good place to start would be to rank his top ten wins at OSU. Here's my list. What's yours?
1. 2003 Fiesta Bowl - the thrilling double overtime game against Miami (FL) completed a 14-0 season and gave the Buckeyes their first National Championship since 1968.
2. 2006 Michigan Game - The Game of the Century - in the only time in the history of college football's greatest rivalry that the teams were ranked #1 and #2, Ohio State prevailed at home to complete a perfect regular season.
3. 2010 Rose Bowl - A thrilling and at time dominating win over Pac-10 champion Oregon gave Tressel his only Rose Bowl victory and gave the Buckeyes their first Rose Bowl championship in their first appearance in the game in 13 years.
4. 2011 Sugar Bowl - after a dominant first half performance the Buckeyes hung on to win their first Sugar Bowl since 1999, giving the Buckeyes their first bowl victory over a team from the SEC.
5. 2001 Michigan Game - When Tressel was hired at OSU he promised that Buckeye fans would be proud on the players "in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan" and he delivered when the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 26-20.
6. 2006 Texas Game - after losing a heart breaker at home to the Longhorns the year before the Buckeyes traveled to Austin as the top ranked team in the country and defeated then #1 Texas.
7. 2002 Michigan Game - in his second year Tressel earned his second victory against the Wolverines, holding Michigan out of the endzone the entire game and finishing an undefeated regular season, giving the Buckeyes the right to play for the National Championship.
8. 2006 Fiesta Bowl - in only the fifth meeting between the schools, Ohio State smothered the sixth ranked Irish by two touchdowns to win the schools third Fiesta Bowl in four years.
9. 2005 Michigan Game - down by nine in the fourth quarter in Ann Arbor Troy Smith led the Buckeyes on two late touchdown drives, including an 88 yard drive with four minutes to play, in which Smith completed seven of eight pass attempts.
10. 2009 Iowa Game - for the second straight week the Buckeyes faced a top 15 opponent with at least a share of the Big Ten Title and the conferences birth into the Rose Bowl at stake. A close game throughout was won by the Buckeyes when rookie kicker Devin Barclay made a 39-yard field goal in overtime.
I think you could make an argument for the 2002 Washington State game, 2004 Michigan game, and 2009 Penn State game to be on this list as well.
In your opinion, what were the ten greatest victories for OSU under Tressel?
Great list krambman ... my only edits would be to put the 2002 Michigan game higher on this list (that win secured both an undefeated season and our first trip the BCS title game), and maybe replace #10 with the Buckeyes' Fiesta Bowl win over KSU (who had thoroughly dismantled undefeated Oklahoma just prior to that).
I would definitely put 2004 Michigan in the middle of that list somewhere. The context of that game was amazing: