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The Ohio State Football Team That Doesn't Exist

  • Gabe Moore
  • Nov 25
  • 5 min read

Ohio State Football invokes a lot of different memories in a lot of different people. Almost any

dedicated fan can tell you their favorite player, favorite play, favorite game, favorite coach, and more in the blink of an eye. Considering that Ohio State football is one of the most followed sports teams in the entire world, that’s quite a lot of memories-and, given that Ohio State has won 880 games1 throughout the history of their football program, it’s reasonable that a lot of these memories are good ones.


Of course, that isn’t to say there aren’t painful memories in there, too-that’s part of the fan

experience, and they go hand-in-hand just like Yin and Yang. For the record, Trevor Lawrence,

Javon Bullard, Hassan Haskins, Donovan Edwards, Tim Tebow, Rondale Moore, Vince Young,

and Tamba Hali are encouraged to avoid Buckeye tailgate parties.

One of those bad memories that are sure to put a scowl on the faces of Ohio State fans is the

mention of the Ohio State football team that does not exist. That, of course, would be the 2010

Ohio State Buckeyes.


If you aren’t familiar with that team, you may be asking “How on Earth can a football team that

went through offseason workouts, training camp, played an entire Big Ten season, and won 12

games including a Sugar Bowl2 not exist?” That’s a good question. It doesn’t make much sense, does it?


But, according to the NCAA, the 2010 Ohio State Football season never happened-solely

because of what did happen at the end of that season.

In December of 2010, the NCAA announced that six Ohio State football players would be

suspended for the upcoming 2011 season for selling memorabilia that had earned on the field,

while also swapping autographs for tattoos.3

The fallout would continue over the next several months, culminating in the resignation of head coach Jim Tressel.4


The scandal, at the time, was the cause of great outrage in Columbus (as is anything affecting

Ohio State football) as the entire Buckeye community waited to hear the results of the scandal. In addition to Tressel’s firing, the Buckeyes were forced to vacate all twelve of their victories from the 2010 season, incurred a one-year postseason ban and a brief probation.5

The scandal stung for a time, especially when the 2012 Buckeyes, under new coach Urban

Meyer, went undefeated in the regular season but were unable to play for any postseason

accolades.6


But, two seasons later, the Buckeyes won the National Championship, and “Tattoogate” became a thing of the past, wiped away by newly acquired Buckeye glory.

As the years progressed, it faded from memory, and had become a virtual afterthought.

Until this past summer.


For nearly two years prior, Ohio State’s chief rivals, the Michigan Wolverines, had been

embroiled in a scandal of their own, stemming from illegal in-person scouting actions taken by former Michigan staffer Connor Stallions.8

The NCAA, predictably, took plenty of time assessing the situation and handing down penalties.

After a small eternity, it was announced in August of 2025 that the Wolverines would be fined

and their head coach suspended-this coming only after their previous head coach (who had

presided over the team during the scandal) was already gone.

There were a handful of other sanctions tossed toward Michigan, but most became more focused on the punishments Michigan didn’t receive.

Notably, the Wolverines received no postgame ban and did not have to forfeit or vacate any wins of any kind-a decision the NCAA justified by noting the fact that the players currently on

Michigan’s roster, who would be affected by these punishments, had mostly not been on the team at the time-and even if they had, had had no role in the scandal.

Really? First of all, let me make it clear that the NCAA is absolutely correct in their assertion that it’s wrong to punish players for scandals they had no involvement in whatsoever.


My question is, where was this sentiment fifteen years ago?


The 2012 Ohio State Buckeyes had no role in the tattoogate scandal, but it did not bother the

NCAA to punish them anyway. Urban Meyer, the Buckeye head coach that succeeded Jim Tressel, noted this when reacting to the scandal in August:


“In December of 2011, I had to stand in front of a group of seniors and tell them they were not

allowed to play in a bowl or championship game in their final year of college football, for

something they had nothing to do with. [It was] one of the most difficult things I have ever

done,” Meyer said.


He would go on to state that “the NCAA as an enforcement arm no longer exists.” 9

Meyer is absolutely correct, especially when the severity of both scandals is considered.

Michigan was accused of spying on opponents in an effort to gain an on-field advantage; Ohio State’s players got some tattoos and had absolutely no effect on any actual results.

It becomes even more laughable when considering the current landscape of college football that allows athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Based on that ruling, it’s likely

that what Ohio State’s plates did would be perfectly legal under today’s rules.


Now, this is not to say that Ohio State was not deserving of punishment-they clearly violated the rules of the time and attempted to conceal that fact from the NCAA (another NCAA violation in and of itself) in a face-saving effort.

But I would seriously doubt that there are many people outside of Ann Arbor who would argue

that there is a clear double-standard here. If the NCAA feels that Michigan does not need to

vacate games for their punishment to be effective, fine. But they have to be consistent with that ruling.


While it’s obviously too late to give the Ohio State Seniors of 2012 their chance back, it isn’t too

late to rectify this situation. Since the passage of NIL Laws, many college football governing

bodies have been making corrections to unfair rulings of the past, recognizing that many past

violations of rules would now be permissible. The most prominent example of this lies with

former USC running back Reggie Bush, who had his Heisman Trophy restored after being forced to return it due to improper benefits more than a decade ago.10


The trophy was restored in the wake of “enormous changes in the college football landscape.”

That logic certainly applies to this situation-going from vacating wins as a result of tattoos to

miniscule punishment for violating sign-stealing rules is certainly an enormous change.

All backhanded criticisms aside, though, college football has changed.


The past can’t be changed.

But it can be rectified, even if doing so will be a

long and difficult process.


Restoring the 2010 Buckeyes to their proper place in Buckeyes and College football history

would be an awfully good place to start.



  • Dohrmann, George, and David Epstein. “The Fall of Jim Tressel.” AN SI INVESTIGATION FOUND

THAT OHIO STATE’S DISGRACED - 06.06.11 - SI Vault, 6 June 2011,

 
 
 

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