B1G All-Decade Grades: Ohio State

While 2020 has come out the gates in relatively crummy fashion, the decade leading up to it were some of the Big Ten’s best. Huge TV deals, and overall success highlighted the 10 year span in the conference.

In an attempt to reflect upon the good times — the period of time from 2010 to 2019 — we at B5Q have set out to grade each football and basketball program over that time span.

Today we are forced to discuss the overall best football/men’s basketball combo in the conference...the Ohio State Buckeyes.

Football grade: A

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

The Buckeyes were clearly the best team in the B1G over the last decade on the football field. Hell, they’re one of the top five teams in the nation over the past decade. Outside of the one interregnum year in 2011 where Luke Fickell was the coach, OSU hasn’t lost more than two games in a season this decade. They are 117-18 since 2010, although technically they are 105-17 since the entire 2010 season was vacated due to Jim Tressel lying about having any knowledge of whether or not his players were trading gear for money and tattoos.

Tressel was forced to resign and Fickell took over and led the mighty Buckeyes to a...6-7 record. They still beat the Badgers that year which will never not be infuriating and then Urban Meyer took over. OSU went undefeated in his first season but the Buckeyes were ineligible for postseason play and then two years after that they won the national title.

Of course, as is tradition when Meyer is in charge, there was more scandal, suspensions and ::double checks notes:: lying about whether or not an assistant coach was abusing his wife. Meyer retired after the 2018 season due to “health issues” and handed the reigns to former offensive coordinator Ryan Day who coached the Buckeyes to a 13-1 season and has been impressive on the recruiting trail.

OSU is 6-4 (5-4 if you’re the NCAA) in bowl games, won five B1G championships and has only lost to arch rival Michigan once in the past 10 years. They have produced numerous all-American and all-B1G performers. When it comes to the NFL Draft, the Buckeyes have had multiple first round picks in four of the past five years, including five players drafted in the 2016 first round alone.

Basketball grade: B+

Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images

The Buckeyes are not the undisputed best basketball team in the B1G over the last decade, but they are certainly in the top tier. They’ve made the NCAA Tournament seven times (would’ve been eight if there was a Tournament this year), won the regular season B1G crown twice and won the B1G Tournament three times in the last 10 years.

OSU is 247-103 overall and are 115-69 in conference. They’ve made the Final Four once, the Elite 8 twice and the Sweet 16 three times, however they haven’t made it past the third round since 2013-14. They’ve also finished the season ranked in the AP Poll six times.

In terms of producing NBA talent, the Buckeys have had five NBA Draft picks including D’Angelo Russell who went second overall in 2015. In 2018, B1G Player of the Year Keita Bates-Diop was drafted in the second round by the Timberwolves.