Back in Post 1177, I showed how the two coaches with the best records as of their 16th loss (and not named James Patrick Tressel) were Woody Hayes and John W. Wilce. Interestingly, the two had EXACTLY the same record as of their 16th loss.
Digging a little deeper, I discovered that WWH and JWW had something else in common. As you may suspect, it remains something that JPT may well improve upon.
Scanning OSU's history for seasons with more than 2 losses, I discovered that there were only two times in OSU history when the team went 5 straight seasons of fewer than 3 losses each. Both of these streaks were part of 9 year periods where OSU had fewer than 3 losses in 8 of 9 seasons. These are the only such spans in OSU history.
- JWW presided over the first span
- 5 season streak: 1913-1917
- 8 of 9 seasons: 1913-1921
- Record during those 9 seasons: 50-12-3 (Ranked 11th in winning % over that span)
- WWH presided over the only other such span
- 5 season streak: 1972-1976
- 8 of 9 seasons: 1968-1976
- Record during those 9 seasons: 82-13-2 (Ranked 1st in winning % over that span)
With a 3 year running streak of fewer than 3 losses, and 5 of the last 6 seasons; JPT has a chance to join this elite fraternity and maybe even surpass it.
IMHO, the only obstacle to this will be 2009. Heavy attrition combined with an improving league will make it a tough putt; but in Tressel I trust. After that, the recruiting machine he has running will keep things running for at least another couple of years; and that's all it would take.
EDIT:
In case you were wondering: Yes, the horrific 13 season span from 1980-1992 is the only span of that length in OSU history when the team lost at least 3 games for that many years in a row.
"Horrific" may sound like a strong term for a span that contains only 1 losing season. But this is The Ohio State University. What others call mediocre, we call the darkest period in our history.
EDIT II:
The Bruce-Cooper streak is in first place by a large margin. The second longest streak of seasons with at least 3 losses was only 7 seasons, from 1892 to 1898 (The Buckeyes first played in 1890).
There is a tie for third place: One four-season streak from 1922-1925 and another of the same length from 1950-1953. John W. Wilce presided over the first of these streaks, Wayne Woodrow Hayes presided over the other.
The main conclusion that I draw from this is that, historically speaking, most of today's fans have a distorted view of Ohio State. I wonder how many of them realize that the Ohio State they got to know through the 80s and 1/2 of the 90s was the worst stretch of 13 seasons in the team's history. James Patrick Tressel hasn't just returned the Buckeyes to national prominence. It can be stated objectively that he has them back where they belong.