Ohio State is the consensus #2 team in the country. And we've been on top of the mountain since Jim Tressel took over as Head Coach and led us to the National Championship. A short recap of the man's success at Ohio State, which some call the greatest stretch in Ohio State history, in no particular order:

1. Two 19 game winning streaks at Ohio State

2. 82% winning percentage is the highest of any Coach in OSU history with more than 20 games under his belt

3. One National Championship victory and three National Championship appearances (5 total National Titles in his career and 9 total National Title appearances)

4. First NCAA team to go 14-0 in a College Football season (two undefeated regular seasons at OSU)

5. 8-1 record against Michigan is the best winning % in Ohio State history for any coach to have coached more than 5
seasons (only OSU HC to win 6 straight vs. Michigan)

6. Has won 5 consecutive Big Ten Titles (6 total in 9 years)

7. His Bucks have more BCS appearances than any team in College Football

8. Tressel has the highest winning percentage of any head coach since he came to Ohio State

9. Coached 24 1st Team All-Americans at OSU

10. Has coached the winners of the Heisman, Lombardi, Thorpe, Lott, O'Brien, Butkus, Nagurski, Groza, Rimington, Camp, Guy, Wuerffel, Lowe's, and Draddy Awards

11. Has coached 49 1st team All-Big Ten players

12. Has coached the most academic All-Big Ten players in the Big Ten every year he has been the Head Coach, despite high level academic schools like Michigan, Illinois, Northwestern, Indiana, Purdue, etc.

13. Has been to a bowl every season at Ohio State including 7 BCS bowls

14. Has won 10+ games in 7 of his 9 seasons as Head Coach at OSU

15. His worst season at OSU was his first, in which the Buckeyes went 7-5, as Tressel began to rebuild the program playing with Cooper's leftover players (i.e., converted SS Steve Bellisari at QB)

16. His 2nd worst season, the only other with less than 10 wins, Tressel went 8-4 despite having lost 28 Seniors and an NFL record 14 players to the Draft the prior April

17. In 2006, OSU was the first team to go wire to wire in the top spot in the polls at #1 through a regular season

18. Ohio State played three different teams ranked #2 overall in the polls in a single season, another NCAA record (winning two, but losing the NC in the third)

19. OSU's 2007 team had lost 12 players to the NFL in the previous draft, yet still held the #1 ranking for 5 weeks and went to another NC (losing to LSU)

20. Tressel is just 58 years old and his contract runs through 2015 with Ohio State, although many call it a virtual lifetime appointment

21. Has won 8 different Coach of the Year awards since 1991

22. Is on pace to crush a boatload of Woody Hayes OSU records, a pace that could make him the greatest Ohio State Coach of All Time and one of the greatest College Coaches in general of All Time (cross Divisional with 5 National Titles and 9 appearances in Title games during his Head Coaching career).

Even with my disdain for everything Scarlet & Gray, I have to admit, he has done a great job. And he's done it without the slime of the Cooper era. Not everything has been roses, but I feel like he classed things up. And it wasn't just the Sweatervest. Proud to have that guy in the Big 10.

BD, I've always been a huge Buckeye and Tressel fan!

Actually met Tressel (wrong section??) when he was an assistant for Earle Bruce and I was a high school recruit (many, many moons ago). He was D-Coordinator at the time and you could always tell he the makings of a head coach.

Very interested to see what Pryor does this year - so much talent!