By Woodrow Carroll
Would you believe that the two major college football programs with the longest active winning streaks as we head into the 2025 Season are Ohio University and Marshall University. And, when we say major college, we are talking about FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) teams. The Georgia’s, Alabama’s, Michigan’s, and Ohio State’s of college football.
Both the Ohio U. Bobcats of the Mid-American Conference and the Marshall University Thundering Herd operating out of the Sun Belt Conference East Division, will enter 2025 action with a seven-game winning streak.
Going into last season, the Michigan Wolverines sported a 20-game winning streak. Michigan went 15-0 in winning the National Championship as part of the 2023 season and had entered the action with a five-game winning streak from the prior season.
The culprit for so few teams with no long winning streaks among the FBS brotherhood, if you want to call it that, is the expanded football playoff format for FBS schools.
With a 12-team National Championship run last season, logic tells us that 11 of those schools in the playoffs were going to fall short. Meaning close out the season by losing in the playoffs.
Ohio State managed to navigate the hazards of the National Championship run, closing out with a 34-23 victory over Notre Dame in the title match. However, Ohio State lost its final regular-season contest to Michigan before going on its postseason run. Ergo, the Buckeyes enter the present campaign with a four-game winning streak. What counts, however, in Columbus is the National Championship!
Among Big Ten teams, Ohio State and Illinois will each take the field with four-game streaks when they kickoff the 2025 campaign. Care to guess which teams has the better chance of adding to its winning streak once the season gets underway?
Illinois will open playing host to Western Illinois Friday, Aug. 29. The following day, Ohio State will play host to Texas. Obviously, a victory over Texas would go a long way towards Ohio State repeating as National Champion. But, the Texas Longhorns have designs on the National Championship themselves and figure to test the Buckeyes.
So, how did the Ohio U. Bobcats find themselves in the exalted position of having the longest winning streak, along with Marshall, in the FBS ranks? By not being all that good for one thing! Don’t make the playoffs!
Ohio U. finished last season with an 11-3 final record. After a mid-season MAC loss to Miami (O.), the Bobcats reeled off five straight wins that put the team in the MAC title contest against Miami (O.). Revenge was sweet for the Bobcats who beat the RedHawks, 38-3. From there it was on to Orlando, Fla. and the Cure Bowl. In the Cure Bowl, Ohio U. beat Jacksonville State, 30-27, to make it seven straight in the victory column. Which brings us up to the present.
With Northern Illinois pulling out of the MAC and moving to the Mountain West Conference, Ohio U. Bobcats may not be seen around DeKalb that often in the future. The two teams are scheduled to meet this season in Athens, Ohio, Saturday, Oct. 18.
Fans of MAC football will have no trouble bringing up Northern Illinois’ victory over Notre Dame last season. This season MAC backers and specifically Ohio fans will get their shot gridiron glory and the chance to roar.
If Ohio U. is to make it eight consecutive victories, it will come, Thursday, Aug. 28, at Rutgers. However, the game the Bobcats and fans are likely focusing on will be Saturday, Sept. 13 when the Bobcats will play at Ohio State. Nothing like taking on big brother!