DaytonDailyNews.com

There's no question that Ohioans are nuts about Buckeye football.

Social events, including weddings, are impacted by the Buckeyes' schedule. If they don't have large screens, restaurants are likely to have empty tables on OSU game days. Middle-income fans who insist they can't afford the latest 5-cent increase in the price of gas, somehow find hundreds of dollars in their budgets for end zone seats in the 'Shoe. Buckeye fans will do whatever it takes to show support of their team, with the possible exception of naming their daughters "Brutus."

The only question is why.

"I can't justify it," admits Buckeye fan Jon Holt of Oakwood. "I hate the fact that I'm somewhat of an adult and that Ohio State's loss to Illinois caused me to cancel plans that night and I did not pick up the paper or watch the news for the remainder of the week in the event the game was even mentioned."

Such confessions certainly are not uncommon in the emotional world of college football. Nebraska, Texas, Alabama and Louisiana all have their share of manic-depressive fans. Most states do.

Still, there's something about Ohio State football.

"I think that the centrality of Buckeye fandom is fairly unique for a state with Ohio's level of urbanization and development," says Jeremy Wallach, an assistant professor in the Department of Popular Culture at Bowling Green State University. "If you're in a large, empty state such as Nebraska with only one university, who you follow in college football is a no-brainer."

Which makes being an Ohio State fan only half a no-brainer. Ohio is not yet empty, but it is the largest state with just one dominant college football program. Not every one of Alabama's 4.6 million citizens and have been raised to shout "Roll Tide"; lots of them grew up as Auburn fans. Oklahoma's Sooners have a mere 3.6 million residents from which to draw and have to share them with Oklahoma State. Texas has a whole corral-full of competitive teams. In surrounding states, Indiana has Boilermakers, Fighting Irish and Hoosiers to divide its loyalty. Michigan has Wolverines and Spartans. Pennsylvania has Nittany Lions and Panthers. Kentucky has Wildcats and Cardinals.

Ohio, on the other hand, has Buckeyes and the MAC. And, with all due respect to its occasional contributions to the NFL, no Mid-American Conference team ever has — or is ever likely to — played for the national championship. Even in MAC towns, the Buckeye influence is strong. At Bowling Green, for instance, stores sell paraphernalia with the colors of Ohio State on one half and the colors of Michigan — which is an hour's drive to the north — on the other.

"If you asked a BGSU student to name their favorite team, my guess is that they will say either Ohio State or Michigan," Wallach ventures. "They wouldn't immediately say 'Falcons.' "

One reason the entire state seems to be painted scarlet and gray could be as simple as basic mathematics. Ohio State is the largest university in the country, with an enrollment of more than 52,000, plus 425,000 living alumni. Geography helps, too. Centrally located Columbus, dubbed "the Capital of College Football" in 1973, has grown to become the largest city in Ohio and is an easy drive up or down Interstate 71 from other major population centers such as Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Longevity certainly plays a role. The Buckeyes have been playing the inflated-leather-bag game since they defeated Ohio Wesleyan in 1890. By 1901, the Ohio State football media guide reports, "Football crowds and support" had grown "at an alarming rate."

In 1916, a 157-pound halfback named "Chic" Harley led Ohio State to its first Western Conference (Big Ten) championship and is generally regarded as the player most responsible for moving Ohio State football onto the national stage. By the time the Cleveland Browns played their first National Football League game in 1950, Ohio State already had been trouncing opponents for 49 years, had won 283 games and was averaging more than 70,000 fans a game at Ohio Stadium.

"People in Ohio have grown up with Ohio State football," notes Lee Schear, a successful Dayton businessman who founded the Bucknuts Media Network (www.bucknuts.com), a Web site with 5,000 subscribers and as many as a million hits a day this time of year. "Then there are the icons of Ohio State, starting with Chic Harley. Paul Brown. Woody Hayes. All the All-Americans. You'd have to be — maybe — Notre Dame or Alabama to match that."

And, even before burgeoning sports programming guaranteed television exposure to virtually any school capable of getting 11 guys on the field at the same time, OSU was savvy enough to understand the benefits of free publicity. Tickets in the stands may have been hard to come by, but virtually every newspaper in the state had a reserved seat in the press box. And virtually every one of those writers could be expected to carry the gospel of Buckeye football back to communities filled with brawny, thick-necked young men who might develop into brawny, thick-necked OSU All-Americans.

So, while teams such as Miami and Bowling Green consider themselves fortunate to pluck a top prospect or two from Ohio's rich fields of high school football talent, OSU reaps just about anyone it wants. Of the 98 players who started this season on the Ohio State roster, 67 were Ohio-grown. Six of Ohio State's seven Heisman trophies have been won by graduates of Ohio high schools.

Of course, none of that would have meant much if Ohio State didn't win. But win it did. And does. It has the third-best winning percentage among major colleges. When it plays Louisiana State University on Monday, it will be trying, for the second consecutive year, to win its sixth national championship ... or maybe its seventh or eighth; a lot depends upon who did the voting before the BCS format was instituted..

"Since 1942 Ohio State has won a national championship in every generation," Schear points out. "They've had incredible success. When your average season record is 10-3, people tend to jump on the bandwagon."

With incredible success has come enviable national television exposure. This season, Ohio State games were nationally televised by ABC five times, and by ESPN three times, in addition to the four games on the Big Ten Network that sent thousands of Buckeye fans grumbling to their nearest sports bar or satellite store.

With national television exposure has come an increased potential to woo top national high school prospects to supplement its home-grown talent. With top national high school prospects has come success. And with success has come, well, you get the idea.

And with all of that, of course, has come: Money.

Money for scholarships and equipment. Money to hire the best coach. Money to find the best prospects. Money to power the combine that is Ohio State football.

"At $109,382,222, Ohio State's athletic budget is the largest in the nation and the biggest in the history of college sports," the Wall Street Journal reported in an October article headlined, Inside College Sports' Biggest Money Machine. "The school spends $110,000 on each of its 980 athletes, which is triple the amount the university spends per undergraduate on education."

Football, of course, is the big spender. But, to be fair, it's also the big earner. Last year it turned a $36 million profit. Added to income from basketball, that made OSU one of just 19 schools to turn a profit on athletics in 2006. In addition, according to a 2005 economic impact study, the school's athletic program pumps $100 million a year into the local economy.

And in Columbus, the story noted, the OSU coach's Sunday morning television show gets better ratings than "Meet the Press."

But, hey, those "Meet the Press" guys are only jabbering about presidential candidates, global warming, the economy and war in Iraq.

The coach is talking OSU football.

Contact this writer at (937) 225-2439 or at dlstewart@DaytonDailyNews.com.