Steve's College Football Page

 Steve Basford in Columbus, Ohio

Author of the books:

Ohio State Football 2002: The Improbable National Championship

 Buckeye Memories: From the Couch, the Stands, and the Press Box ... and a Few Fun Facts

2001 Games (And Counting): A Sports Odyssey

Breaking Away: The Quintessential Underdog Movie

I have been a statistician for Ohio State football games for Time Warner from 1979-1980, for WOSU-TV from 1981-1990, and for OSU official stats since 1993, except for the COVID season of 2020. 

Watch highlights of the 1987 OSU-Iowa telecast on WOSU-TV, and hear my name at the end, at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6x2z1K4s8Y&noredirect=1 

My goal is to see all of the 136 college football teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision. The summary and history are below -- 131 down, 5 to go. 

I have seen at least one game in 54 stadiums in 24 states -- Arizona (3), California (1), Colorado (1), Georgia (4), Illinois (2), Indiana (4), Iowa (1), Kentucky (3), Louisiana (1), Maryland (1), Michigan (3), Minnesota (1), Missouri (1), New Jersey (1), North Carolina (1), Ohio (10), Pennsylvania (3), South Carolina (1), Tennessee (3), Texas (4), Virginia (1), Washington (1), West Virginia (2), and Wisconsin (1).

My source for many of the OSU game notes is "The Official Ohio State Football Encyclopedia", by Jack Park. 

See my site about movies at sites.google.com/site/stevesmoviesworld

See my site on ponderings at sites.google.com/site/stevesworldofponderings 

Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/steverb10 

Write to me at steverb10@yahoo.com

By the numbers:

1: team east of the Mississippi River that I have not seen (Delaware)

2: stadiums/ballparks where I have seen a college football game and an MLB game (Turner Field/Georgia State Stadium/Center Parc Stadium and Cleveland Municipal Stadium)

2: bowl games that I attended in the span of 6 days, between December 29, 2004 (Alamo Bowl) and January 3, 2005 (Sugar Bowl)

2: bowl games that I have watched from a press box

3: stadiums where I saw a game in Atlanta

3: stadiums where I have seen Virginia Tech play, none of them in the Hokies' stadium (Superdome, Georgia Tech, Ohio Stadium)

3: modes of transportation that I have used to see a game at the University of Illinois (car, bus, plane)

3: of the 6 oldest stadiums at which I have seen a game (Georgia Tech, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin)

4: teams that finished the season with a perfect record, and I attended their last game -- USC in 1972, Ohio State in 2002, Auburn in 2004, and Ohio State in 2012. I also was at the Rose Bowl of the 1973 season, when the Buckeyes finished 10-0-1.

4: stadiums where I saw a game and no longer exist (Cleveland Municipal Stadium, Georgia Dome, Pitt Stadium, and Giants Stadium)

4: cities (Cleveland, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Atlanta) where I have been to multiple stadiums

5: states where I have seen a bowl game

6: FCS teams that I have seen -- Abilene Christian, Campbell, Florida A&M, Grambling State, Idaho, and Youngstown State, 

7: teams that I have seen in Ohio Stadium and in their home stadium and in another stadium -- Cincinnati, Marshall, Miami (Ohio), Northwestern, Notre Dame, Toledo, and Western Kentucky

8: (a distant second to Ohio Stadium) teams that I have seen at the University of Kentucky

8: trips to Michigan Stadium, the most to any stadium other than Ohio Stadium

9: NFL stadiums where I have seen a college game -- Cleveland Municipal Stadium, FirstEnergy Stadium, Ford Field, Georgia Dome, Giants Stadium, Heinz Field/Acrisure Stadium, Paycor Stadium, State Farm Stadium, and the Superdome

9: teams that I have seen in a regular season game and a bowl game.

12: bowl games that I have attended, in 7 stadiums

14: teams that I have seen in a bowl game

16: stadiums where I have seen a game while working in the press box, in 7 states--Ohio (6), Michigan (2), Indiana (2), Illinois (2), Iowa (1), Tennessee (2), and Louisiana (1).

24: states where I have seen a game, out of 41 states that have an FBS team. Missing are: Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.

26: stadiums, in 16 states, that I have seen Ohio State play

28: airports that I have flown into to see a game--Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Charlotte, Dallas Fort Worth, Denver, Houston Bush, Indiana University, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Love Field, Madison, Midway, Minneapolis, Nashville, New Orleans, Palwaukee (Chicago), Philadelphia, Phoenix, Purdue University, Raleigh Durham, Savannah, Seattle, St. Louis, State College, University of Illinois, and University of Iowa

29: teams that I have seen play in Ohio Stadium and also in their home stadium

41: (out of 41) states that have an FBS team, and I have seen at least one team from that state

76: teams that I have seen while working in a press box

79: teams that I have seen in Ohio Stadium

85: teams that I have seen in Ohio

105: teams that I have seen in Ohio or an adjacent state

138: miles to the closest stadium where I have not seen a game (Kent State)

998: miles to the closest team that I have not seen (Texas A&M)

1,729: miles to the farthest team that I have not seen (Brigham Young)

2,370: miles to the farthest stadium where I have seen a game (Seattle)