Ohio State takes the belt, 31–24, at a neutral site over Miami.
AP poll, week 16: Ohio State No. 2 at Miami No. 1 · No. 1 that week: Maryland. The belt vs. the polls →
Where this game sits in the lineage
Ohio State took the belt here, ending Miami’s run of 818 days and 31 defenses (reign #253) and starting reign #254. It lasted 281 days and 5 defenses, until Wisconsin took it on October 11, 2003.
For Ohio State this was its 13th shot at the belt; it had held the belt 5 times before — and it took it back here.
This is the only time Miami and Ohio State have met with the belt on the line.
About this game
Ohio State defeated Miami 24-31 on January 3, 2003 at a neutral site in a postseason matchup. With the victory, Ohio State took the College Football Belt from Miami.
Written by Claude, strictly from this site’s own record of the game — the score and what it meant for the belt. CFBD doesn’t have a box score for games this old, so nothing here is invented beyond what’s verifiably on file.
Sources Box score at ESPN · Game record: College Football Data (id 230032390) · This game in the downloadable dataset