The 1981 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University in the 1981 Big Ten Conference football season. The Buckeyes compiled a 9–3 record, including the 1981 Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee, where they won, 31–28, against the Navy Midshipmen. Ohio State and Iowa were the only conference teams not to play one another, and they ended up in a tie for the Big Ten title. That cost the Buckeyes a possible outright conference championship and trip to the 1982 Rose Bowl as Iowa landed the Rose Bowl bid due to not going to the Rose Bowl longer than Ohio State. Several Ohio State players ranked among the Big Ten leaders, including the following:

Schedule

Roster

Depth chart

Coaching staff

<!--- # Game summaries ## Duke ## Michigan State ## Stanford ## Florida State ## Wisconsin ## Illinois ## Indiana ## At Purdue ## Minnesota ## Northwestern ## Michigan ## Liberty Bowl --->

1982 NFL draftees