Ohio State typically has one of the most dedicated fanbases in the country, but they have not acted as such with the Rose Bowl coming up.
According to Joey Kaufman of The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio State returned about 7,000 of its allotted 20,000 tickets for the Rose Bowl on Jan. 1. Their opponent, Utah, sold out of their original 27,800 allotment and added an addition 5,200 tickets.
Utah is positioned to have significantly more fans than Ohio State in Pasadena, which shouldn’t be a huge surprise. For starters, Salt Lake city is within driving distance to the Rose Bowl. Utah has also never played in the Rose Bowl before. Ohio State backed into the game due to Michigan making the College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes have much higher standards than their Pac-12 opponent and were hoping to play for a national championship.
Ohio State last played in the Rose Bowl in 2019, when they defeated Washington 28-23. They sold around 20,000 tickets for that game, but it was Urban Meyer’s last with the program. The coach had announced weeks before that he would step down at the end of the season.
Utah should have a big emotional advantage in the Rose Bowl, but Ohio State is probably the more talented team. It will be interesting to see how that impacts the game.
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