Georgia Bulldogs OL reveals the real reason behind genuine hatred over Ohio State

Ohio State won its first national championship in a decade this past season, rolling through a gauntlet of opponents to accomplish such. Georgia, and Bulldogs offensive lineman Tate Ratledge didn't get their chance to halt the Buckeyes, losing in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Notre Dame.

Like Georgia did two College Football Playoffs before, Ratledge seems to have wanted a chance to stop the Buckeyes.

"I can express this now that I'm not (part of) Georgia football — I hate Ohio State, with everything in me," Ratledge said. "I hate them. I always have and I always will. I hate Ohio State."

The Bulldogs' semifinal win that allowed them to repeat as national champions in 2023 isn't where Ratledge's disdain for the scarlet and gray originated.

"No, before," Ratledge said. "Just, like, family has always hated them, so I was kinda grown up to hate them. Just never liked them. Fans are cocky, like with (the) The Ohio State University bullshit, Cut that out. Like, no one cares. Ohio State would be the last team that I wanted to see win (the national title)."

Why do fans dislike Ohio State so much?

The more a team succeeds, the more it's criticized. The Buckeyes have long been one of the preeminent teams in college football, with the Buckeyes' 978 wins being second all-time only to bitter rival Michigan (1,012). The Buckeyes sit ahead of other notable programs, such as Alabama (974), Notre Dame (962), Texas (961), and Oklahoma (950).

"With an intense fan base, an all-time winning percentage that tops all other Division I schools and an exaggerated pronunciation of the definite article the Ohio State University has long had its share of eye-rolling anti-fans," the Columbus Dispatch's Bob Vitale wrote last month.

The Buckeyes' story will be told for a while, as they suffered a heartbreaking loss to Michigan in their regular-season finale before regrouping and knocking down Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame in succession. Not everyone was as bothered as Ratledge was that the Buckeyes won the crown.

Former Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer was impressed with the job Ryan Day did.

"This will go down, in my mind, as one of the great teams in the last 20 years of college football," Meyer said last month on his podcast.

Even some of the Buckeyes' fans were frustrated enough to wonder if Day was the right guy for the job after a fourth straight loss to Michigan. Fox Sports' Joel Klatt believes that's what stands out about the Buckeyes, even if it irks those who root against them.

"Part of what makes (them) special as a program — and special in the terms of, they don't have down eras — is the standard. And, in a lot of ways, the fans drive that standard," Klatt said last month.

Day is now one of three active coaches to have won a national title, the others being Georgia's Kirby Smart and Clemson's Dabo Swinney.